More than half (59%) of HR leaders reported that the increase in sick days was due to a deterioration of workplace culture and decreasing levels of employee satisfaction.
At the same time, 55% of employers reported that their organisation has experienced a decline in employee performance. Totaljobs' report was published yesterday (22 October).
“Employers are caught in a vicious cycle: increased absences lead to greater pressure on staff, which in turn causes more stress and burnout, ultimately impacting productivity,” Natalie Matalon, chief people officer at AI jobs marketplace The Stepstone Group, told HR magazine.
Organisations reported that stress, burnout and other mental health conditions accounted for 25% of employee turnover in the last 12 months, while health-related issues were the third most common reason for resignations (19%).
Around 2.8 million people are currently out of work due to long-term sickness in the UK. This could increase by 53% in the next five years, according to a cross-party commission that published a report on 18 September.
Read more: Number of long-term sick set to surge, commission warns
HR should seek to understand the underlying cause of stress in their organisation, according to Jeanette Wheeler, chief HR officer at HR, payroll and finance software provider, MHR.
Speaking to HR magazine, she said: “Stress, and not having the right processes in place to support mental health, could be put down as two of the main reasons for an increase in sick days across the UK.
“But the cause of this stress and apparent lack of support is equally important to understand, whether this may be due to difficulties around working flexibly, feeling unable to negotiate a pay rise or whether an employee feels they are not being provided with the autonomy they desire in managing their workload.”
“Striking the right balance between making sure people feel supported while continuing to be productive is a core challenge for organisations to get right.”
HR should take a strategic approach to the productivity and sick leave cycle, said Vicky Walker, group director of people at Westfield Health.
Speaking to HR magazine, she explained: “Employers play a vital role in managing absenteeism, but they might feel that the recent uptick in sickness absence is beyond their control.
“While it’s not possible to completely prevent sick leave, the cycle of sick leave and productivity loss can be improved with a proactive and strategic approach, led from the top.”
Nearly half (47%) of the UK workforce, or 10 million UK workers, lacked access to “essential” health support, according to analysis of data from the Department for Work and Pensions by the Royal Society for Public Health. This referred to measures such as flu jabs and routine health checks.
Employers could combine wellbeing support with workload management to prevent absenteeism, Walker advised.
“HR can support employees by offering flexible work options, ergonomic workspaces and wellbeing programmes that provide preventative healthcare support,” she said, pointing to mental health and fitness initiatives, health screenings and employee assistance programmes.
Read more: Productivity drives increased wellbeing support, employers say
Walker continued: “To manage absenteeism, careful workload management is key. Periods of absence can cause strain on the wider team and have a knock-on effect on productivity, potentially leading to a cycle of regular sick days among multiple colleagues.
“Creating a supportive culture where employees feel safe to express concerns can help catch health issues early. Workplace culture is key to preventing burnout and the need for extended leave.”
Totaljobs found that 28% of HR leaders said flexible working options could prevent productivity decline, while 27% pointed to increased learning and development and the same proportion (27%) pointed to a need for improved communication and clarity from leadership.
Half (50%) of respondents said that a lack of leadership or clear communication from business leaders had negatively impacted their attempts to resolve the sick leave and productivity cycle.
Employers should not be lured by a one-size-fits-all solution, Matalon warned.
“Employers must recognise that we are in a new era of working, still grappling with the long-term impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic,” she added. “This is further complicated by new workers’ rights under proposed laws. Therefore, there is no one-size-fits-all policy; different organisations must develop relevant policies tailored to their unique needs.”
The government has also introduced measures to attempt to help people return to work, as part of efforts to meet its 80% employment rate target, up from 75% in the latest quarter.
In July, the work and pensions secretary, Liz Kendall, introduced a white paper to tackle inactivity. This includes initiatives such as overhauling job centres and creating a new National Careers Service to help people get into work.
Kendall is also expected to announce plans in the coming months to devolve power to local authorities to create tailored work, health and skills plans to tackle economic inactivity in their area.
Totaljobs surveyed 1,000 UK HR decision-makers for its Hiring Trends Index.
