Most Important Interpersonal Skills Required of a Compliance Officer Research Paper

Most Important Interpersonal Skills Required of a Compliance Officer - Research Paper Example In some jurisdiction, complains officers can perform consultative roles such as advising and supporting business transactions as well as other functions performed by the firm. The compliance officer has the responsibility of overseeing all compliance activities and has substantial authority in an organization (Heller, Murphy and Meaney 20-24). Moreover, compliance officers have direct access to senior persons in an organization such as the company president and chief executive officers. In addition, compliance officers are required to operate independently without the influence of other persons in an organization. Therefore, compliance officers have critical roles to play in enhancing successful performance of a firm. In order for compliance officers to be effective in their duties there are certain interpersonal skill they are required to possess. This paper focuses on the most important interpersonal skills required of a compliance officer, which include negotiation skills, communi cation skills, investigative/analytical skills, qualifications, and confidence. Having appropriate negotiation skills  is important in several jobs including being a compliance officer. Compliance officers are often involved in making company policies are thus required to be able to negotiate with other department heads they may be working with. Moreover, compliance officers often negotiate with regulators such as external auditors on the measures that firms are required to take in order to satisfy the set regulatory requirements. Moreover, when disputes regarding compliance arise in a company, the compliance officers are required to settle the disputes (Heller, Murphy and Meaney 105-109; Safian 28-31). Some compliance officers are accorded great mandate and are required to negotiate with powerful stakeholders such as important political figures or producers in a firm such as financial

The Scar that the World Will Never Forget Essay

The Scar that the World Will Never Forget - Essay Example † 1 David Sedivy also asked the same way, â€Å"How does the son of an Austrian factory worker come to European power and become responsible for the deaths of as many as 35 million people?† 2 Another mind boggling question is how can Hitler, an Austrian born, become a leader followed blindly by millions of German and Aryan raced- soldiers? The magnitude of the annihilation and the atrocities committed by Hitler’s regime are definitely mind boggling. "Holocaust" is a word of Greek origin meaning "sacrifice by fire." 3  What is important at this point is to share and retell this saga over and over again to all generations for them to learn insights that will guide, strengthen behaviors and enable people to think within the moral framework of a human being. In short, the question here is whether this event deserves to have a moral imperative. The succeeding discussion would support the stance that the Holocaust education, in particular, deserves to be given a moral imperative. The Saga of Gerswin Kunze during the Holocaust. Present day 21st century setting†¦ as I was doing my daily inspection of every room in our house until I reached that special room which contains our memorabilia. It houses priceless heirloom items and family bloodline photos capturing fond memories of our great family celebrations until I stopped to pause on one frame that brings back memories of being a survivor of the World War II Holocaust. Suddenly, I felt again that strange shivers and goose pimples in my arms. The deja vu feeling crept into my body which was a mixed feeling of fear, sadness and joy. It reminded me of a dark past which I really do not want to reminisce again. But people whom we loved and witnessed how they perished in the merciless executions of the Nazis kept telling us that whoever outlives this saga should tell the world about these nightmares so that this would never happen again. Suddenly flashes of events came back to my memory. This is my story. 1929 – The Germany’s Economic Depression. I am Gerzwin Kunze, from Poland born to a Jewish family in a small called Krzepicea. I was 14 years old then and still studying. My father was a businessman. One day, I did not understand what was going on. I saw my father joining angry crowds marching on the streets holding banners and shouting to air their complaints. There was one time when my father brought me along to walk on the streets with him. He brought me with him just to get a feel of what was going on. There were lots of people shouting, orations delivered. He asked me to hold tight, keep close and instructed me what to do if ever I get separated from him. Learning that I was with my father on the streets, my mother rushed to find us and immediately brought me back home for fear that any untoward incident may happen during the rally. When the right time came, I learned that Germany lost World War I and as a consequence now experienced economic downturn. â⠂¬Å"On October 29, 1929 marked the collapse of stock U.S. market triggering a worldwide economic depression.† 4 â€Å" Germany’s economy was then highly dependent on foreign trade so it was imperative that it was inevitable for it to experience economic downfall which adversely affected people’s livelihood.† 5 Its effects sparked spontaneous protests: â€Å"As production levels fell, German workers were laid off. Along with this, banks failed throughout Germany.

OPM 300 MOD 1 SLP Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

OPM 300 MOD 1 SLP - Essay Example Mc Donald’s is able to maintain its global power in due in great part to its ability to constantly modify and adapt its operations processes to the demands of its customers and of the social environment as well. One particular operations process that is constantly modified by Mc Donald’s to keep pace with increased competition and smarter, more demanding and less brand-loyal customers is the way it makes some of the items on its menu. One particular example was when Mc Donald’s considered switching to a hamburger bun that does not require toasting. Trial tests have shown that customers preferred the taste and texture of the untoasted hamburger bun (Gibson, 1995). More importantly, leaving the buns untoasted would translate into considerable cost savings resulting from reduced preparation time and the elimination of commercial toasting equipment. Considering that Mc Donald’s serves billions of buns for its hamburgers, chicken and fish sandwiches, this modif ication in one of their operations processes would rake in millions of dollars in savings for Mc Donald’s as well. This illustrates two very important aspects of operations which are customer satisfaction and competitiveness (Meredith & Shafer, 2007).

Long-Term Investment Decision Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Long-Term Investment Decision - Essay Example The following sections provide an outline of ways to meets the price problem and other issues such as, government intervention in the industry. Price elasticity of demand assesses sensitivity of quantity demanded with respect to change in price. Price elasticity is being considered in decision-making process of the company because with rise in price of food ingredients (raw material), it is naturally assumed that price of the final product will also increase. In this situation, managers need to analyze the impact of price change on product demand. The demand can be either elastic or inelastic. Elastic demand will alter with the price change, while inelastic demand tends to be static with price change. The demand of necessity product is usually inelastic in nature (Fibich, Gavious & Lowengart, 2005). For example, if the company is operating in a location where individuals are extremely busy, have no time to cook at home and are highly healthy conscious, then demand of the products of Fitness Food will be inelastic, unless the price change is unreasonably high. On the contrary, areas where fresh food is easily available and i ndividuals have access to home-made food and fresh fruits, the demand will be negatively elastic in case of price change (Senauer, 2001). Keeping in view the problem that management is facing, application of a customized pricing strategy is essential to resolve problems related to price elasticity. Optimal pricing policy is otherwise known as perfect price discrimination; implementation of this policy would mean that Fitness Food will have to segment its consumer market in different groups and have to research the amount that consumers are willing to pay for packaged food. The company has to determine optimal price and volume, which is also referred as the price and volume of the product that will maximize its profit. Fitness Food has to determine preference of its consumers and their price sensitiveness with the help of distributors and

Pricing Channels Essay Example for Free

Pricing Channels Essay Students come from a variety of backgrounds with a large and diverse base of knowledge and experience. Therefore, the primary role of the professor will be to acilitate discussions that bring out pertinent issues and to better frame the analyses of these issues. Required materials Case Packet: The case packet is available through www. study. net. Instructions to get materials from study. net are included in the last page of this syllabus, before the course schedule. Pricing Simulation Universal Rental Car Harvard Business School: Sign up instructions will be provided to you in early October. It will cost $12. 50. There will be a practice round available from Nov. 4-9. The official round will run from Nov. Other Readings: A number of readings for this class are available in full text (usually PDF) from Business Source Complete. For these articles, go to http:// www. lib. utexas. edu/, then to Research Tools* Databases Indexes to Articles †+ Databases by Subject* Business* Business Source Complete, and search on the title of the article (unless otherwise directed in the schedule). It works best if you put the title of the article in quotes. If you get a yellow box that says Find it at UT, click on the box and follow the links that have full text. Other Materials: Other materials, such as study questions for case studies, grading sheets, and lecture slides are available on Blackboard. Paperless Assignments: All assignments are to be submitted electronically rather than in hard copy and no later than 5 minutes prior to the start of class. Please send them directly to Dr. Mackie through Outlook as e-mail attachments using the following file name convention on the attachments themselves: File Name Convention [Class time]_[Your Last Name and First Initial_[Assignment name] Example: 930_SmithJ_Problem Set Example: 930_SmithJ_Brief_Case name Example: 930_TeamName_RtM Assignment Grading Blind Grading: MBA-student teaching assistants do the first round of grading on many assignments. Therefore all papers in this course are blind graded. Therefore: (a) Please do not submit assignments directly to the TA; and (b) Place your name *only* in the file name of the attachment.

Analysis of Online Recruitment Process With TAM

Analysis of Online Recruitment Process With TAM ANALYSIS OF ONLINE RECRUITMENT PROCESS FOR JOBSEEKERS USING TECHNOLOGY ACCEPTANCE MODEL(TAM) 1) S.Munzarin, 2) A. Manimegalai 3) G. Latha, 4) B. Sindhuja ABSTRACT I.INTRODUCTION Today, online recruitment has become a major tool for many organizations. However, little is known about jobseekers reactions to this new technology. This article is aimed at developing a web-based and central recruitment Process system for the HR Group of the company. Some features of this system will be creating vacancies, storing application data, and Interview process initiation, Scheduling interviews, storing Interview results for the applicant and finally Hiring of the applicant. This online website provides jobseekers to register themselves by attending the registration exam. Reports may be required to be generated for the use of the HR group. This paper provides an insight for jobseekers on the effective use of e-recruitment website and strategy to attract potential jobseekers for employment in reducing the manual work of HR correcting the Test, Short-listing the candidates, Informing the candidates etc. Data gathered from 332 job applicants at System Group Corp. shows useful ness and perceived ease of use – as core constructs of TAM model – are two main factors that predict jobseekers behavioral intentions to use recruitment websites. Keywords:, Technology Acceptance Model, online recruitment, e-recruitment efficient usage, jobseekers, behavioral intentions. Nowadays, e-recruitment is a method to recruit potential employees; with over 90% of Fortune 500 companies using some form of online recruiting (Feldman Klaas, 2002). Job seekers are also conducting their searches online; with over 52 million Americans have used online job searches (Jansen, Jansen, and Spink, 2005). Online recruiting and hiring as a business tool has not only changed the way companies recruit employees and how job seekers search for jobs, it has also impacted both parties involved. If the effectiveness of an organizations web site in attracting potential employees is considered to be a crucial determinant of an organizations ability to generate qualified applicants (Willianson et al., 2003), identifying the factors that influence jobseekers attraction to organization website has to be a high priority.This fact was highlighted by a recent study of college students reporting that 26% of students rejected potential employers from job search consideration because of the poor design of their web sites (Karr, 2000). This paper attempts to use Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) introduced by Davis, (1989) – as one of the most successful models explaining the user/technology adaption – to identify some factors influencing jobseekers behavioral intentions in using e-recruitment websites. The findings of the current paper not only provides an insight for managers on the effective use of organizations recruitment websites but also, by providing a sound theore tical framework, would help to eliminate the shortcomings associated with former studies in the area of online recruitment. To begin our discussion, we first review the existing online recruitment literature. We then explain Technology Acceptance Model as our research framework, and introduce the related hypotheses. Finally, we explain the practical implications of the research, as well as our study limitations. 2. TECHNOLOGY ACCEPTANCE MODEL (TAM) In IT literature, the TAM is the most influential model use to measure technology acceptance. This model is the extension of Ajzen and Fishbein’s Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA), by Fred Davis and Richard Bagozzi (Bagozzi et al., 1992; Davis et al., 1989) to explain the computer-usage behavior. The main purpose of TAM was: to provide an explanation of the determinants of computer acceptance that is generally, capable of explaining user behavior across a broad range of end-user computing technologies and user populations, while at the same time being both parsimonious and theoretically justified (Davis et al., 1989, p. 985). Numerous empirical studies have found that TAM consistently explains a substantial proportion of the variance (about 40%) in usage intentions and behavior (Venkatesh and Bala, 2008), and TAM compares favorably with alternative models such as the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) and Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) (Venkatesh and Davis, 1996). As of December 2007, the Social Science Citation Index listed over 1,700 citations to the two journal articles that introduced TAM (Davis, 1989; Davis et al., 1989). TAM theorize that an individuals behavioral intention to use a system is determined by two beliefs: perceived usefulness, defined as the extent to which a person believes that using a system will enhance his or her job performance, and perceived ease of use, defined as the extent to which a person believes that using a system will be free of effort (Venkatesh and Davis, 1996). According to TAM, perceived usefulness is also influenced by perceived ease of use because, other things being equal, the easier the system is to use the more useful it can be(Venkatesh and Davis, 1996).Many researchers empirical studies have replicated and tested the model under different conditions for TAMs extended variables as general measures by explicitly including IT acceptance variables (e.g., Davis et al., 1992; Compeau and Higgins, 1995; Ma and Liu, 20 04). However, Davis et al. (1989) TAM assumes that perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness are of primary relevance for computer acceptance. In the next section, with a full introduction of these two core constructs of TAM perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness – the research hypotheses are presented and the research framework is explained. 2.1.1. Perceived Usefulness (PU) Perceived usefulness is defined here as the degree to which a person believes that using a particular system would enhance his or her job performance. Within an organizational context, people are generally reinforced for good performance by raises, promotions, bonuses, and other rewards (Pfeffer, 1982). A system high in perceived usefulness, in turn, is one for which a user believes in the existence of a positive use-performance relationship. Organizations recruitment websites often support jobseekers with comprehensive job information including, salary information, benefits, rewards, and organizational programs (Cober et al., 2000). Perceiving system usefulness as antecedent of e-recruitment utilization, such as using these information and tools to enhance the effectiveness of job application, would draw the attention of many employed jobseekers into adopting the technology for job search (Tong, 2008). 2.1.2. Perceived Ease of Use (PEU) Perceived ease of use, in contrast, refers to the degree to which a person believes that using a particular system would be free of effort. This follows from the definition of ease: freedom from difficulty or great effort. All else being equal, we claim, an application perceived to be easier to use than another is more likely to be accepted by users. On the contrary, a complex system, that is difficult to use, is less likely to be adopted since it requires significant effort and interest on the part of the user (Teo, 2001). As perceived ease of use has an inverse relationship with the perceived complexity of use of the technology, it affects perceived usefulness. TAM thus posits that perceived usefulness is influenced by perceived ease of use (Sanchez- Franco and Roldan, 2005). Similarly, in the e-recruitment context, jobseekers would prefer the system if it is easy to use compared to other methods of job applications. 2.1.3. Behavioral Intention Bagozzi et al. (1992), believe that new technologies (e.g., recruitment websites) are complex, Thus, people form attitudes and intentions toward trying to learn to use the new technology prior to initiating efforts directed at using (Tong, 2008). Sanchez- Franco and Roldan (2005) study found that the relationship between perceived usefulness and behavioral intention was strong among goal-directed users. Consequently, this study relates PEOU to PU and PU to BI with the following hypotheses: H1: Perceived Ease of Use (PEU) positively influences Perceived Usefulness (PU) in Erecruitment adoption. H2: Perceived Usefulness (PU) positively influences Behavioral Intention (BI) to use  organizations e-recruitment website. Therefore, given empirical tested studies of modified TAM and the significant causal link among the three constructs by previous researchers, the author attempts to use Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to test these highly validated studies with PEOU, PU, as independent variables and BI as the dependent variable  for this study. The research framework is also illustrated in Figure 1. Figure1. Research framework forjobseekers e-recruitment technology adoption 3. METHOD 3.1. Participants The participants of the study were 347 applicants for System Group Corp. While having more than 1200 employees, System Group Corp. is considered to be the biggest active organization in manufacturing software technologies in Iran. The data was gathered in a two-month period, during which 421 applicants logged on to the organizations website. From among these applicants, 347 questionnaires were gathered by the researcher, and at the end, a number of 332 questionnaires were analyzed (response rate 82%). The respondents of the study included 63 percent male, 73 percent single, and the majority of them ranged between 21 to 25 years old. Participation was completely anonymous and on a voluntary basis. 3.2. Procedure The researchers did not have access to the actual application data due to stringent privacy regulations. Rather, data on the measures were collected using an online questionnaire that was administered subsequent to the online application procedure. we will first describe the data that were collected as part of the application procedure followed by a description of the research questionnaire. 3.2.1. Application Procedure Applicants could search for positions on the System Group official website. Here, candidates could find general information on the organization and its conditions of employment. More specifically, information could be found on the organization’s culture, structure, development opportunities, and benefits. All applicants had to fill out an online form after they had accepted a privacy statement. The form consisted of information on contact details, date of birth, gender, education, and qualifications obtained from college, work experience, and skills. In addition, applicants had the opportunity to give additional information and to upload personal documents such as a curriculum vitae. 3.2.2. Research Questionnaire After completion and submission of the online application, a questionnaire was presented in a pop-up window on a separate web page. This questionnaire was also accessible via a link which could be found in an email confirming the receipt of the applicant’s online application. The confirmation email was sent immediately after the online application had been submitted. A short introductory text accompanied the link to the online survey. 3.2.3. Measures The questionnaire was preceded by a short introductory text. Anonymity and confidentiality of the participants’ responses were emphasized. It was explicitly mentioned that responses could not affect the selection process in any way and that the company did not have access to individual responses. It took respondents approximately 5 min to complete the questionnaire. The questionnaire was offered in both Farsi and English languages. Translations were made from English to Farsi, which were checked by native speakers. All responses were assessed on the following five-point Likert scale (1=completely disagree, 3=neutral, and 5= completely agree), with the exception of items on general background information. The questionnaire was consist of 18 items. To assess behavioral intentions (BI) the measure of Tompson et al., (2008) were obtained. This construct was assessed by five items. Example item is I would like to work for this organization. Perceived ease of use and perceived usefu lness each assessed using five (Williamson et al., 2003) and eight (Palmer, 2002) items scales, respectively. Where applicable, the original wording computerized process was replaced by online application process for consistency throughout the questionnaire. Example items are My interaction with online application processes was clear and understandable; and The organizations recruitment website provides all the information required to apply for job. At the end of the survey, space was provided for remarks or suggestions and respondents were thanked for their participation. 3.2.4. Analysis The descriptive characteristics of the sample (Table 1) were assessed using SPSS 11.0 statistical package, based on the guidelines provided by Dimitriadis (2003). The research model (Figure 1) was tested using structural equation modeling (SEM) using LISREL 8.7. As it has been suggested, the structural equation approach has several advantages over traditional analyses (Bagozzi and Yi, 1989). Data were analyzed using the two-step approach suggested by Anderson and Gerbing (1998) and. In the first step, a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed, which helps assess the adequacy of the measurement model (Chang, 1998), or in other words, [. . .] the measurement models (or confirmatory factor models) specify how hypothetical constructs are measured in terms of the observed variables (Lin and Lee, 2004). In the second step of the data analysis, the structural model is tested using SEM; structural equation models specify causal relationships among latent variables (Lin and Lee, 2004 ). 4. EXISTING SYSTEM In recent days, staffs are monitoring the candidates during the recruitment process which is nearly the waste of time. Currently all the jobseekers register for their jobs in prior which are stored in the database of the company due to which more space is consumed. After registration all the jobseekers attend the aptitude test and proceed further but only certain candidates are selected for the further process. Presently recruitment is done manually. That is if a company or organization needs employees they make an announcement through newspaper or websites. People who are eligible send application to the organization or company. From these applications they are called for interviews or tests. After tests company has to do short listing manually. From these shortlisted candidates, they are called for interviews. After interview short listed candidates are employed. So it’s all a time consuming procedure too. It may take one month or long. People around the world cannot apply. This is very convenient because in the manual system there are lot of difficulties in conducting and managing a recruitment exam, short listing, maintaining staff etc 5.PROPOSED SYSTEM Online Recruitment is aimed at developing a web-based and central recruitment Process system for the HR Group for a company. Some features of this system will be creating vacancies, storing application data, and Interview process initiation, Scheduling Interviews, Storing Interview results for the applicant and finally hiring of the applicant. Based on the outcome of the exam the jobseekers will be shortlisted. The details of the examination Date of the examination will be made available to them through the website. People all around the world can apply and register. It has made all the process easy. System Analysis is the detailed study of the various operations performed by the system and their relationships within and outside the system. Here we are using the TAM model for analysing the system performance. ADVANTAGES This paper enables the users to have the typical examination facilities and features at their disposal. It resolves typical issues of manual examination processes and activities into a controlled and closely monitored work flow in the architecture of the application. This multi platform solution brings in by default, the basic intelligence and immense possibilities for further extension of the application as required by the user. The system makes it friendly to distribute, share and manage the examination entities with higher efficiency and easiness. It is a comprehensive resource for finding a job online. 6. DISCUSSION In the final model of the study, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use have strong path coefficients( 0.71 and 0.82 respectively) in relation with behavioral intentions. Thus, from a causal point of view, the results of structural equation modeling confirm a strong causal relation between PEU and PU in one hand, and PU and BI on the other hand. The linear relation between PU and BI suggests that the perceived usefulness construct has a direct positive effect on applicants behavioral intentions to use recruitment websites. 7.CONCLUSION In todays competing world, the success of recruitment efforts in organizations is bound with attracting an appropriate group of qualified job applicants using the least possible sources. E-recruitment – as a growing recruitment tool – is not an exception. Therefore, identifying factors that influence e-recruitment success in attracting the qualified group of applicants should be a high priority. Using a TAM model in the area of erecruitment, this study tried to identify two of the most influential factors on the applicants behavioral intentions to use organization recruitment website and the consequent employment decisions. 8. REFERENCES Kroustalis, C., (2012). Internet Recruitment: Examining the Roles of Information, Attitudes, and Perceived Fit on Applicant Attraction, A thesis presented to Graduate School of Clemson University, (P. Raymark, R. Pak, C. Pury Eds.), Proquest Information andLearning Company.37. Lin, H.; Lee, G. Chatzoglou, P.; Vraimaki, E. (2009), Knowledge-sharing behavior of bank employees in Greece, Business Process  Management Journal, 15 (2), 245-266. Venkatesh, V., Bala, H. (2008). Technology accpetance model 3 and a research agenda on interventions. Decision Science , 39 (2), 273-315. Tong, D. (2008). A study of e-recruitment technology adoption in Malaysia. Industrial Management Data Systems , 109 (2),281-300. Thompson, L., Braddy, P., Wuensch, K.E-recruitment and the benefits of organizational web appeal. Computer in Human Behavior , 24, 2384-2398. Bock, G.; Kim, Y. (2002), Breaking the myths of rewards: an exploratory study of attitudes about knowledge sharing, Information Resources Management Journal, 15 (2), 14-21. Bock, G.; Kim, Y, Breaking the myths of rewards: an exploratory study of attitudes about knowledge sharing, Information Resources Management Journal, 15 (2), 14-21.

The History Of Absenteeism Management Essay

The History Of Absenteeism Management Essay When employees intentionally make absence from work it is known as absenteeism. In todays working organisations everybody misses a day of work now and then. But when an employee misses too many days of work it can be a big problem for the organisation and this can cause serious problems when all other employees have to cover for the missing worker or in worse cases the work simply doesnt get done, which can cause low productivity or non availability of requested services, leading to bad impression on companys position and name. People often tend to have different perspectives or attach different meanings when viewing the topic of employee absenteeism. Absenteeism occurs when the employees of a company do not turn up to work due to any scheduled time off, any illness, any injury, or any other reason. If we look back the history, there is only a small written history of absenteeism in business literature, apparently because until the 20th century businesses had a clear rule, No work: no pay. Then labour unions forced the companies into agreements to allow employees to take time off from work for illness or vacations and the practice of offering paid sick days become widespread. These practices still vary among companies and union contracts and normally there is an average of four to ten sick days per year is standard. Companies have realized that human absence management policies are cost effective; even many companies were unwilling to off paid leave to their employees. In fact, there is an estimate in the current studies regarding absenteeism that those company who have effective employee absence strategies can reduce their overall payroll costs by atleast 10 percent. ABSENTEEISM COSTING THE BUSINESSES Most recent studies on absenteeism have claimed that missing employees cost companies millions of pounds in lost revenue each year. We know that absenteeism can be quite costly. It has been estimated that in the United States alone, absence causes a loss of 400 million workdays per years. Based on this estimates, several researchers have attached a dollar value to this of between $26 and $46 billion per year (Steers and Rhodes, 1978; Goodman and Atkin, 1984a). In Canada, this figure probably approaches $8 to $10 billion. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI, 1999) has carried out a survey and used its membership base to survey both private and public sector employers. This survey showed that the average number of working days lost per employee in the UK in 1998 was 8.5 days, which represented 3.7% of all working time available. Another important correlation showed that absence was positively associated with the size of the organisation, that is absence rates were higher in large organisations than in small organisations. In calculating time lost as a percentage of actual working time available, the survey was based on a 228 days working year. This figure is derived from taking out of 365 days, 104 days for weekends or rest-days, 8 public holidays and 25 days annual leave. For many organisations the figures of 228 would be reasonably proximate, but for others, a revised base would need to be used, for example within the education service. Table 1.1 Absence rates for manual and non-manual employees 1998 (1997 figures in brackets) Average Best performing quartile Employees Days lost % of working Days lost % of working time time Manual 9.4 (10.8) 4.1 (4.7) 5.5 2.4 Non-manual 7.6 (6.8) 3.3 (3.3) 3 1.4 All 8.5 (8.4) 3.7 (3.0) 4.1 1.8 Source: CBI, Focus on Absence, 1999. The other most recent survey on the common causes of absenteeism by BBC has revealed that within the UK 93% of workers cite cods and flu as their common reason for being away from their work. Recently BBC has reported that absenteeism is costing  £10.2bn a year and that is mainly through employees minor illness, stress and family responsibilities. A survey of more than 530 firms for the Confederation of British Industry estimated that 200m days were lost through sickness absence last year, an average of 8.5 days per worker. According to an annual survey report of CIPD in 2009, it is stated that the annual cost of absence, is highest in the following sectors of different organisations within UK: Average  £ per employee/year Public Sector  £784 Manufacturing and production employers  £754 Non-profit organisations  £698 Private services organisations  £666 However, the conclusions showed that there are only 41% of employers who are monitoring the cost of employee absence, a figure which has remained persistently low over the past few years.   Another company Hewitt Associates  which is based in  Lincolnshire,  Illinois  is a global  human resources  (HR)  outsourcing   and  consulting  firm which delivers a wide range of integrated services to help companies manage their total HR and employee costs and improve their workforces has confirmed that absenteeism is costing the organisations in UK more than  £1000 per employee almost every year. INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS International comparison of absence rates is equally useful and informative. The title sick man of Europe was once given to Britain because of apparently poor industrial relations record. This title can be given to any other country now as absence rates in the UK are among the lowest of any EU member country. Table 1 illustrates this point: Country Short-term Absenteeism rate Long-term Absenteeism rate Denmark UK Austria Sweden Ireland Norway Netherlands France Germany Belgium Italy Portugal 3.5 3.6 4.1 4.4 4.5 5.0 5.5 5.6 5.6 5.8 6.9 8.0 9.1 5.5 12.7 3.0 10.4 13.3 11.1 6.5 6.6 5.5 11.2 Source: Adapted from CBI, Focus on Absence, 1989 THE MOST COMMON CAUSES OF ABSENCE There are two different classes of employees, manual and non-manual and the most common main causes of sickness absence for both of these classes have been identified as: Manual Non-Manual Minor illness (cold, flu, stomach upsets headaches) Minor illness (cold, flu, stomach upsets headaches) Back pain Stress Musculo-skeletal injuries Musculo-skeletal injuries Home/family responsibilities Back pain Stress Home/family responsibilities Recurring medical conditions Recurring medical conditions Injuries/accidents not related to work Other absences not related to ill-health The latest studies and surveys have revealed that an increase in stress related absence is continuing in number of employers these days. For both manual and non-manual workers, employers perceived that minor illness is the major cause of absence from the workplace. THEORIES RELEVANT TO ABSENTEEISM Over the past many years, there have been many studies and surveys conducted to discover what motivate people. The most recognised theories are Taylor (1856-1917), Mayo (1880-1949), Maslow (1908-1970), McGregor (1906-1964) and Herzberg (1923-2000). Because motivation is very much important not only at work but almost in all part of life too, there are so many new theories which are constantly being developed. MOTIVATION THEORY The word motivation is used to describe certain sorts of behaviour. The purpose of motivation theories is to predict behaviours. Motivation is not the behaviour itself, and it is not performance. Motivation concerns action and the internal and external forces which influence a persons choice of action (Mitchell 1987). Motivation encourages people happily to put more effort into doing something. Well-motivated employees will always feel fulfilled and happy in their respective workplace. Furthermore, the employees are to be expected to be more productive and generate work of a higher quality with lower rate of absenteeism. EXAMPLE A recent case study shows that Siemens, a well known company worldwide, believes that well motivated employees can add extra power into work in order to accomplish the necessary outcomes because they believe that their work is extraordinary. The motivated workforce is more confident to take pride in what they do and off course there is low rate of absenteeism because employees are happier to go to work. HERZBERGS TWO FACTOR THEORY Herzberg used the critical incidental method and his original study was chosen because of the growing importance in the business world and his study was consisted of interviews with 203 accountants and engineers  from different industries in the Pittsburgh area of America. The responses to these interviews were generally consistent and revealed that there were two different sets of factors affecting motivation and work. This led to the Two Factor Theory of motivation and job satisfaction. On the basis of his survey, Herzberg reported that employees tended to describe satisfying experiences in terms of factors that were intrinsic to the content of the job itself. These factors were called motivators and included such variables as: Achievement Recognition The work itself Responsibility Advancement and growth According to Herzberg theory these motivators who also can be known as satisfiers were associated with  long-term  positive effects in job performance while the hygiene factors (dissatisfiers) consistently produced only  short-term changes in job attitudes and performance, which quickly fell back to its previous level. In summary,  satisfiers describe a persons relationship with that she or he  does, many related to the tasks being performed.  On the other hand dissatisfiers have to do with a persons  relationship to the context or environment  in which she or he performs the job.  Ã‚  The satisfiers or motivators relate to what a person does while the dissatisfiers relate to the situation in which the person does what he or she does. So in summary according to Herzberg if the basic needs of an employee are being met at an organisation, the employee will always be willing to come to work and will be happy doing his job. Herzberg argued that extra compensation only work in the short term and other hygiene factors only avoid dissatisfaction and that satisfaction comes from intrinsic motivators. EXAMPLE Royal Bank of Scotland has implemented Herzberg Two Factor Theory and its working successfully at the bank. RBS has put the following few factors from Herzberg theory: The good work by employees  gets recognition The employees at RBS have a combined logic of success when the whole business does well They get extra responsibility and progress through regular performance reviews RBS rewards their employee when they do well in their work RBS also introduced flexible working for its all employees and these are adapted to suit the local needs of each RBS centre. Through its right to work flexibly theory RBS is continuously motivating its employee as if they are unable to come to the work on time due to an appointment, they always can come late and can cover their work through job sharing, home working or variable working hours. ATTRIBUTION THEORY Attribution theory suggests that we observe a persons behaviour and then try to establish whether internal or external forces caused it. If it is judged to be internal, it is seen as being under the persons control; if it is judged to be external, it is seen as a result of the situation. Attribution is said to be subjected to a number of considerations, because we judge actions in a context. For example, we judge how distinctive behaviour is and whether behaviour is unusual for a particular person. Attribution theory is very much relevant to absenteeism as for example the employee is absent from work and the circumstances are that his or her attendance record is exemplary, then the behaviour could be considered unusual and an external cause (that is, that the behaviour is outside the control of the individual) will be attributed. If the absenteeism fits in with the general pattern of behaviour, then an internal attribution will be attached (that is, it will be seen as being under the persons control). EQUITY THEORY The Adams Equity Theory is a simple theory which differentiates an employees inputs and the outputs. According to the theory, the judgment to this fair sense of balance serves to make sure that a strong and useful connection is achieved with the worker, with the overall result being satisfied and motivated workers. This theory states that optimistic outcomes and high levels of enthusiasm are likely only when employees recognize their behaviour to be fair. The thought behind Adams Equity Theory is to hit a strong balance here, with outputs on one side of the level and inputs on the other both weighing in a way that seems reasonably equal. If the balance is in favour of the employer then few employees may work to bring balance between inputs and outputs on their own, by asking for more reward or recognition. Others will be demotivated, and still others will look for substitute employment.   DOUGLAS MCGREGOR THEORY X THEORY Y According to Douglas McGregor there are two different views of human beings. He described under his Theory X, that workers come to work to do the work and raise no questions and receive their pay. While in his Theory Y he believed that workers are dedicated and want responsibility. McGregor strongly recommend that employers should treat all the workers as Theory Y because they will be more efficient. EXAMPLE Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) in UK has implemented McGregors Theory Y, as NDA wants its employees to be self-directed in their work and are always ready to accept high levels of responsibilities. NDA claims that with the help of this theory their employees absenteeism level is very low as everyone loves their work and they are more responsible to be at work on regular basis. ABSENTEEISM MEASUREMENT To measure worker absenteeism the most obvious way is to record how many days have employees not come in to work. The companies should have some sort of clock-in or accountability set-up making this step relatively simple. Once the numbers are available, surely it would be interesting to know how many of those workers were genuinely ill. Measuring absenteeism can serve as many as four purposes for organisations, which includes the following: Administering payroll and benefits programs Planning human resource requirements for production scheduling identifying absenteeism problems measuring and controlling personnel costs (Gandz and Mikalachki, 1979) Actual assessment and analyzing is a key aspect of managing absence effectively. Organisations must assess if they have complications with absenteeism, its extent and find out the best way to handle it. In the latest Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) absence survey, there were only a less than half of employers who monitor the cost of absence of their employee,  and there were just under  half of organisations who have set a target for reducing absenteeism and the only 38% of organisations benchmark themselves against other employers.   To analyse particular arrangement of absenteeism and underlying the basis, employers should acquire and use data, for example, the management approach of an appropriate manager or an increase in workloads. This can also provide the evidence of how absenteeism impacts on the bottom line and why it value investing in an effective absenteeism management programme. MEASURE TIME LOST To evaluate absenteeism there are a number of different measures that can be used, each of which can gives information about the different aspects of absenteeism. Some of the factors are described as under: LOST TIME RATE Lost time rate measure  articulate the percentage of the total time available which has been lost due to absence: Total absence (hours or days) in the period  x 100   Possible total (hours or days) in the period   For instance, if the total absence of the employees in the period is 155 person-hours and the total time available is 1,950 person-hours, the lost time rate will be:   155 x 100 = 7.95%   1,950   This can also be calculated separately for the individual departments of different groups of employees to uncover particular absence problems within an organisation. FREQUENCY RATE The frequency rate method shows an average number of absences per employee, which is expressed as a percentage. This does not give any indication of the length or duration of each absence period, nor any indication of employees who take more than one spell of absence and it is calculated as under:   No of spells of absence in the period  x 100   No of employees   For example, if an organisation employed on average 110 workers in one month, and during this time there were a total of 24 spells of absence, the frequency rate will be:   24  x 100 = 21.82%   110   To find out the individual frequency rate, we have to count the number of workers who take at least one interval of absence in the period, rather than to total number of intervals of absence. BRADFORD FACTOR This method expresses the persistent short-term absence for individuals, by measuring the number of spells of absence, and is therefore a useful measure of the disruption caused by this type of absence. It is calculated using the formula:   S x S x D S = number of spells of absence in 52 weeks taken by an individual   D = number of days of absence in 52 weeks taken by that individual   For example:   10 one-day absences: 10 x 10 x 10 = 1,000   1 ten-day absence: 1 x 1 x 10 = 10   5 two-day absences: 5 x 5 x 10 = 250   2 five-day absences: 2 x 2 x 10 = 40   The trigger points will differ between organisations. The underlying causes will need to be identified for all unauthorised absence. ABSENTEEISM CONTROL POLICIES The companies should have clear policies in place which support their business objectives and culture and this is the first step to managing absenteeism efficiently. Under the current legislation employers are required to provide their staff with knowledge on any terms and conditions relating to inadequacy for work due to the sickness or injury, including any arrangement for sick pay. Effective absenteeism policies must spell out clearly employees rights and responsibilities when taking time off from work due to sickness or any other reason. These policies should include: A clear idea of what absence is, how it can be defined and how it might be measured. An indication of the scope and scale of absence in the UK and elsewhere by sector, region and industry type An account of the likely causes of absence and how they relate to individuals, jobs, organisations and wider factors. Consideration of the legal environment within which absence must be managed. Examination of the equal opportunities implications of absence management, which particular regard to the Employment Relations Act 1999. Discussion of the ways in which work might be made more flexible to suit the needs of both the employer and the employee. Consideration of how a strategy for managing absence might be developed. Examination of the range of tactics that an employer might employ for the management of absence. HOW TO MANAGE ABSENTEEISM Before we discuss how to manage absenteeism we look the types of absenteeism. There are many other reasons why people take time off from work. These can be categorised as under: Non permitted absence or continuous lateness Long-term sickness absence Short-term sickness absence (uncertificated, self-certificated, or covered by a doctors fit note which replaced the sick note from April 2010) Other authorised absences:  for example,  annual leave; maternity, paternity, adoption, or parental leave; time off for public or trade union duties, or to care for dependents; compassionate leave; educational leave. Other than these above categories of absenteeism there are two main types of absenteeism, know as short term absenteeism and long term absenteeism. We discuss in detail how to manage these two main types of absenteeism: MANAGING SHORT-TERM ABSENCE Temporary absence is also known as absence interventions. The most effective interventions in managing short term absence include the followings: A proactive absence management policy Return-to-work interviews Disciplinary procedures for unacceptable absence levels Involving trained line managers in absence management Providing sickness absence information to line managers Restricting sick pay Involving occupational health professionals The most common method which is currently being adopted by many organisations is return-to-work interviews which can help identify short-term absence problems at an early stage. These return-to-work interviews provide an opportunity to managers to start a dialogue with staff over underlying issues, which might be causing the absence.   Tim Holden, the Managing Director of  FLUID, draws on more than 10 years experience as an award-winning recruiter and trainer. FLUID works with organisations to enhance their attractiveness to both current and future employees. Holden suggests that: The use of disciplinary procedures for unacceptable absence may be used to make it clear to employees that unjustified absence will not be tolerated and that absence policies will be enforced.   According to CIPDs recent survey it has been revealed that, only 12% of organisations use attendance incentives or bonuses as a tool of absence management according to our latest absence survey. MANAGING LONG-TERM ABSENCE The current studies and researches on long term absence have shown that absence of  eight days or more justify about one third  of total time lost through absence and absence of four weeks or more accounts for more than 15%. Consequently it is very vital that organisations have an approved strategy in place to help their employees to get back to work after a continuous period of sickness or injury-related absence. The knowledge of potential disability discrimination claims is also critical these days.   LINE MANAGERS ROLE To control and reduce the causes of absenteeism, line managers have a substantial role to play, either directly or indirectly. How managers behave is very important because it has a significant effect on employee health and comfort. Many recent researches show that line managers are the type of employees most likely to be reported as bullies within organisations. Management style within an organisation is also one of the top causes of stress at work.  Ã‚  The role and responsibilities of the line manager in the management of absence should be clearly defined. However, these days the role of line managers is paramount. It is the line managers responsibility to manager his or her department or unit. Therefore it is his/her responsibility to see that these resources are used as effectively as possible. This means that levels of attendance should be good and absence kept to a minimum. The line managers should follow the companys approach to management style, organisation and allocation of work, as this will be a vital part of any strategy to control absence. In addition it is his/her responsibility to follow the company absence polices and procedures to staff. In any organisations the managers need good communications skills to encourage employees so that they can feel free to discuss any problems they may have at an early stage so that they can be given support or advice by the managers before matters escalate. According to all the recent studies and surveys it is stated that despite of all the importance of line manager/supervisor involvement, there are only 50% organisations are training their line managers to get the skills needed to do this effectively. The organisations should train their line managers to get the following skills to handle the absenteeism properly and they should have a good knowledge of: Their companys absence policies and procedures What is their role in the absence management programme How to act upon any advice given by the doctor to the employee. All the related legal and disciplinary aspects of absence including potential disability discrimination issues   How to maintain absence record-keeping and understanding facts and figures on absence The role of occupational health services The proactive measures to support staff health and wellbeing Operation (where applicable) of trigger points Development of return-to-work interview skills Development of counselling skills. In addition, the line manager will be one of the main influences on an individuals view of the company attitude to absence. It is therefore important that the actions and words of line manager support the companys position. It a difference attitude is being taken on the management of absence, whether more strictly or leniently, it will cause problems for the individual manager and for the organisation. Line managers must be able to rely on the support of senior management for decision they take in line with the companys policy, their responsibilities are as under: To effectively organize and allocate work; To use an appropriate management style; To ensure that all staff are adequately trained for their role; To communicate the absence policy and procedures to all subordinates; To apply policy and procedures in a consistent and fair manner; To deal with requests for prior approved absence; To keep accurate and up-to-date records of absences; To investigate reasons for unexplained absences; To carry out return to work interviews; To instigate disciplinary procedures, when required; To provide adequate feedback to senior management; To ensure adequate personal development and training to be able to meet these responsibilities effectively. To support staff health and wellbeing by taking proactive measures for occupational health involvement To be a part of the absence management programme By restricting sick pay To changes work patterns or environment To induct rehabilitation programme There are also four typical components in the recovery of absence and return-to-work process, which are discussed as under: An up-to-date contact with sick employees   The line manager should ensure that a regular contact is maintained using both sensitive and non-intrusive approaches with the employee. This approach must be agreed with the member of staff and management and, also where appropriate, with the union or employee representative. Workplace controls or adjustments   There can be some obstacles which may cause delay, interruption or difficulties to an employees return to work. A risk appraisal can analyse measures or adjustments to assist workers return and stay in work. For example: Allowing a steady or step-by-step return-to-work, for example,  promoting an employee from part-time job to full-time job over a period of weeks To change work arrangement or management style to reduce work pressure and to give the worker more control Modifying the employees working hours, for example allowing flexible working hours to accommodate his/her family demands Co-coordinating the employees mobility. The use of professional advice and treatment   These days there are many occupational health professionals in every country, they can be consulted because they can play a major role to evaluate the reason for absenteeism, and also can carry out employees health assessments, and can assist the managers in preparation for a return to work. Return-to-work planning The management should have a return to work plan agreed by the employee and the line manager, and any other staff which is likely to be affected and this plan needs to include: The goals of the plan, alternative working hours, or a alternative job role The time period of the plan Information about the new working arrangements The reviews that will need to be made to make sure the plan is put into practice The dates when the plan will be reviewed This can be helpful if the management appoint someone who can coordinate the return-to-work process. This also can include the colleagues of the absent worker who can inform him/her of the progress, so that everyone appreciate the situation, as well as easing the alterations back to work and maintaining working relationships. TACTICS FOR CONTROLLING ABSENTEEISM There are many tools that can be used as a part of a structured plan of absenteeism. We discuss some of the tools to control absenteeism. In practice, these tools will be used in isolation but more probably several will be used in combination. PRE-EMPLOYMENT SCREENING: All reasonable steps should be taken to ensure that the employed staff is likely to be good attenders. One of the best indicators of likely future attendance rates is past attendance rates as many employers believe that pre-employment screening is a vital tool in absence management. There are number of simple steps that an employer can take to reduce the risk of employing a poor attender: Ask for information about absence on the application. For example, How many days absence have you had over the last two years? Ask about absence on reference requests. Ensure that those invited for interview are made fully aware of the expectations of the job. This would include duties, hours of work, work environment, standards of performance and conduct. Avoid the temptation to oversell the job at interview as this will result in disappointment and disillusioned employees and they will be more likely to be absent. Use pre-employment medical examinations to identify any potential problems. Note that disablement is not a reason not to employ an applicant, and employers must take great care to observe the terms o