It’s clear that there are many reasons for the rise in rates of absence. This also means there’s no silver bullet to fix the problem. Instead, organisations should look at solutions tailored to their team and culture.
If you’re concerned about burnout and poor wellbeing…
One simple but powerful action all organisations can take is to use data from your HR system to proactively manage your team’s holiday.
Data from the CIPD report shows that holiday days taken dropped by 7.6% from 2022-23. Not taking enough time off to rest and reset is bound to contribute to increasing stress levels across an organisation. Pulling a quarterly report to uncover who is not on track to take enough breaks throughout the year means that managers can address the problem within 1:1 conversations.
It’s also important to educate managers about early warning signs of burnout to look out for and how to address it head on.
Burnout is complex and requires managers to not just have the capacity for supportive conversations - but also address root causes. Although we often think about burnout as a workload issue, it can also be triggered by lack of clarity on priorities, lack of connection or personal stressors.