Reducing Long term Absenteeism

• LO 1 Describe a problem, its nature, scope and impact;

• LO 2 Gather and interpret information to solve a problem;

• LO 3 Evaluate options to make a decision;

• LO 4 Plan, monitor and review the implementation and communication of decisions.

Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (MCHT), like many similar medium-sized district general hospital trusts, has had a problem with staff absenteeism. The Trust’s rolling average, despite being well within the target of 4.51%, which was previously set by clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and NHS North West, steadily increased from 2007 to 2012. Absence was costing the Trust more than £1 million each year per percentage point and a high level of absenteeism was also leading to poorer quality of service, due to a resultant increase in the use of temporary and agency staff.

Recognising the importance of this, the Trust’s head of human resources requested the secondment of a human resources (HR) specialist to spearhead the implementation of several measures designed to reduce staff absenteeism.

Assuming you have been assigned by the head of human resources in identifying measures to reduce absenteeism, complete the following tasks;

• A research-informed discussion on the nature and impact of the complex problem on employees and their organisations.

• A PESTLE analysis of the macro-environmental factors contributing to the complex problem.

• A research-informed cause-and-effect analysis of the complex problem.

• An evaluation of alternative solutions to absenteeism with an aim of choosing the most appropriate solution among these alternatives.

In addition to your presentation, you are required to produce a report that elaborates on each bullet point in task 1.

Your report should also present a plan to implement the decision you’ve made to solve the complex problem and a discussion of success indicators to measure the effectiveness of your decision.