what do you do if your small company who only has 8 employees has a problem with excessive absenteeism? We had one guy out this year 250 hours and we continued to pay him, not including paid holidays and paid 3 weeks vacation, he just continued to call out of work…. then the other employees got wind of this so they started calling sick, one guy was out 217 hours, another guy 90 hours, another new employee 55 hours and so on and so forth…. by the time we realized this it wasw way out of control!!! so we layed the law down , implemented a employee manual and have been trying to stop it, also implemented off time forms, to be filled out by all when they call out and we now require documentation of any and all absences!!! but how do we even start a incentive plan with such excessive absenteeism???? we cant!!
Consider using attendance as a significant component of your incentive plan. \”Planned absences\” are okay—meaning, those that meet a set standard, such as 5 days notice to supervisors. In the face of that standard, which would include impromptu sick leave and late arrivals or early departures, decide what level of absenteeism is acceptable. Perhaps 8 hours is the limit…or even less than 8 hours. The less one is absent, the higher the incentive. For example: less than 2 hours absenteeism = 100% of what is made available for that component of the incentive; 2 to 3.99 hours = 75%; 4 to 5.99 hours = 50%; 6 to 7.99 hours = 25%; 8 hours or more = 0%. Your management team may need to decide upon this standard in light of your business model and employee culture.
One just needs to weigh out what percentage should be applied to the attendance component of the total incentive to keep staff working productively, rather than just showing up for the job. Let’s say that the entire incentive available to an employee is $400 per month. Further, let’s say the attendance component equates to 30% of that $400 possible dollars, or $120. (The remaining 60% goes to other key aspects of performance.) Thus, carrying out the percentage formula above in real dollars: less than 2 hours absenteeism = $120; 2 to 3.99 hours = $90; 4 to 5.99 hours = $60; 6 to 7.99 hours = $30; 8 hours or more = $0.
A strong policy with teeth, and consistent supervisory action with backbone to \”help\” others adhere to the policy is what appears to be needed in this case. If excessive absenteeism cannot be curbed by management, then perhaps new management might be the next thing to consider. An incentive plan in this case does not apper at all appropriate.
In addition to the % rules on absenteeism explained in another response, is it also worthwhile to look at the fundamental reason why these staff are taking \’sick leave\’. Would they act the same in another company or is there something in particular that they do not like about their current company? If they are absent so often, are these the type of people you want to keep on your staff? (There may be ways of firing them for excessive absentesism.) Have you addressed the issue directly – have you held a meeting with all the staff and brainstormed as to what incentives they would like? For example, the fact that they may be able to stagger their working and then have one day off every other week to compensate may actually motivate them to turn up to work.
I enjoyed your article as I am charged with the duty of designing an incentive program for our small manufacturing company. We specialize in custom steel parts and machinery production. I am trying to devise a “formula” for an incentive bonus per job order which is difficult given different employees work on different parts of the same job order. Any suggestions?
Great Article,,, we have just implemented a Sales BDC Dept. and am having a hard time setting up an incentive program…The arange appts for salespeople so I’m thinking appt. incentive is a start but if the customer they booked sells then a spiff should apply to that,, but I want to get good appts so I don’t want to get too wrapped up in the appts side of it,,,if employee makes 70 appts for the month and 2 sell, what was the quality of the other 68 appts. Any suggestions
Carlson is the largest travel managment company in the world. My departement specializes in Loyalty reward programs for both small and large companies. I would love to discuss this more with anyone that is looking for travel incentives. Call me at 763-212-3787.
A concern with this is that quality may decrease as workers focus on spitting out the maximum possible number of parts. Also, different processes in the job order have different time studies where workers may dispute that their assigned process is slower than others and should not be penalized.
Instead, what about worker cells where teams of the entire process (or segmented) are measured for the number of job orders based on quality
Good article, if we could link the goal of the company to each person performance, that would be awsome. The difficulty is how to link them. Balance Score Card is one way. even still there will be some area that will be difficult to link.
hi would like to and get information on the factors considered while developing an incentive plan for the following positions: Manager; sales, marketing, plant manger, production engineer. Please do forward me with the respective documents or links where i can get the answers. Thanks in advance.
I work for a small organization and we are going to the bargining table and we would like to request some incentives. Could you give me some ideas on the type of incentives we can request? For example: birthday off with pay without using leave time. Do you have any more ideas like this that won’t cost our company and money or little money? Your sugguestions will be greatly appreciated.
How do you write an incentive plan for a graphic design department or product development team? Their jobs are harder to measure. Profit sharing is difficult, as these departments rely on sales teams to convert product into profit. Even if they perform, if sales do not perform, then they lose their incentive.
If you have any examples or links, I would be interested.
I am service manager of a pest control company. the techs days are schedualed for them. I need an incentive program for them but I’m not sure where to start. Some are new service techs and others do daily auto services. I need different incentives for both types. They currently get commision for up sales but I need to add to it.
I think employee incentives are extremely powerful. I have a whole blog about my favorite practices for motivation/rewards. Thought you all might be interested.
Very clear and helpfull Article. Very nice
what do you do if your small company who only has 8 employees has a problem with excessive absenteeism? We had one guy out this year 250 hours and we continued to pay him, not including paid holidays and paid 3 weeks vacation, he just continued to call out of work…. then the other employees got wind of this so they started calling sick, one guy was out 217 hours, another guy 90 hours, another new employee 55 hours and so on and so forth…. by the time we realized this it wasw way out of control!!! so we layed the law down , implemented a employee manual and have been trying to stop it, also implemented off time forms, to be filled out by all when they call out and we now require documentation of any and all absences!!! but how do we even start a incentive plan with such excessive absenteeism???? we cant!!
Why do you continue to pay them? This is ignorant and WILL put you out of business. (if you’re not already).
Consider using attendance as a significant component of your incentive plan. \”Planned absences\” are okay—meaning, those that meet a set standard, such as 5 days notice to supervisors. In the face of that standard, which would include impromptu sick leave and late arrivals or early departures, decide what level of absenteeism is acceptable. Perhaps 8 hours is the limit…or even less than 8 hours. The less one is absent, the higher the incentive. For example: less than 2 hours absenteeism = 100% of what is made available for that component of the incentive; 2 to 3.99 hours = 75%; 4 to 5.99 hours = 50%; 6 to 7.99 hours = 25%; 8 hours or more = 0%. Your management team may need to decide upon this standard in light of your business model and employee culture.
One just needs to weigh out what percentage should be applied to the attendance component of the total incentive to keep staff working productively, rather than just showing up for the job. Let’s say that the entire incentive available to an employee is $400 per month. Further, let’s say the attendance component equates to 30% of that $400 possible dollars, or $120. (The remaining 60% goes to other key aspects of performance.) Thus, carrying out the percentage formula above in real dollars: less than 2 hours absenteeism = $120; 2 to 3.99 hours = $90; 4 to 5.99 hours = $60; 6 to 7.99 hours = $30; 8 hours or more = $0.
A strong policy with teeth, and consistent supervisory action with backbone to \”help\” others adhere to the policy is what appears to be needed in this case. If excessive absenteeism cannot be curbed by management, then perhaps new management might be the next thing to consider. An incentive plan in this case does not apper at all appropriate.
In addition to the % rules on absenteeism explained in another response, is it also worthwhile to look at the fundamental reason why these staff are taking \’sick leave\’. Would they act the same in another company or is there something in particular that they do not like about their current company? If they are absent so often, are these the type of people you want to keep on your staff? (There may be ways of firing them for excessive absentesism.) Have you addressed the issue directly – have you held a meeting with all the staff and brainstormed as to what incentives they would like? For example, the fact that they may be able to stagger their working and then have one day off every other week to compensate may actually motivate them to turn up to work.
I enjoyed your article as I am charged with the duty of designing an incentive program for our small manufacturing company. We specialize in custom steel parts and machinery production. I am trying to devise a “formula” for an incentive bonus per job order which is difficult given different employees work on different parts of the same job order. Any suggestions?
Great Article,,, we have just implemented a Sales BDC Dept. and am having a hard time setting up an incentive program…The arange appts for salespeople so I’m thinking appt. incentive is a start but if the customer they booked sells then a spiff should apply to that,, but I want to get good appts so I don’t want to get too wrapped up in the appts side of it,,,if employee makes 70 appts for the month and 2 sell, what was the quality of the other 68 appts. Any suggestions
Carlson is the largest travel managment company in the world. My departement specializes in Loyalty reward programs for both small and large companies. I would love to discuss this more with anyone that is looking for travel incentives. Call me at 763-212-3787.
I would like farmula to calculate the incentive as per the GP
A concern with this is that quality may decrease as workers focus on spitting out the maximum possible number of parts. Also, different processes in the job order have different time studies where workers may dispute that their assigned process is slower than others and should not be penalized.
Instead, what about worker cells where teams of the entire process (or segmented) are measured for the number of job orders based on quality
Good article, if we could link the goal of the company to each person performance, that would be awsome. The difficulty is how to link them. Balance Score Card is one way. even still there will be some area that will be difficult to link.
hi would like to and get information on the factors considered while developing an incentive plan for the following positions: Manager; sales, marketing, plant manger, production engineer. Please do forward me with the respective documents or links where i can get the answers. Thanks in advance.
Ramesh A.
I work for a small organization and we are going to the bargining table and we would like to request some incentives. Could you give me some ideas on the type of incentives we can request? For example: birthday off with pay without using leave time. Do you have any more ideas like this that won’t cost our company and money or little money? Your sugguestions will be greatly appreciated.
How do you write an incentive plan for a graphic design department or product development team? Their jobs are harder to measure. Profit sharing is difficult, as these departments rely on sales teams to convert product into profit. Even if they perform, if sales do not perform, then they lose their incentive.
If you have any examples or links, I would be interested.
I am service manager of a pest control company. the techs days are schedualed for them. I need an incentive program for them but I’m not sure where to start. Some are new service techs and others do daily auto services. I need different incentives for both types. They currently get commision for up sales but I need to add to it.
This article is so practical. I have liked it. Some extra live examples such as case scenarios would make it superb.
Regards,
Don.
I think employee incentives are extremely powerful. I have a whole blog about my favorite practices for motivation/rewards. Thought you all might be interested.
employee-rewards-incentives.blogspot.com
is not bad
Superb!