Member Article

How leading Welsh construction firm JEHU Group has tackled absence management and reduced administrative costs

New YouGov research[i] has revealed that 22% of British businesses lack expertise when managing workplace absence, and figures from ACAS estimate the annual cost of sickness absence to the UK economy at £17 billion[ii]. One company that has transformed its absence management is leading Welsh construction firm, JEHU Group through the introduction of absence management software.

One of the biggest challenges for JEHU Group was managing the sickness absence and annual leave requests of a growing workforce that is geographically dispersed. The company needed an efficient IT system to replace the manual process the company had been using to enable its managers to take more responsibility for managing their team’s holiday leave and absences and reduce the administrative pressure on the HR team.

The company decided to invest in an absence management system and after researching the options available, they implemented Activ Absence in January 2017.

Gwilym Hughes, HR Strategic Business Manager, JEHU Group explains, “The main attractions were that it is easy to use and cloud based so people can access it wherever they are on their mobile phones, tablets or laptops. As our workforce is geographically dispersed and the majority are not based in the office this was essential.

“Price was also a consideration and the system was competitively priced. In fact, it has already paid for itself as we’ve found the benefits far outweigh the cost.”

JEHU Group has grown quickly in recent years and the annual leave booking and sickness reporting processes originally put in place when the company was much smaller had become difficult to manage as they required a great deal of administration. Annual leave and sickness absence were recorded on a Microsoft Access database and managed by email and telephone with reports produced manually.

Like JEHU Group, businesses typically deploy our software to take charge of staff holiday planning, however, it is the sickness absence features they quickly find indispensable. The first step in managing absence effectively is to record it accurately. This allows companies to monitor patterns and identify any issues. They can then target wellness initiatives effectively and ensure staff are getting the right support as early as possible.

By employing absence management software, JEHU Group now have an online return to work procedure when an employee has been off sick, replacing the paper-based system used previously. The system also prompts managers to conduct a return to work interview after sickness before they can sign it off.

Gwilym says, “We find the sickness absence reporting really useful and use them in monthly senior management team meetings. Being able to monitor and track patterns in sickness absence has enabled us to see what issues are affecting our staff and tailor our employee benefit offerings accordingly.

“For example, the reports have highlighted that one common reason for sickness absence amongst our employees is musculoskeletal issues, so we implemented a health benefit for all employees that gives them access to consultations and physiotherapy.”

Replacing their old system with absence management software has enabled JEHU Group to streamline their absence management processes and procedures and face the future equipped for their continued growth.

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