Faced with an array of HR challenges, it can be easy for businesses to focus on areas other than senior leadership when seeking the source of an issue.
Absentee leaders have been highlighted as a detriment to a workforce, with employees criticising this type of leadership more so than other forms of poor management.
This article focuses on the impact that absentee leadership can have on an organisation, and how companies should avoid it.

What is an Absentee Leader?
In short, an absentee leader is in the office in body but not in mind or spirit.

A recent Forbes article described absentee leadership as ‘emotional disengagement’ with their role and purpose.
While this ‘leader’ may be present, their lack of guidance or advice to staff as a mentor and management figure can make a lasting impact on their team and company.

While troublesome staff members are often guilty of disciplinary-worthy actions, absentee leaders can often become detrimental for an organisation on a long-term basis.

Whether it’s frequently cancelled meetings, multiple unanswered emails or little to no feedback, a leader who maintains an absent attitude to their role, their staff and their organisation can leave a lasting impact.

How can Absentee Leaders Impact their Staff?
Just as absentee leaders project a poor attitude, fellow staff can become demotivated towards their work or their role within an organisation. By not receiving appropriate feedback, staff may struggle to imagine a future within an organisation.

Not only can their own staff become impacted, but fellow senior leaders may be forced to pick up an absentee leader’s workload. Other managers who may also be causing trouble in more obvious ways will be focused upon, allowing absentee leaders to continue their poor management, leading to consequences for an organisations in the future.

What about Organisational Impact?
Poor management from an absentee leader may take some time to impact an organisation, but the consequences can be bad news for any company.

With demotivated staff comes an unproductive organisation. The Workforce View in Europe 2018 found that absentee leaders were one of the worst causes of unproductivity for organisations.

As staff become disenchanted with an organisation and how it is managed, many may consider or follow through leaving. Not only will this result in a loss of talent, but a company could face significant skill shortages.

An organisation’s performance will also inevitably suffer. While some managers face criticism for ‘micromanaging’, absentee leaders can lead to a toxic reduction in an organisation and its standing with its publics.

How can Absentee Leaders ruin your Organisation?
Hogan Assessments CEO Scott Gregory has shed light on the top five ways that an absentee leader can affect, or even ruin an organisation.
With a simple infographic, the consequences of failing to deal with absentee leaderships are plain to see.

​If an absentee leader fails to ensure staff are certain of their role and purpose, this will affect organisational productivity in the near future. By failing to provide feedback, absentee leaders can cause uncertainty for staff on their own performance, and their responsibilities within their own roles.

Other ways in which an organisation may be ruined by absentee leadership is increased employee dissatisfaction and staff turnover. A lack of feedback or understanding can lead to demotivation. In turn, staff will seek career fulfilment elsewhere, affecting an organisation’s ability to retain talent and superior performance over competitors.
Absentee leaders can cause further stress for staff. As job dissatisfaction rises, staff burnout can become inevitable, affecting staff health as they tackle increasing workloads as a result of frequent staff turnover. 

What should you do about it?
Absentee leaders are clearly toxic for any organisation and its staff. If their own leadership is not engaged and ready to serve their purpose, other staff will become demotivated and follow suit. As job dissatisfaction increases, staff turnover will follow, leading to skills shortages and performance reduction.

Organisations should protect their own reputation amongst both internal and external publics. If an absentee leader is identified, an organisation should strive to understand why they disengaged in the first place and work to motivate this person towards their role and purpose with an organisation.

By taking a top down approach to this HR issue, organisations can ensure their success continues, and that all staff are certain and motivated towards their roles.

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Today’s employers are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of employee morale to their company. Instead of ignoring issues with team members, they are implementing ways to enhance overall employee satisfaction. One of most popular tactics is promoting creativity in the workplace. Here are some ways to use creativity, amongst other methods, to ensure your team members are in it for the long run.  
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Encourage collaboration
As a leader you should always be looking for ways to increase communication in your company. Frequent interaction will give employees a chance to get to know each other, resulting in a positive working environment. Importantly, greater collaboration translates directly into greater creativity and better problem solving thanks to the multitude of ideas and perspectives available.
 
Give workers a voice
Most workers lose satisfaction because they are made to feel unimportant or their voices can get drowned by other more extrovert personalities. Some of your employees will have ideas they don’t feel confident enough to share. Encouraging them will bring those ideas to the surface and some of them may be revolutionary to your company. One of the main reasons for lack of creativity is because it isn’t heard, so listen up.
 
Organise work stations so that your team are in close proximity, allowing them to converse. Creating a party for each employee on their birthday or milestone in their life such as an anniversary or engagement celebrations will be appreciated by your workforce. Don’t forget to arrange out of office events, including after work drinks, networking events or volunteering programmes.
 
Promote health and wellbeing
Bad health will negatively affect your workers motivation, denting your company culture. Start by educating employees on the importance of maintaining good health, provide books or organise talks.
 
Ensure your office is fully equipped with a fully running kitchen, have a microwave and fridge so that workers can bring in ready prepared lunches. Add a touch of creativity by organising health company competitions, for example have employees aim to lose a certain amount of weight and whoever loses the most wins a prize.
 
Don’t only focus on physical health, highlight the importance of mental health as well. Organise a weekly company counsellor to employees that may be highly stressed either in their work or personal life. Offer a discount for the local gym, exercise releases endorphins that helps both physically and mentally. This is important, a healthy employee equals a healthy working environment.  
 
Offer Flexitime
Flexible working hours and working from home options will accommodate all workers who each have different situations. Allowing a flexible schedule will increase overall productivity and gives increased job satisfaction, as it allows employees to get their work-life balance organised in a way that suits their lifestyle.
 
Allow regular breaks
Giving employees the freedom to take breaks will boost their productivity levels. Adding breaks into your work culture helps workers approach tasks in a calmer, but productive way. They can take five minutes out when feeling stressed about a looming deadline or project, which will help get their creative juices flowing again. 
 
Having a creative team is important for your company, so if you want to have a productive, motivated and insightful team of workers, follow these tips to ensure everyone is at their creative peak.

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It is common to hear of parents struggling to get back into working life after maternity leave. It’s an emotional time between adapting to the lifestyle of parenting and helping their new arrival settle in. Many are exhausted due to lack of sleep and find it difficult to find motivation, here are some ways to help ease your employee back into the office environment.

Ensure your maternity leave policy is clearly implemented in the company handbook and that all team members are aware of it. The policy should include how much notice to give before the leave, the amount of time allowed and what to do when returning to work.  

Before the employee goes on leave, make it clear that you plan to keep in contact throughout their time off. Arrange days to catch-up either face-to-face or via phone/email. This will help the employee remain connected with the company and saves you the time on filling them in on their return.

Set up a review programme focused on their return to work. They should already be up to speed with what’s been happening from the catch-up meetings. The review programme will allow you to check how they are adapting and ensure they understand any changes that have been made. It also gives them the opportunity to request support or ask any questions.

As well as a review, show them they are cared for by organising a ‘welcome back’ lunch or dinner to help with make their return a smooth process. It gives the chance to meet any new employees and get reacquainted with others. This is important as one of the biggest causes of concern for returning to work mothers is seeing the rest of the team members, especially if they have lost contact while on leave. The day before the employee starts, hold a meeting to make your team aware of their return. Suggest some employees taking their team member out for an informal lunch or a quick coffee for a quick catch-up. The faster your employee settles back in, the faster their productivity will increase.  

Ensure that all employees are being welcoming towards their returning colleague, some workers may see them as competition or enjoyed having authority over work that will be given back to the returning employee. Keep an eye on this by asking managers how the team are working together or taking the employee to one side and asking how they are settling back in.

It is important to be understanding of your employee’s home life. Ask how they are finding life with their new arrival and offer flexitime if it’s not already available. Be lenient with offering work from home opportunities, as your employee will appreciate your consideration of their home situation, which, in turn will increase their loyalty to your company. Some companies offer organisational and motivational coaching for new parents, helping them handle their new lifestyle, and so consider putting this in place to ensure your employees hit the ground running on their return.

All employers experience a worker taking maternity leave at some point in their career and so it is important to follow these tips to ensure the process goes smoothly before, during and after the maternity leave, affecting your company as little as possible.

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The summer season is prime time for university students seeking work experience in an industry of their choice. For many, completing an internship will be their first time an office, and so providing them with a valuable experience whilst making the most of another person can be hard to balance.

There are elements that must be thought about before and during the internship. Here are some ways to make the most of the experience for all involved.

Follow a Recruitment Process
Even though interns may be a temporary hire, it doesn’t mean they can’t impact your workplace in a big way. Motivated and enthusiastic interns will be a breath of fresh air for your workplace and some will bring unique ideas to projects. However those that are unproductive and bored will negatively impact your team’s overall motivation.
 
During the interview process make sure to assess the candidate for their ability to fit in with the team as well as their grades. Ask yourself, will they use initiative? Will they work well in a team? Will they bring a positive energy to the company? All these questions are just as important as what type of school or university they go to.
 
Contract
Drafting up a contract for your intern should cover any thoughts or queries about the internship and must also clearly state the length of the internship and payment (if applicable.) It is advised to offer an intern some form of payment, as unpaid internships may cause exploitation accusations. 
 
Plan Ahead
If an intern is not given enough work to complete, they will become unmotivated and time will be wasted while your team devise tasks for them. To avoid this, hold a meeting with employees to discuss exactly what projects the intern can help with.
 
Assign certain employees to be their mentors, as this helps guide the intern while improving team member managerial skills. Ensure the intern is being assigned challenging work that will be helpful for your team. Assigning tasks just to “give them something to do” will leave interns bored and unhelpful to your company.
 
Assign Goals
Most interns want more from their experience than doing coffee runs every morning and afternoon. Allow them to prove themselves by assigning worthwhile tasks as this will help you evaluate whether they would be a good fit for potentially becoming a permanent employee.
 
Company Culture
Invite interns to different work events, including team lunches and after work drinks. This will make them feel a part of the team and gives you a good chance to see how they interact with the rest of your employees.
 
Conduct Regular Reviews
Give interns regular reviews just like you would with permanent employees. If you don’t have the time, ask intern mentors to conduct a review and give you feedback. Giving positive and constructive feedback will give the intern the opportunity to grow.
 
When the internship has ended, have the intern fill out a feedback form on what they liked about their experience, what they would do differently and their thoughts on your company culture. This gives you an indication of any changes to make for your next summer intern, ensuring that it’s a successful summer for your company, as well as your intern.

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​Sending team members on oversea work trips is a weekly process for most companies, and as an employer, it is vital to ensure employees are kept safe and secure on their travels. Here are some tips on maintaining a prominent level of security while your team are representing your company abroad:

Work Attitude
When staff travel for work, their work ethic and attitude can become more relaxed. They may take actions that they wouldn’t usually, such as staying out later for work drinks or being late for meetings. Implement rules for working overseas in your company policy. Reinforce these rules in staff meetings, telling all team members that they must be extra vigilant. State that they must take secure transport, not travel into unsafe areas and if necessary, use safety equipment. 

Country Conditions
Every country has their own hazards and weather conditions that people must be cautious of. Consider the risks within the location your employees are travelling to. Organise training so staff are aware of what to do in the case of storms, earthquakes or other possible hazards.
 
Crime is a major risk that employees must also be wary of. Training for those travelling must involve actions for people to take when they feel unsafe. Send an e-mail including the address of staff accommodation, the country’s police number and city areas deemed unsafe to travel in.

Food and Drink
People here are accustomed to clean, fresh water available on tap, but this is not the case for every country. Some places advise locals to only drink bottled water, so ensure staff know this or they may become extremely ill. Sick staff will not bode well in terms of a productive trip, making everything come to a halt. Advising staff on food and drink safety will prevent any sickness and ensure the work trip is worthwhile.
 
Understanding of the Culture
Offer language classes with a focus on business for those team members that travel often. An understanding of certain phrases and keywords will help them feel comfortable when being taken out for business lunches and for meetings. An awareness of the language can also help if they get into dangerous situations, as they can ask for help if needed.

Foreigners can be target for thieves, so remind all staff to carry all important documents in a secure bag and to take extra caution when travelling in busy areas. It’s a good idea to ask staff to scan documents and email them to themselves or upload in an online drive in case they get lost on the journey.

Forward planning is crucial for any successful business trips; documents, risk assessments and a crisis management policy will help any trip go smoothly, wherever in the world you are sending your team.

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​It is a common stereotype that millennials are ‘job-hoppers,’ fleeting from job to job trying to see what each company can offer. However, employers need to remember that some team members move on for a variety of reasons, regardless of their generation.

Millennials have been brought up in the ‘digital age’ and therefore, have different expectations than previous generations. Here are some tips on how to keep them engaged and loyal to your company:

Offer them guidance with their job as millennials want to feel supported within the company and they will appreciate your effort to help them progress. If you don’t have the time to offer guidance, assign a manager to aid employees.  

As well as guidance, it’s important for millennials to have opportunities that allow them to work their way up the company hierarchy. They want to be constantly learning and therefore providing training will keep them content. Training will give them reassurance that the company are willing to contribute to their professional development. Regular reviews are also imperative in keeping your team satisfied and gives employers an insight into how employees feel about the workplace.

Maintaining a good work/life balance is important for most professionals, particularly nowadays. Offering them benefits such as flexitime and an option to work from home will maintain motivation. Advancements in technology has made this easy and will keep your workforce happy.

Millennials are used to getting information straight away and they often rely on the internet for answers to their questions. If millennials work for a company that dodges questions and hide plans for company growth, they won’t be satisfied. Not being open with employees will prevent any trust from building, therefore stopping your workforce from being loyal to your company. Sharing future plans with the team will allow them to understand the direction of the company. Encourage managers to adopt a level of transparency with workers, as this will increase trust and loyalty throughout the workplace.     

Offering an extensive amount of benefits will prevent any employee’s eyes wandering towards competitors. Benefits such as flexitime, holiday pay and overtime will keep your workforce engaged. alongside flexibility, organise regular work lunches and after work drinks to enhance professional relationships. The stronger the work relationship, the more loyalty your team will have for the company.

Ensuring millennial employees develop motivation and trust will bring a wealth of opportunity to your business. All they expect in return is a promise of career development, training and plenty of working benefits. Taking the time to offer this will keep them engaged and stop them from veering towards those competitors who do. 

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​Creating a loyal team is important for the success of any company, as it will reduce turnover costs and improve work productivity. When employees develop a sense of loyalty, they begin to look at the business as though it’s their own and work hard to make it succeed. But how do you start to build a loyal workforce? Read on to find out:

The culture of a company should focus on maintaining a good working relationship between employee and employer. As a leader you must keep check of the office and ensure any problems are solved immediately.

Address any team rifts or personal prejudices between workers to help foster a more positive working environment. Hold meetings to reinforce that any inappropriate behaviour will not be tolerated. Your team are more likely to stick around if they feel comfortable in the workplace.

Maintain a good culture through regular employee feedback. This will give you an insight into staff needs, wants and expectations. Anonymous surveys, one to one meetings and team days will all help make improvements to the office environment.

Make sure to act on any negative feedback by developing a plan, which needs to focus on making changes based on feedback over a certain period of time.  

Showing an employee you trust them is essential for gaining loyalty. It’s important you don’t take over and try to do everything yourself, as delegating work to employees will give them a sense of accomplishment. This can be done by assigning a leader to each project or letting an employee lead a meeting.

Acknowledge birthdays and other significant times in your employees’ lives. Celebrating their work anniversaries by giving them a card and organising a team activity will make them feel valued.

Rewards build loyalty; however, these must be given for relevant reasons or your company may be accused of bias. Reward an employee if they receive valuable feedback from a client or make a win for the company. 

Offering worker benefits, flexitime, holiday pay and regular training will give your team the incentive to stay in the company. Regular reviews on employee performance and pay increases are essential for keeping your workforce.

A loyal workforce will have a ripple effect throughout your business and create a positive atmosphere. Happy employees will be motivated to please customers and clients and your team will strive to finish work to a high standard.

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​The season of sport is upon us: between the World Cup, Wimbledon and golf there is plenty to choose from. Whether you love or hate it, your workplace is guaranteed to be filled with a sports buzz.

Even though this brings an exciting atmosphere, it can also mean reduced productivity, an increase in ‘sick days’ and overly competitive behaviour. However, here are some ways to maintain employee motivation throughout the period: 

Stay up to date with sporting events which may impact your team’s productivity. Keeping a calendar will help you establish which events are likely to have an influence on your employees and put a plan into place on how to ensure tasks are completed to deadline.
 
If too many staff members are taking annual leave on the same date, make a compromise. Allow everyone to watch the match from the comfort of the office. Inform staff well in advance of targets that need to be hit prior to the game starting, before the influx of holiday emails start rolling in.
 
Don’t just notify employees of watching sport in the office, be clear about any changes to the workplace during matches. Reinforce any expectations you have during this period, for example: watching a football match shouldn’t decrease productivity and deadlines and daily tasks stay the same.  
 
Not all team members will be interested in sports, offer them another perk while the match is on. This could be an extra coffee break or an early finish. The non-sporty team members will appreciate the recognition which, in turn, will increase their motivation.
 
Compromising is an efficient way to maintain productivity, however, make sure that employees don’t take advantage. Keep check that work is being completed on time and at a high standard. Record any ‘sick days’ taken and ask for a doctor’s note as proof when the employee returns to work.
 
Organise a meeting to remind staff of the consequences of taking ‘sickies,’ how it can disrupt workflow and may result in missed deadlines. Raising awareness will make them think twice before taking a ‘sick day’ conveniently on the same day of a big match.
 
Organise some post-work drinks for matches after office hours as this is a good opportunity for team-bonding. Activities such as theme days or placing bets are effective ways to build working relationships. For example, give each employee a team and whoever has the winning team is given a prize.
 
Make sure workers keep the sports banter light-hearted, as some may overstep the mark by making offensive comments. Not only will this prevent any team-bonding but will create a tense working atmosphere. Any inappropriate behaviour should be dealt with through the company’s disciplinary process.
 
Use the sport season to encourage fitness. Organise sports days or challenges throughout the summer and offer incentives to the winners. Don’t stop at day events, start offering lunch time exercise classes, gym vouchers and healthy refreshments to enhance employee wellness.
 
Use this time to connect with your employees. Creating a fun working environment will keep them loyal and maintain motivation. However, make sure to not get too swept up in the sporting action by checking everything is kept running smoothly in the office.

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​When your business is experiencing an increased workload and staff seem to be coming and going, it can cause significant stress on your company. Employee turnover rate can have a ripple effect, as a worker leaving puts extra strain on existing staff members and may cause them to start looking elsewhere for jobs. Here are some reasons why employees leave and what you can do to prevent this:

No Motivation
Keeping engagement levels high is important for a strong workforce. Productive employees contribute ideas, help their colleagues who seem overwhelmed and actively look for more work to prove themselves.
If you notice any of these traits slipping from a staff member, it’s likely their motivation levels are falling. If you ignore these signs, it’s probable that they could look for other work. Make sure to do something about it before you lose them to another company.

Bring someone back into the zone through communication. Arrange team building activities, listen to all thoughts and ideas and communicate with them regularly through meetings or arranging a one on one catch-up. Maintaining an open-door policy is an effective way of keeping staff content, as they feel comfortable sharing any problems or thoughts.

Most employees want to feel they are taking the right step for their career. Along with arranging meetings to discuss projects, take time to review employee roles and what their future expectations are in the company. Try and give all team members growth opportunities when possible as they are more likely to stay when they can see progression in their roles. 

Management Style
One of the biggest reasons for a high employee turnover rate may be due to poor management. Any employee you assign as a project manager must be ready to lead a team through motivation, not intimidation.  Ensure team managers have the skills and resources needed to successfully adapt to their new roles.

This can be done through training courses and regular reviews, spending time answering any questions and listening to ideas. Get feedback from employees on their manager, ensuring it’s confidential so you will receive honest information.

This may prove time-consuming but will be worth it. Solving any problems or personality clashes between staff and their manager will prevent your employees from developing a wandering eye.

Head-Hunters
In this digital age, platforms such as LinkedIn are full of recruiters on the look for top talent. If an employee is content with their job, they will usually refuse any offers that slide into their direct messaging. However, if they see pound signs in the job description, then it may be an entirely different story.

Directors should have a general idea of salaries respective to their industry and what compensation is being offered by competitors. Conduct regular pay reviews and surveys to check how your workforce feel about their salary. Staying on the same page in terms of pay will be appreciated and stops your team from looking elsewhere if money is their motivation.  

Offering benefits is as important as a good salary. Flexitime, paying overtime and team days are all good incentives to keep your team satisfied and motivated. 
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High turnover rate is a common problem for many workplaces and with understanding the main reasons why and how to prevent it, you will stop your company from suffering the same fate. Keeping your team motivated, content and managed will lead to a loyal and determined workforce who want to help your company succeed.

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