Member Article

Schools out for summer but is HR ready?

The kids breaking up from school means easier journeys to work for some and a reminder for others to book their annual leave. Yet many HR Managers will be panicking about how to fill the skills gap left by annual leave clashes.

HRs in the public sector will be particularly challenged, the impact of further cuts has left little to spend on new technology or extra staff so staff holidays will be a nightmare to orchestrate.

Watching the news you’d be forgiven for thinking that ‘business as usual’ issues have been replaced by economic fears as the UK sits in a post-Brexit shock. They haven’t. The looming staff holiday crisis many organisations experience over the summer months is about to hit.

The cost of administering annual leave, the knock on costs of annual leave clashes, the need for temporary staff and complex year end reports are major challenges for many companies. A surprising number of big businesses still rely on spreadsheets, wall planners and paper forms to manage annual leave which can result in errors being made, staff conflict and stress for HRs.

HR Managers are often asked to make judgment calls about who can take annual leave and they find themselves constantly interrupted with annual leave queries and berated by angry staff if they feel a decision is unfair.

Staff holiday planning technology can save businesses time and money, and staff are often enthusiastic about the technology because they can request leave anywhere, even at weekends, on their smartphones.

With the cost of sickness absence currently being the focus for many organisations we have seen demand soar in recent years.

Our Activ Absence software uses the same application for staff holiday planning and managing sickness absence, enabling managers to plan staff holiday, tackle absenteeism and improve staff engagement all at the same time with one handy online application. Customers also have the option of adding an appraisal and training system, as well as an automated staff handbook and document management system.

Using our online systems, staff can view their holiday entitlement and request leave in two clicks using any device. Their line manager can see who else is off at the same time and approve or reject a request in one click. Staff and managers love the system because it is simple, quick and fair, with costs ranging from 50p per person per month, finance directors are impressed with the cost savings compared to using a manual system.

Users of the system include one of the UK’s largest travel businesses, creative teams, recruitment agencies, NHS teams, charities, schools, local councils, engineering and manufacturing companies, global consultancies and several large financial institutions. Users seem full of praise.

The system is ideal for organiations with 40-4000 staff - although it is currently used by both smaller and larger companies in over 30 different countries.

One satisfied customer is Heather Turner, HR Manager, William Turner & Son who says, “Activ Absence has transformed the way we manage holiday and sickness absence. It has freed up my time dramatically.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Adrian Lewis .