The CIPD released their tenth national survey of absence management policy and practice detailing the realtionship between many business sectors and how we manage the contributing factors such as wellbeing and reporting.

In brief, the research states that there are significant differences between sectors, but we, as a country are still making huge loses when we fail to manage absence effectively.

The good news is that the number of average days absent have dropped, however, before we get too excited it has only fallen from 8.0 days to 7.4. Plenty of room for improvement.

Even the public sector has seen a drop of 0.1 but still remains the highest with an average of 9.7 days lost per employee per year.

Private Sector:   down from 7.2 days to 6.4         Average yearly cost per employee:   from £663 to £666

Public Sector:    down from 9.8 days to 9.7          Average yearly cost per employee:   from £906 to £784

Non-profit:        up from 8.5 days to 9.4              Average yearly cost per employee:   from £741 to £698

Manufactoring:   down from 7.2 days to 6.5         Average yearly cost per employee:   from £759 to £754

The report clearly identifies differences in absence levels between regions and organisational size. It significantly details how smaller organisations have a better chance of managing absence than those with 100 employees or more. We at The Absence Manager believe that any organisation, regardless of size, can effectively manage absence with the right interactions, relationships and support.

Surprisingly only 41% of organisations actually report the cost of absence - something that must be seen to change in light of the increasing financial pressures prompted not least by the recession. So for those that do monitor the cost, what does it look like?

Elements included in the cost of employee absence:    % Organisations

So, to give an example, less than half of all organisations - 46% - measure the cost of carrying out the work of people who are absent. The point is simple; if senior management teams do not appreciate the financial implications of absence, alongside other important considerations like impact on morale and quality of service, then they are less likely to invest in improvement.

The Absence Manager is about equipping your people with the tools and confidence to make a real difference to the bottom line, quickly and inexpensively. There is no area of potential cost reduction that should be overlooked in any organisation or sector; we see this vital area as low-hanging fruit.