More Workers Playing Hooky . . .

That is the title of the short article in the Indianapolis Star's Business Section this morning. It is a story from the Associated Press that cites a survey conducted for CCH by the Harris Interactive consulting firm. The results?

Unscheduled absenteeism is at its highest point since 1999. The rate is 2.5%.

2.5 % of people won't be at work tomorrow, even if they said they would be when they leave work today.

If you are thinking that people can get sick and that is most of the reason for these absences, according to the survey you would only be right 35% of the time. Personal needs (18%), stress (12%) and the "entitlement mentality" (11%) are some of the other major reasons cited for unscheduled absence.

As I read this short piece all I could think about was the conversation I had with a potential Client yesterday. I was called to come and talk about improving or increasing the engagement of the staff.

Engagement.

People who are engaged in their work, who are passionate and truly care about their work don't take days off for inconsequential things and they certainly don't do it because they feel entitled to the time off.

Some people will read these statistics and think about how people taking unscheduled time off hurts their staffing levels and their ability to provide good Customer Service. They will be right.

Some people will look at the overall labor market and see that as jobs get easier to come by, people are more willing to take the extra time off. I'm guessing in some parts of the country this might be a contributing factor.

Some people will read these statistics and blame it on the younger workers, thinking, "They just don't care like people used to." I don't personally think this is true, but it is a valid perspective.

In the end though I don't think about any of those things. I think about opportunity.

As leaders we have an opportunity to engage our people more fully in their work. When we do they will become more productive, achieve more, and enjoy their work more. They will also come to work when they are scheduled to be there. They'll take Cal Ripken - baseball's all time consecutive games played record holder - as their role model, rather than Ferris Bueller.

We can engage others more fully in their work. When we do those things we are benefiting our business, but we are also benefiting the individual greatly. They will be happier and healthier, and they will choose to come to work because their work is contributing in positive ways to their life.

If you aren't a leader, you can still choose to be engaged or find new work that does engage you.

How engaged are you?

What could you do to become more personally engaged in your work?

The percentages in this survey in 2007 may go down. I hope that if they do the reason is because leaders around the country have taken the challenge to engage people more fully in their work.

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