Unravelling the Influence of Absenteeism on Business Operations in the South African Public Organisation
Keywords:
Absenteeism, Workplace Morale, Employee Engagement, Attendance Policy, Productivity, Police OfficersAbstract
High absenteeism rates are a common phenomenon in many South African organisations which organisations are struggling to deal with. As a result, absenteeism continues to cost South African organisations and the government huge amounts of money every year despite numerous attempts by employers to reduce it. South African organisations lose about R25 billion (US1,3 billion) every year due to unplanned absenteeism. The study investigates the causes and effects of absenteeism business operations at a selected public organisation in South Africa. A descriptive research design and quantitative research approach were used in this study. The findings of this study revealed that absenteeism is caused by poor supervision at work, financial challenges, marital challenges, substance abuse, childcare problems and stress. The results of the study also indicated that absenteeism negatively affects individual work output, co-workers, group work, families, society, work productivity, labour cost and morale. The management should utilise more resources to address the causes and effects of absenteeism at the workplace.
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