Attendance is a complicated concept in the business world. Whether you’re managing a remote team or people in the office, ensuring everyone is on the same page regarding attendance can be challenging. With your work-from-home employees, for example, you may not know precisely when they’re at their desks. And for your in-person team, you can’t control their arrival time. But here are some tips to encourage good attendance on your team in all cases.
Getting The Most From Your Team When it Comes to Attendance
Create a Formal and Structured Attendance Policy
Without a detailed attendance policy created and provided to every employee, it’s hard to implement. Your employees need to know what’s expected of them. Keep track of days off that match what your policies offer. For example, if you use a PTO system, you can log all days off similarly. If you track vacation and sick days separately, log them accurately. Employees must know what’s acceptable and what will happen if they don’t meet your standards.
Provide Access to Transportation
An attendance policy needs to be fair to be equitable. If transportation is challenging to some members of your staff and not others, it’s unfair to hold those individuals to the same standards. You can mitigate this by providing access to transportation. In cities where public transportation is managed well, you can offer vouchers for your team. You can establish carpooling options. Or offer a telecommuting option for those who would benefit from it.
Communicate Regularly
The best way to enforce good attendance regarding performance is by communicating regularly with your team. Your employees should know why this is critical, how having equal access to resources is essential, and what will happen if they cannot meet their bargain. You can also provide information about good time management practices to improve performance and attendance.
Offer Incentives for Good Attendance
Rewards are an excellent incentive for many types of employees. Offer rewards for individuals who meet the attendance requirements. Be careful not to create an environment where employees fear taking their allotted time off, as you may inadvertently cause increased burnout rates. Still, rewarding your team for their ability to arrive on time is okay.
Develop an Improvement Plan
As a part of your communication strategy, it’s crucial to have an improvement plan process to enforce attendance with employees. Employees should be aware of the policy and that if they have continued tardiness, you will need to put them on a performance improvement plan to assess if they can adjust and meet their expectations for the core competency of the job.
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