How an absence program helped a 24/7 hospitality business

Reduction in absenteeism delivered through a telehealth and workforce analytics service

For one 24-hour Australian hospitality business, staying in operation involves managing around 1,800 employees, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. So, it’s not surprising managing absenteeism for such a large organisation was a challenge before they contacted us, particularly given the organisation was using a manual spreadsheet.

This cumbersome process meant managers simply spent all their time managing absenteeism and trying to find replacement employees on the fly. Its high absenteeism rate also meant sections of the business would have to be closed while replacement staff were sourced, leading to a significant loss of revenue.

Since implementing our absence management program, the business was able to:

• 22% reduction in absenteeism
• $1.2 million saved annually
• 95% of back to work discussions completed within 24 hours
• Provide personalised health care and attention to staff with a nurse-led service

The challenge

For this business, operations don't stop - with around 1,800 employees working around the clock seven days a week, 24 hours a day. As you can imagine, any employee absenteeism costs the business a lot of money.

Prior to contacting us, the business was managing its absenteeism with a manual excel spreadsheet, which took many hours of administration effort, leading to wasted hours and resources.

This manual process meant it needed three managers for every 24-hour shift purely managing employee absenteeism along with employees. These managers had no time for anything else, so there were a lot of wasted resources due to this very expensive and manual model.

The solution

This current absence management model was costing the business significant time and money, and as a result it could never track trends, help employees recover, or target efforts to proactively reduce employee absenteeism. 

The business decided to work with us to manage the burden of managing employee absenteeism, as well as facilitate data capturing to track trends and issues, while improving employee care.

We set up a direct reporting line for employees to call in absent along with ensuring a nurse was available to answer employee queries and offer personalised health care where necessary. When an employee calls the absence line to report they are not coming in, one of our nurses takes the call and then forwards the relevant information to that staff member’s manager, so the manager can find a replacement. We take out the middleman of that process and streamlines employee absenteeism so the business can better manage it.

As a result, the client is looking to expand the use of our absence management program across other areas of the business. 

The results

The client is delighted with our absence management program. It has allowed it to bring senior managers back into the operation without the daily burden of identifying who's called in sick, what time they called in sick, how long they will be away, and tracking this manually before they even find a replacement.

We ensure workforce planners actually receive a notification immediately about whether somebody is going to be absent, and their location, which is then delegated out to their direct manager in a confidential and personalised way. 

As a result, the administration burden has been removed, saving a significant amount of time and money. We allow the business to personalise the follow ups with employees, to ensure they are receiving appropriate care from its medical team.

The nurse-led service helps staff members seek out further health care if necessary, leading to faster recovery times, and positive staff morale as the client can now demonstrate it cares for its team. 

Want to find out how we can help your business leverage absence management technology to foster an engaged and productive workforce? Contact us today.