Absenteeism Problem: Analysis and Solutions for Gateway Ltd. Firm

This report examines the problem of absenteeism within Gateway Ltd., a retail sector organization, and its consequential effects on the company's growth and customer relations. The report identifies that frequent unscheduled leaves disrupt operations, burden present employees, and negatively impact customer service, leading to potential client loss. To address these challenges, the report suggests implementing an Employee Assistance Program to support employees, formalizing attendance policies, setting clear expectations, and rewarding good attendance to motivate employees. The analysis concludes that addressing absenteeism is crucial for Gateway Ltd. to maintain operational efficiency, improve employee morale, and retain valuable clients, and recommends the suggested solutions to mitigate the adverse effects of unplanned employee absences. Desklib provides a platform to access this and many similar solved assignments.

Running head: PROBLEM OF ABSENTEEISM IN ORGANIZATION
PROBLEM OF ABSENTEEISM IN ORGANIZATION
Name of the Student
Name of the university
Author note

1PROBLEM OF ABSENTEEISM IN ORGANIZATION
Cover Email
To,
The manager
Gateway Ltd.
Respected Sir,
As per your concerns related to absenteeism in the firm, I have analyzed the current situation
and the observations are written herein. The problems that the organization can encounter due
to this have been stated and some ways have been suggested so that your organization can
cope up with the situation.
I will be highly obliged if you take my suggestions and wish that the organization succeeds in
solving this problem.
Thank You
Yours sincerely

2PROBLEM OF ABSENTEEISM IN ORGANIZATION
Introduction
Absenteeism refers to the unscheduled leaves that the employees take from work.
This is considered as habitual pattern of being absent from work or the duty they are vested
with. It can be said to be as big barrier to the growth of the organization. Human resource is a
vital part of the organization and the operations of an organization stand on their shoulder.
The reason behind absenteeism can be different but irrespective of the reason behind it, this
has a drastic effect on the daily chores of the organization. The purpose of this report is to
analyze the effect of absenteeism on organization and how can this be resolved.
The Problem of Absenteeism
Employees are considered as the valuable assets of a company and thus absenteeism
has an effect on the overall growth of the company. Employers expect that their employees
will be regular at work and if it happens that an employer has to deal with frequent absence of
employees then it can be said to be as tough situation. This is a difficult problem that the
managers are unable to handle as it is difficult for the one sitting at the post to approve leaves
judging which reason is legitimate and which is a mere excuse. In the Gateway organization,
the problem of absenteeism has given rise to serious issues. This being an organization in the
retail sector has to incur loss due to the regular cases of absenteeism. There is a need to
control costs in every business and it is to be checked how the indirect costs are affecting the
business (Kocakulah, Kelley, Mitchell & Ruggieri, 2016). In the retail environment as in case
of Gateway organization it can be said that impact of employees being absent from work can
be realized all the way from the store to the head office. The operations in retail sectors as
such require staying in touch with the customers and interact with them on a face-to-face
basis. Gateway organization also depends on face-to-face communication with the clients and
thus has to depend highly on its employees. This sector requires dependable employees and

3PROBLEM OF ABSENTEEISM IN ORGANIZATION
thus it is a problem when employees take sudden leave as getting a replacement is not easy.
Employees surely have the provision to take sick leaves but there are some who take undue
advantage of the provision provided to them (Badubi, 2017).
Effect of absenteeism on the organization
The effect of absenteeism on the working of the organization can be understood by
considering the facts given below:
1. Morale of the employees- It is having an effect on the morale of the employees who are
regular at their work. When a certain employee is absent then another employee has to cover
for that person and do his work on top of the work that has been assigned to him. Thus it can
be said that it is a burden on those employees who are regular at work (Kocakülâh, Bryan &
Lynch, 2018). As Gateway is an organization of the retail sector, the work cannot be kept on
hold till the employee entitled to do the same returns. If this is not dealt with properly, the
employees those who are regular at work can be stressed out which in turn can affect their
work.
2. Customer impact- It is difficult to handle so many customers when employees are on
frequent leave. The face time that is spent with each of the customers is being reduced due to
unavailability of employees. This is making the customers feel that their queries or the issues
that they are facing are not being taken seriously (Joseph, 2015). It is being seen that
customers are not returning to the store as they are feeling that the service being offered are
not up to their expectations.
Probable solutions
The solution to this specific problem is as follows:

4PROBLEM OF ABSENTEEISM IN ORGANIZATION
1. The organization can opt for Employee Assistance Program that can possibly offer services
which can help out the employees through personal, financial, and work related issues that
have a serious effect on the attendance as well as the performance of the employee (Singh,
Chetty & Karodia, 2016). The management can focus on issues like communication; provide
employees having good attendance record with rewards so that they feel appreciated and
others get motivated to come to work.
2. Writing down attendance policies- This means that Gateway can formalize its expectations
regarding attendance by laying down attendance policy (Magee et al., 2017). The policy
should include definition of tardiness and what is that which constitutes excessive
absenteeism.
3. Setting clear attendance expectations- The attendance policy can be shared with the
employees which can be the part of new process of employee orientation (Silpa &
Masthanamma, 2015). This should include what the management expects from the employees
in relation to their attendance.
4. Rewarding employees with good attendance- The organization can reward the employees
with good attendance by giving bonuses for not having any unplanned leaves which can
motivate them (Nunes et al., 2018).
Conclusion
It can be concluded that absenteeism in organizations can drastically effect their
growth. In case of Gateway it is seen that being in the retail sector where face-to-face
interactions are a must, it is incurring losses for unplanned leaves of employees. The situation
is serious enough to be considered as this has direct effect on the relationship that the
organization has with its clients. It is really difficult for the organization to arrange for
someone else in place of the absentee as all employees are engaged in their own tasks. In this

5PROBLEM OF ABSENTEEISM IN ORGANIZATION
scenario when a present employee is given the task of the one who is absent it is certainly a
burden for him. If it is continued in this way the organization will have to face serious
consequences that include loss of valuable clients as well. Thus, the solutions that have been
suggested can be considered by the company to cope up with the situation.

6PROBLEM OF ABSENTEEISM IN ORGANIZATION
References
Badubi, R. M. (2017). A Critical Risk Analysis of Absenteeism in the Work
Place. Marketing, 2(6).
Joseph, K. E. (2015). Gauging the issue of absenteeism in the workplace: Evidence from the
public sector. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 6(2).
Kocakülâh, M. C., Bryan, T. G., & Lynch, S. (2018). Effects of absenteeism on company
productivity, efficiency, and profitability. Business and Economic Research, 8(1),
115-135.
Kocakulah, M. C., Kelley, A. G., Mitchell, K. M., & Ruggieri, M. P. (2016). Absenteeism
problems and costs: causes, effects and cures. International Business & Economics
Research Journal (IBER), 15(3), 89-96.
Magee, C., Gordon, R., Robinson, L., Caputi, P., & Oades, L. (2017). Workplace bullying
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Nunes, A. P., Richmond, M. K., Pampel, F. C., & Wood, R. C. (2018). The effect of
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Business and Psychology, 33(6), 699-709.
Silpa, N., & Masthanamma, B. (2015). A study on symptoms and preventions of employee
absenteeism. International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, 5(6), 1-4.
Singh, T., Chetty, N., & Karodia, A. M. (2016). An Investigation into the Impact of
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