Perfect Attendance at Work

A while ago,  a client mentioned to me that   people were regularly coming to work late. He wanted this situation to change pronto because it was creating operational and economic issues for the company. He asked for suggestions besides sending warnings to the workers.   He also mentioned  that employees  always had a reason to justify the tardiness.

People  who show up on time for work have to handle the same issues as those who come late. If  an employer has attendance issues, then it must examine existing policies, rules and the workplace culture.

More than written rules and regulations, the way things are actually conducted in a company represents its culture. Every company has a particular culture (or cultures). It develops and solidifies- not by internal rules and  regulations – but by the shared values and practices of the group that composes it.  Said otherwise, the culture in a company is a reflection of its values; it is the recognized, shared and valued conduct  at work. Multiple cultures can exist in a company.

How engaged are your workers to arrive on time? Does your company’s culture  support  lateness or  rejects it?  Lets go a step further, how committed are the employees  at your company?    Rules and regulations are one of many tools that are used in the process of creating a high performance workplace they are useful but cannot operate alone by themselves.

Improving attendance might require a company wide meeting, drafting policies and procedures, avoiding  exemptions (not everyone is required) , reinforcing the new policies through senior management communication channels,  enforcements for those who refuse to adopt the new rules, rewards for compliance and perfect attendance among other  mechanisms.