Leave taken can indicate future human capital risks - Snyman

"Monitoring the amount of leave days taken by your employees serves as a key indicator of your organisation's workaholic status and can be regarded as a crystal ball of future human capital risks your company will inevitably face. Possible outcomes include a sharp increase in absenteeism, noticeable reductions in productivity, more staff presenting burnout-related symptoms as well as an ever-increasing staff turnover to name a few examples." This is according to Professor Jacques Snyman, product development director for the Zurreal4employers Employee Wellbeing solution, a holistic and seamlessly integrated solution that assists corporate SA to identify, address and substantially reduce human capital risks.

Vacation time can improve performance

Professor Snyman refers to a 2006 study conducted by accounting firm, Ernst & Young. An internal study of its employees revealed that each additional 10 hours of vacation time per employee translated into an average 8% increase in year-end-performance ratings by supervisors. The results also showed that frequent vacationers were significantly less likely to leave the firm.

"The human body is simply not wired to continuously expend energy and, to function optimally, we require frequent breaks to recover from mental, physical and emotional exertion. We typically advise that all employees take a seven day break during a six month period. This not only enables a much needed recharge of their batteries, but also improves social relationships outside the workplace, providing an important support system when work, and associated stress, pile up," says Snyman.

Snyman warns that employers should also not forget to monitor those staff members that do take annual and sick leave as the data can provide invaluable insights. For this, he says, employers require a holistic human capital solution, such as the Zurreal4employers Employee Wellbeing programme, that takes into account physical, emotional, financial and overall wellbeing factors.

Employee wellbeing

"Analysing leave data from a holistic and integrated point of view, spanning all human capital risks, will enable employers to adequately manage and ultimately eliminate the potential impact of human capital risks on their bottom line. For example, employees under financial, emotional or psychological stress are exponentially more likely to take ad hoc leave. A powerful employee wellbeing programme will immediately flag these individuals for further investigation and, following a cross-examination of additional wellbeing data, be able to pin-point the root cause of ad hoc absenteeism. Equipped with the information, employers are able to intervene by ensuring that these workers have access to financial advice or professional counselling for example," Snyman explains.

Another high risk behaviour that should be monitored and managed closely is employees that take protracted sick leave as this could indicate an underlying physical or mental illness that is not being treated correctly. If left unaddressed, the sporadic absenteeism will continue, as will its impact on your organisation's bottom line. "Ensuring access to timely treatment and care will ensure concordance with the care path prescribed by clinicians, positively impacting the individual's health outcomes to the ultimate benefit of the employer in the form of increased productivity and decreases absenteeism," says Snyman.

According to Snyman, providing an employee wellbeing programme does not have to cut into the bottom line. For instance, he says, small enterprises may come to an arrangement with a local pharmacy clinic or clinic sister to visit their employees for regular health checks instead of employing a full-time occupational health nurse as is typically seen at larger organisations. Again, centralising the data collected at these clinics under a well-structured wellbeing policy will inform and allow employer and employee to timeously address warning signals and intervene by providing access to professional assistance.

For more information, go to www.zurreal.co.za.