News: Performance Management
People management: Identifying motivation and attendance issues
08 October 2008
Training in people management provides leaders with the essential tools for differentiating individuals' particular strengths, weaknesses and motivational requirements, it has been suggested.
Dudley Lusted, head of corporate development at AXA PPP healthcare, emphasised the importance of managers undergoing such training in light of research indicating that the majority of workers fear sick leave will be "held against them" in the long term.
Customer service and sales professionals were found to be some of the most worried about the effects of absences or perceived attendance irregularities.
"Smart employers will make sure their managers are properly trained and supported to manage attendance positively," Mr Lusted confirmed.
Being prepared to deal with conduct issues and 'back to work' interviews were further training considerations he identified.
Almost a third of customer service and call centre workers interviewed for the study said their main reason for working through illness is a worry that their sick leave records will be used against them if redundancies need to be made.
Martyn Sloman, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development's learning and development advisor, highlighted last month that de-motivated staff who "hold back" organisations are often the ultimate outcome of inadequate management training.
