Manage your Absenteeism!

Good Day,

As you may well know, absenteeism costs the economy in excess of R19 billion a year. And that just covers the direct costs; indirect costs could count for two to three times that figure. There are many reasons for absenteeism - people who are genuinely ill and those people who abuse the system. Sick leave is a conditional privilege, not a right to be taken at will.

Do you know how your company contributes to this figure of R19 billion a year? Do you know what your current absenteeism rate is? Do you know how to filter through the abusers of sick leave from those who are genuinely ill? Are you targeting specific people within your organisation - or are you dealing with the problem at hand?

Absenteeism could be costing your company huge amounts of money each month and you can't fully handle the problem, or resolve your absenteeism crisis, until you start to measure and benchmark where you currently are.
And this is where Absolv comes into play. Absolv is a software program, that can be purchased or rented as software or run over the Internet (www.absolv.co.za) that aids you in monitoring your absenteeism as a company and per individual. Not only can we aid you in reducing your absenteeism cost, we can highlight all areas that require your attention in creating a work force working to combating absenteeism. It is vital to know what your absenteeism rate is and then look at ways of bringing down this absenteeism rate through various interventions.

CAM Solutions deals mostly with sick absenteeism and other forms of unplanned absenteeism (AWOL, Family Responsibility Leave etc) that is measured and reported on through our ABSOLVTM software. This software produces a report called the Absenteeism Management Report (or AMRTM for short). A sample of this report can be viewed on our website and this will give you a good idea on what type of information you will be able to receive for your company.

Please note that it is extremely difficult to determine the “normal” absenteeism rate in any sector of the economy as sick absenteeism is dependant on a number of factors, including:

• The demographics of the employees
• Age
• Sex
• Responsibility levels
• The nature of the industry

Due to the above factors it’s not possible to determine an appropriate norm for each sector but rather to determine the absenteeism profile of each employer and to consider each of the factors separately.

The factors to consider are:

• Average absenteeism rate
• Average length of each sick leave absence
• Average number of sick leave incidents per annum
• Short term ratio versus long term ratio
• Absenteeism rate per age category
• Absenteeism per department/region etc
• Absenteeism per earnings level (or better still per grade)

Once the absenteeism management report (AMR™) has been produced, the above can then be analysed in detail.

At a micro level each employee can then be measured against their peers using benchmarks such as:

• Average absenteeism rate
• Average length of each sick leave absence
• Average number of sick leave incidents per annum
• The CAMS Absenteeism Index (AI™)
• The CAMS Health Index (HI™)

In general we find that sick absenteeism levels should not be more than 2% per annum, i.e. if an employee is expected to work 250 days during a year then they should not be off sick more than 5 days per annum, on average.
We have found the absenteeism rate is higher for lower paid employees versus the high income earners. This is however more related to responsibility levels rather than income levels. Low paid employees, generally, have less responsibility, which then affects job satisfaction and morale which has an impact on absenteeism.

This report also aids employers in assisting those employees who are genuinely ill by highlighting those diagnoses that require attending to.

Should you be interested in using this software, kindly log onto http://www.absolv.co.za for more information.

To use our software online, log onto: www.absolv.co.za
To register as an affiliate partner, log onto: www.absolv.co.za/affiliates
For more information on CAM Solutions, log onto: www.camsolutions.co.za

Kindly confirm receipt of this e-mail by return e-mail.

Yours faithfully,
Michelle Bennett
EXECUTIVE PA
CAM Solutions
Providing Software Solutions in Health and Absenteeism Management
Tel: 041-368 6742
Fax: 086-524 1819
View our Absenteeism Blogs:
http://camsolutions.blogspot.com/ or http://www.absenteeism.iblog.co.za/

IMPORTANT NOTE: This e-mail contains confidential information and any unauthorised use or interception is illegal. If this e-mail is not intended for you, you may not copy, distribute or disclose the contents, including any attachments, to anyone, nor take any action in reliance on the content. If you receive this in error, please contact the sender and delete the material from any computer.

A Positive Mindset

A positive mindset keeps the doctor away
Absenteeism specialist software company CAM Solutions has released statistics, outlining the employees in a sample study who don't take any sick leave at all during a one-year period. The statistics, generated by Absolv absenteeism software, shows that in the 2007 cycle (Oct 2006 - Sept 2007), 47.2% all staff in the sample of more than 150 000 employees in over 60 South African companies did not take any sick leave at all. For the same period in 2008, the percentage of employees in this sample who did not take any sick leave had risen to 51.3%.
CAMS Chief Executive Johnny Johnson says, “Trend analysis over the last 10 years has shown that absenteeism rates are lower at times of downturn in the economy. As the economic situation worsens employees might feel their jobs could be threatened if they don't go to work. Wellness programs have also become more popular with employers and this could be contributing successfully to healthier lifestyles and positive mindsets for employees, or it could simply be that less people are getting ill and are not allowing minor illnesses to get them down."
Counselling psychologist Robin Farrington says as with any type of human behaviour, psychological and social factors intervene and influence the way people behave when they become ill. Individuals with a positive mindset often do not let life's problems get to them and have better resources to cope with stress. Stress has a direct effect on the immune system so it is often the cause of, or can exacerbate, illness. “Also, positive people tend not to take up the sick role; they don’t give an illness the time and space to develop. Whereas others who become ill, make sure that they have the time and resources to take up the sick role fully. A positive frame of mind also leads to a better lifestyle, inclusive of exercise and healthy eating, and therefore better health follows.
“A change to a positive mindset involves lifelong application, but a good mental attitude can help people who are always getting sick to become healthier,” notes Farrington.
HR Consultant for national insurance brokers Frontline Underwriting Managers, Tanya Bonner, says their firm has a very low absenteeism rate in their branches in Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Durban.
“We believe this is because we continuously monitor our company’s wellness. When you take a genuine interest in the lives of the people who work for you it places you in the position where you can be firm without rubbing people up the wrong way; as well being compassionate and making appropriate allowances. It’s also a two way street. The company and its people are interdependent. Our employees know that we attribute our successes directly to them. With that comes significant ownership of the job. They treat the business as if it were their own.

She says, "The way people manage their lifestyles can also determine whether they are absent often or not.

“For example, if someone is unhappy with their job but don’t make changes or do anything about it then they will simply stay off work and may even get physically ill because they are fundamentally unhappy. Also, if women don’t have a proper support system in place for their young children, they then have be at home with their children if needed.

"If an employee complains month after month about an ailment but never seeks medical care then physically and psychologically the ailment festers and they stay off work. The same applies if they are prescribed a diet, medication, stretching exercises for a sore neck and don’t follow this diligently.

“Then there is the arena of psychological wellbeing, where people may have marital problems; problems with abusive relationships; and then still the vast and often unidentified area of substance abuse.

“If a company manages their leave schedules correctly then everyone is alerted to a problem that might otherwise have gone on forever,” she notes.

Johnson adds, “What companies should be doing is focusing on the percentage of staff who are not taking any sick leave at all and aiming to make that as high as possible. Absenteeism statistics that point out illness issues in employees or per department/manager for instance, and also supply benchmarks with regards to industry norms, make understanding and managing these figures a simple process. Once the figures are known, wellness and employee management is much easier and more effective.

"If companies follow their absenteeism statistics carefully and make sure that issues are resolved quickly, and with compassion, they will find that they are employing positive, healthy staff who don’t need to take sick leave because they like being at work, and thanks to their positive mindsets, they are also most likely going to get sick at lot less than employees with consistent negative mindsets.”

To view this and other articles, log onto our website at www.camsolutions.co.za. For a online demonstration of our ABSOLV software, log onto www.absolv.co.za.

Absenteeism Over the December Holidays

Does your company's absenteeism increase or decrease over the december holidays? Why not e-mail us on info@camsolutions.co.za and let us know?

Regards,
THE CAM SOLUTIONS' TEAM

Absenteeism due to Diabetes

To view how absenteeism due to diabetes is dropping, read our latest article: http://www.camsolutions.co.za/newsdesk_info.php?newsdesk_id=43&osCsid=861b57ded65180cad6cebc8ca2019eb0

Regards,
The CAMS' Team

Too much to do, too little time

The pressure of having too little time and too much to do can be suffocating. The torture chamber of the mind pins us down with fear based thoughts of tomorrow and our bodies pay the price. We push ourselves to hold more, do more and try harder – so here is a little experiment to understand the limitations of the mind and to learn to look somewhere new for the strength to cope.

Try this experiment:

In your mind’s eye, picture 1 tennis ball. Got it? – (even a vague fleeting image will do). Now picture 2 tennis balls… see them both together… alright now picture 3… see all 3, not one at a time. Now picture 4 tennis balls… all 4… now picture 5… if you picture the tennis balls randomly scattered in space it will begin to be difficult to see all 5 simultaneously. Notice that to see them all together your mind may want to organise them into a pattern (like the dots on dice), so that you can see all 5 together at the same time. Go as far as you can with the visualisation, but don’t cheat, you must be able to clearly see ALL the tennis balls at the same time. The average person can see 6, after 7 it gets harder. The only way to see 9 and 10 is to have the balls in an organised pattern. Try it! See 9 without any structure or pattern, them put the tenni s balls in lines and patterns and notice how much easier it is.

So what is the message behind this experiment?

The torture chamber of the mind cannot hold more than a few concepts or things to remember at a time UNLESS the concepts are tied to other patterns and organised structures. More than 6 random, unconnected concepts means that you will start dropping balls, forgetting things and being unable to focus. If you have more than 6 things to hold in your mind at one time, you will feel the stress of TOO many tennis balls.

1. Understand how the mind works and accept its limitations.
2. Organise your to do list, or your concepts and worries into patterns – putting similar things together.
3. Structure the things on your mind and choose 3 to 6 (max) priorities for the day.
4. Write it down – if you have in on paper or in your diary your mind can release from trying to hold more than 6 tennis balls in the air.
5. Put the others mental burdens somewhere safe, where you will be reminded again tomorrow – so that your mind doesn’t have to look at EVERYTHING everyday.

Then most importantly, stop. Stop for at least 10 minutes a day and empty your mind of ALL the tennis balls – of all the worries and to do’s. Focus on the experience of the moment and open to the feelings and sensations that your body offers. Find gratitude for what you have and reconnect to your spiritual support.

New Offices

Good Morning,

Just to let you know that we have moved into our offices – we are at: Unit 8, Greenways Office Park, Cnr of Melsetter and Buffelsfontein Roads, Lovemore Heights, PORT ELIZABETH. Our new office number is 041-368 6742. All our other information remains the same…

• To use our software online, log onto: www.absolv.co.za
• To register as an affiliate partner, log onto: www.absolv.co.za/affiliates
• For more information on CAM Solutions, log onto: www.camsolutions.co.za

Kindly confirm receipt of this e-mail by return e-mail.

Yours faithfully,

Michelle Bennett
EXECUTIVE PA

CAM Solutions
Providing Software Solutions in Health and Absenteeism Management
Tel: 041-368 6742
Cell: 084-236 6388
Fax: 086-524 1819

View our Absenteeism Blogs:
http://camsolutions.blogspot.com/ or http://www.absenteeism.iblog.co.za/

IMPORTANT NOTE: This e-mail contains confidential information and any unauthorised use or interception is illegal. If this e-mail is not intended for you, you may not copy, distribute or disclose the contents, including any attachments, to anyone, nor take any action in reliance on the content. If you receive this in error, please contact the sender and delete the material from any computer.

Self Help Motivation and Inspiration At Work

Author: Kym Robinson

Self Help Motivation and Inspiration At Work

Do you wake up each day feeling great, but once you hit the office you feel your inspiration and motivation have prematurely left the building? If so, there are some inspiring workplace ideas that you can put into action so that you feel more inspired when you work. You know, it doesn't matter how good you are at your job if you don't feel passionate about what you are doing all day!

Simple Ideas to find Inspiration at Work

One of the best ways to put yourself in a position to find the neccesary motivation is to make sure you are comfortable. You need to make sure your chair supports your back, your desk is at the right height, and you have an ergonomically correct keyboard and mouse. Repetitive strain injuries have been on the rise for some time now, so speak up and you just might find your employer willing to cooperate. I'm sure he would rather adjust the environment rather than deal with a workers compensation claim!

If that is not so - Worst case: bring in your own office supplies or equipment. There's no reason that your body has to suffer even if your boss is really stingy!

Clean Up and De-Clutter Your Workspace

I find inspiration by getting rid of the clutter on my desk and getting everything back to tidy! A cluttered workspace can zap you of your creativity because you spend more time trying to find things than actually getting your work done.

Look at your workspace objectively and ask yourself: "What absolutely NEEDS to be here?" Remove the things that make you feel claustrophobic, stop hoarding rubbish and toss the things you never use. File or bin anything else as your work items should be filed away in an organizational system that works for you.

Here's the bottom line: only keep the things that you absolutely need! Keeping anything else serves no purpose and adds nothing more than clutter and distraction. Then, all this clutter zaps your motivation and inspiration, so avoid it! Once you do, you'll think clearer and feel far more relaxed.
How Can You Create an Inspirational Computing Experience?

If you work in an office,I bet you spend most of the time on your computer? Do you ever clean up your computer? or do you have 72,000 emails sitting around and files you never use saved to your hard drive? Clean out your computer! Delete all your temporary internet files and your computer will run faster and then bring inspiration into your workspace through inspirational wallpapers.
Inspirational wallpapers are usually free downloads that inspire you during those long 8-hour workdays. After all, it can be hard to stay focused staring at your screen all day. But if you have to stare at it - make it something Inspirational!

You can check out these wallpapers when you are having a hard time getting started, getting motivated, or just finding the inspiration to push forward. Inspirational wallpapers typically contain beautiful landscapes with inspirational quotes or sayings. Sometimes all you need to get going is a gentle push in the right direction, and inspirational wallpapers just might be what the doctor ordered. It really can be that simple!

The great thing about these wallpapers is that they don't take up any physical space, so there's no need to worry about clutter. You also can use some of the images and quotes on the wallpaper to create screensavers for your computer. Your computer has the potential to inspire you in so many ways!

Inspiration can often seem impossible to find at work, but you may need to think outside of the box and find ways to get inspired. Keep things simple and don't let clutter get you down.

A really good idea is to listen to your Ipod or similar - if you can!

I listen all day long to self development cd's and find it just so good. Even when Im down and really struggling to find motivation, this workd great!

Now , if you are like me, and work from home - it can be really tough to stay on track somedays. If you have tried all of the above only to find you are still missing something, then get up and go for a walk around the block!

After all, this is the main benefit to working for yourself! You can go for a walk anytime you like! My block has water on 3 sides - its almost an island. I have the beach on one side, an inlet on the other and a lagoon on the other! I can see the inner city and beautiful pictures everywhere I look -now thats very inspirational for me, I feel very lucky!

When you feel down for whatever reason, use self help techniques to find motivation and inspiration at work and have a great day!

Ref: http://www.submityourarticle.com/articles/Kym-Robinson-4189/-43964.php