"Using the Absence Tracker, we can identify absence issues when they occur and respond accordingly. It allows us for the first time to empower managers to take responsibility for managing departmental absences and notifications ensure they are kept up to date."
Omagh District Council have continually been reviewing systems and procedures in respect of recording and managing sickness related absences and felt that existing systems were not capable of monitoring employee absences in a timely manner. Nor was it possible to provide up to date statistics for Managers.
Before using Absence Tracker, sickness recording and reporting was a labour intensive process prone to user error and did not provide managers with quick access and visibility of their own Department/teams’ absence statistics.
The issues were summarised as follows:
Team Solutionz Ltd spent considerable time with Omagh District Council HR department detailing and documenting the new absence policy. This included identifying who would enter absence data, who would oversee the process and what reporting was required on the captured data.
With this information, Team Solutionz designed and implemented a fully customised absence system which gave assurance that Line Managers were consistently applying the Absence Policy.
As per the policy, managers would enter new absence information and have visibility of their staff absence performances. The system enables HR to maintain a monitoring role on a daily basis prompting action from managers when the integrated e-mail notifications advised.
Managers are also reminded after absentees return to work that “return to work interviews” are required. All details of the interview are recorded in the Absence Tracker for future reference. This has been highlighted by the NI Auditors Office as a powerful tool for managing both long and short term absences.
Absence Tracker has automated the absence process and, in line with the NI Auditor’s Office recommendations, now empowers managers to enter and monitor all absence information relating to their department. This re-allocation of workload enables the HR department to more closely monitor ongoing absences and intervene at any point necessary giving a proactive, rather than reactive, approach to absence management. Today Omagh District Council has full visibility of the absence statistics and the status of each individual absence.
Team Solutionz Ltd are committed to providing tailored process automation software that simplifies current practices and provides up to date and relevant information where required. At Omagh District Council this has noticeably been the case.