Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Absenteeism
Absenteeism
I, NEHA S.S hereby declare that all the work presented herein is genuine work done
originally by me and has not been published or submitted elsewhere for the requirement
of a degree programmed. Any literature, data or work done by others and citied within
this dissertation has been given due acknowledgement and listed in the reference section.
The information given in this project report is true and correct to the best of my
knowledge. I am also declaring that all the work in this project is done by me and not
copied from anywhere.
NEHA S.S
M.B.A
Global Institutes of Management
PREFACE
The theory without practical is lame and practical without theory is blind.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
If you know where you are going any road will take you there, but I was quite
fortunate to have professional steersmen to lead me through the right road.
Although project work is through thought which is based on one shoulder but
remain unseen. Any research is never an individual effort. It is contributory efforts
of many hearts and heads.
My debt to those who have helped me in one way or the other is heavy indeed.
I take an opportunity to thank all of them. They are too numerous to be mentioned
on this brief ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.
This form a piece of acknowledgement may not be sufficient to express the feeling
of gratitude towards people who have helped me in the successful completion of
my training.
Firstly I am thankful to the almighty, and then I am grateful to Mr. Harmilap
Singh Grewal who stood by me as a pillar of strength throughout the course of
work and under whose guidance the project came out successfully. I am grateful to
him for his valuable suggestions.
I owe my debt for his regular encouragement and time to time consideration at
every stage.
I would also like to thank my project guide Mr. Rajesh Sharma (Lecturer Global
Institutes of Management), for the contribution made by them in completion of
my project.
I would like to thank each and every person who has helped me in this project
through thick and thin.
CONTENTS
Preface
Acknowledgement
Title
About Company
Introduction
Brand Values
Goals
Mission Statement
AIRCEL
INTRODUCTION
Aircel Limited is a mobile service provider in India. Aircel Limited is a joint venture
between Maxis Communication Berhad of Malaysia and Sindya Securities & Investments
Private Limited. The company is engaged in providing prepaid and postpaid GSM
cellular and associate services to broad customer segment. It is Indias fifth largest GSM
mobile service provider with a subscriber base of over 27.7 million, which represents
12.8% market share among the GSM operators in India.
The Aircel group is a result of alliance between Maxis Communications Berhad of
Malaysia (74% equity) and Sindya Securities & Investments Private Limited (26%
equity).The Aircel group formed in 1994 offers affordable and outstanding mobile
services to a vast subscriber base in India. Aircel has a vision of delighting its customers
by giving them the respect they deserve. Their goal is to provide their customers with
exemplary service and persistently look for new ways to surpass their expectations.
Aircel commenced operations in 1999. In their first decade of operations, they
concentrated on building their foundations in southern part of the country, and soon
emerged as the regional market leaders. They worked hard and achieved that success by
remaining focused on growth opportunities. The company began its expansion in 2005
and now has set its sight on becoming a pan India operator. Their project pipeline is
robust, allowing for sustainable long-term growth.
In addition to their leadership position in Tamil Nadu, Aircel met with extraordinary
success in the Eastern frontier circles. They pride themselves on customer satisfaction
and managed to emerge as the market leaders in Assam and North Eastern states within
18 months of operations. During this period, the company gained a strong foothold in 10
circles, to provide better access to customers. Today Aircel operates in 18
telecommunication circles and the company is ready to embark on a dynamic expansion
plan, swiftly rolling out in new circles in near future.
Aircel recognizes the tremendous growth in its customer base. They also got an
authorization from the department of Telecommunications for ILD and NLD telephony
services and are now on track to realize their dream of becoming a nationwide player by
the year 2010.
In December 2003, it launched commercially in Chennai and quickly established itself as
a market leader a position it has held since. Aircel began its outward expansion in 2005
and met with unprecedented success in the Eastern frontier circles. It emerged a market
leader in Assam and in the North Eastern provinces within 18 months of operations.
During this period, the company gained a foothold in 9 circles. The Company has
currently gained a momentum in the space of telecom in India post the allocation of
additional spectrum by the Department of Telecom, Govt. of India for 13 new circles
across India.
These include Delhi (Metro), Mumbai (Metro), Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana,
Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra & Goa, Rajasthan, Punjab, UP
(West)and UP (East).
Aircel offers its customers, services and products that are easy to understand and use. All
offerings are stimulating and at the same time extremely unique as Aircel continue to reinvent it constantly to deliver the best and most up-to-date services. The brand instills a
felling of pride, confidence and reliance among all stakeholders by anticipating their
desires and fulfilling the same efficiently.
With their foundation deeply set on their brand values simplicity, creativity, trust and
excitement, they will continue to deliver superior services to their customers and will do
their
best
to
live
up
to
their
high
expectations.
BRAND VALUES
The principles of Simplicity, Creativity, Trust and Excitement lie at the heart Aircel, as
their core values. It is these core values that guide them as an organization and drive them
to ensure that you receive the best of services and technology available, making your
experience a pleasant one and helping you explore your world of possibilities.
Simplicity:Simplicity with Aircel signifies freedom from hardship, effort or confusion. Their
products are elegant yet easy to understand and their services imply purity and clarity
for their valued subscribers.
Creativity:Creativity in Aircel refers to discovery of new ideas or concepts to find innovative
solutions to problems. Here at Aircel they encourage original thoughts, imagination,
novelty required to bring fresh ideas to life.
Trustworthiness:Aircel strives to be worthy of your confidence and deserving of your trust. They
Endeavour to achieve the same by being dependable, reliable and by keeping the
promises they have made.
GOALS
Customers:
Customers are the most valued assets. They will strive to exceed their expectations at
all time by providing them with superior services that embody value, innovation,
quality and care.
People:
People are greatest resources. They will attract, train and retain the best. They will
challenge them to develop their full potential in the context of the company goals.
Integrity:
They will maintain and strive for the highest levels of personnel and professional
integrity and honesty in all their dealings. They will keep their promises.
Respect:
They will treat with respect and integrity all people they deal with.
Excellence:
They are committed to excellence in all what they do. There will be no place for
mediocrity.
Work:
They will promote a work environment that embraces creativity, promotes
empowerment, and encourages team work, innovation, prudent risk taking, honest
and open communication.
Quality:
The hallmark of their internal and external outputs and processes will be quality. This
will pervade every aspect of their functioning.
MISSION STATEMENT
They will provide network and services that are innovative and reliable, allowing
their customers anytime, anywhere communication.
They are committed to enhancing the quality of all in the community in which they
operate.
10
Aircel maintains integrity and respect in its interactions with its stakeholders, customers,
retailers, investors, NGO partners and the government. They are careful in not partnering
with any PR/communication that induces distrust in the sincerity of their efforts. Their
stringent belief in delighting customers with good products and services helps build a
strong relationship.
Aircel is always proactive in supporting NGOs and NPOs. They extend all possible
assistance to their projects for a minimum of 3 to 5 years and there after support new
projects. Besides, they aim at continual involvement with their business partners and the
government for economic and social development of the underprivileged.
Aircel engages external audit agencies to guarantee authenticity, and maintains and
monitors an external profile of the CSR activities which are shared with the shareholders
in the annual reports and websites. They incorporate the CSR policies in their core
business to ensure ethical business practices in all the functions to harness a healthy
society.
11
Holding
Company
Dish-net
Wireless
Aircel
Cellular
Limited
Aircel
Business
Solutions
AIRCEL BUSINESS SOLUTIONS: This is the sub part of Aircel Cellular Limited
which executes the ILD, NLD, WIMAX operations for Aircel cellular.
12
COMPANY PRODUCTS
Aircel mainly deal in its core business of cellular connection. It provides variety of
products such as:-
with the help of these products company operate its business in the market & company
launches other products but they can be depend on either the competition or customer
preference.
13
FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE
14
It is often easier for the organizations to make arrangement to cover staffs, which
are going to be off for long periods. However, employees taking odd days off here
and there are more problematic, can have an immediate impact. If remain
unchecked, this type of absence can send out the wrong signals to colleagues who,
in some jobs, are likely to have to cover for those absent.
If employers fail to take action, a bug gins turn mentality may emerge. Frequent
absence may have serious repercussions where staff are employed in customerfacing roles or employed on production lines. The impact of absence may be most
directly felt and the need to arrange cover at short notice may be paramount.
15
ABSENTEEISM
INTRODUCTION
The co-operation of workers is essential for the good health of any organization.
Sometimes labour turnover and absenteeism become a major problem for the
management. The exit of workers or their absence from work disrupts production
schedules. Any make shift arrangement foe absent workers will be a costly affair
for the enterprise.
According to Websters Dictionary, Absenteeism is the practice or habit of
being in absence and an absenter is one who habitually stays away.
According to Labour Bureau (Govt. of India), Absenteeism is the failure of a
worker to report for work when he is scheduled to work
Absenteeism is the average percentage of workers absent from work per day for
any reason. Absenteeism in not the problem of underdeveloped countries only but
it is a universal phenomenon. It varies from 7% to 30% but in extreme cases it
goes up to even 40%. The degree of absenteeism may differ from place to place,
occupation to occupation and industry to industry. It may be high in some
occupations and industries as compared to others. Even in a particular industry,
the degree of absenteeism may vary in different departments.
Absenteeism is a universal phenomenon and is not peculiar to Indian Industries.
But the rate of absenteeism has been relatively higher in India. The Royal
Commission of Labour reported that, High absenteeism prevails among
industrial labour mainly due to their rural orientation. Since then, a number of
individual researchers have investigated the problem and have pointed out that
absenteeism in our industry varies from 7% to 15%. On the basis of the studies
undertaken in different parts of the country certain observations have been made.
16
CONCEPT
Indeed, as prevention is better than cure, where such a problem occurs, it is
always important to review recruitment procedures to identify how such
individuals came to be employed in the first place. For any business owner or
manager, to cure excessive absenteeism, it is essential to find and then eliminate
the causes of discontent among team members. If they find their supervisor or
job unpleasant - really unpleasant -they look for legitimate excuses to stay home
and find them with things such as upset stomachs or splitting headaches.
Any effective absentee control program has to locate the causes of discontent and
modify those causes or eliminate them entirely. In other words, if we deal with
the real reasons team members stay home it can become unnecessary for them to
stay away. Any investigation into absenteeism needs to look at the real reasons
for it.
Sometimes teams members call in sick when they really do not want to go to
work. They would not call you up and say, Im not coming into day because my
supervisor abuses me.
Or, Im not coming in today because my chair is uncomfortable.
Or, Im not coming in today because the bathrooms are so filthy; it makes me
sick to walk into them.
There are a few essential questions to consider at the outset if you want to make
a measurable improvement to your absenteeism figures.
It is commonly expected that low pay, poor benefits and high work loads will be
the major causes. In many cases, under- trained supervisors could be a
contributing factor. However, in numerous employee surveys absenteeism
generally has been identified as a symptom of low job satisfaction, sub-standard
17
ABSENTEEISM RATE
Absenteeism rate is the ratio of days lost to the total number of days for which
employment is available. For calculating absenteeism rate, the number of persons
expected to report for duty and the actual number of those who are present
should be known. A worker is considered present even if a worker reports for a
half shift. A worker enjoying sanctioned holidays is not counted in the persons
expected to be present.
18
FEATURES
Absenteeism is lowest on pay day and is highest immediately after the pay
day.
Absenteeism is high among workers of less than 25years and above
40years.
Absenteeism percentage is higher in night shifts than in day shifts.
Absenteeism rate varies from department to department within a unit.
Absenteeism is higher in departments where supervisors are work oriented
and careless for employee welfare.
Absenteeism rate is higher in days before and after a holiday.
Workers tend to be absent more frequently than supervisors and managers.
EFFECTS OF ABSENTEEISM
Excessive absenteeism is harmful to both employees and workers in the
following ways: Regular flow of work in the factory/office is disturbed.
Production schedules are delayed, so the orders cannot be executed in
time.
Overall production declines.
Overtime bill increases considerably.
Quality of work suffers because the casual workers employed to maintain
work schedules are not properly trained.
Work pressure on available and present employees increases.
Repairs and maintenance costs increase due to frequent break down of
machinery by inexperienced workers.
Incidence of industrial accidents increase.
Workers lose wages for unauthorized absence from duty.
Reduction in earnings increases indebtedness of workers which is further a
cause of absenteeism.
Workers who are habitually absent may be removed from service causing
hardships to them and their family members.
19
CAUSES OF ABSENTEEISM
The Royal Commission Labour observed that high absenteeism among Indian
labour is due to rural orientation and their frequent urge for rural exodus.
According to Acharaya In modern industrial establishment the incidence of
industrial fatigue, mal nutrition and bad working conditions aggravate that
feeling for change among industrial worker and some time impel them to visit
their village home frequently for rest and relaxation. Some of the causes of the
absenteeism are discussed as follows:
20
Inadequate Leave Facilities: The workers do not get proper facilities for
attending to family work. Since they are entitled for limited number of
leaves, they do not go to work, whenever they have to attend to family
needs.
Rural Ties: The most of the factory workers come from villages. They
leave behind their families and relatives while coming to cities for
employment. They go to their villages often for festivals, religious and
21
social ceremonies, sowing and harvesting of crops, etc. This leads to high
rate of absenteeism.
ANALYSIS OF CAUSES
SICKNESS AND ACCIDENT: In 20% case the workers remain absent due
to ill health and disease and in 15% cases workers remain absent due to
accident.
22
INNOCENT ABSENTEEISM
Innocent absenteeism refers to employees who are absent for reasons beyond their
control; like sickness and injury. Innocent absenteeism is not culpable which means
that it is blameless. In a labour relations context this means that it cannot be
remedied or treated by disciplinary measures.
CULPABLE ABSENTEEISM
Culpable absenteeism refers to employees who are absent without authorization for
reasons which are within their control. For instance, an employee who is on sick
leave even though he/she is not sick, and it can be proven that the employee was
not sick, is guilty of culpable absenteeism. To be culpable is to be blameworthy. In
a labour relations context this means that progressive discipline can be applied. For
the large majority of employees, absenteeism is legitimate, innocent absenteeism
which occurs infrequently. Procedures for disciplinary action apply only to culpable
absenteeism. Many organizations take the view that through the process of
individual absentee counseling and treatment, the majority of employees will
overcome their problems and return to an acceptable level of regular attendance.
COUNSELLING INNOCENT ABSENTEEISM
Innocent absenteeism is not blameworthy and therefore disciplinary action is not
justified. It is obviously unfair to punish someone for conduct which is beyond
his/her control. Absenteeism, no matter what the cause, imposes losses on the
employer who is also not at fault. The damage suffered by the employer must be
weighed against the employee's right to be sick. There is a point at which the
employer's right to expect the employee to attend regularly and fulfill the
23
employment contract will outweigh the employee's right to be sick. At such a point
the termination of the employee may be justified, as will be discussed.
The procedure an employer may take for innocent absenteeism is as follows:
Initial counseling
Written counseling
Reduction of hours and/or job reclassification
Discharge
Initial
Counseling:
Presuming
you
have
communicated
attendance
Written Counseling: If the absences persist, you should meet with the
employee formally and provide him/her with a letter of concern. If the
absenteeism still continues to persist then the employee should be given a
second letter of concern during another formal meeting. This letter would be
stronger worded in that it would warn the employee that unless attendance
improves, termination may be necessary and provide him/her with a letter of
concern.
24
been met and everything has been done to accommodate the employee can
termination be considered. An Arbitrator would consider the following in
ruling on an innocent absenteeism dismissal case.
Has the employee done everything possible to regain their health and return
to work?
Has the employer provided every assistance possible? (i.e. counseling,
As is evident, a great deal of time and effort must elapse before dismissal can take
place.
These points would be used to substantiate or disprove the following two fold test.
The absences must be shown to be clearly excessive.
It must be proven that the employee will be unable to attend work on a
regular basis in the future.
25
Initial/Verbal Warning
Written Warning
Suspension
Discharge
Initial/Verbal Warning: Formally meet with the employee and explain that
income protection is to be used only when an employee is legitimately ill.
Advice the employee that his/her attendance record must improve and be
maintained at an improved level or further disciplinary action will result.
Offer any counseling or guidance as is appropriate. Give further verbal
warnings as required. Review the employee's income protection records at
regular intervals. Where a marked improvement has been shown, commend
the employee. Where there is no improvement a written warning should be
issued.
Written Warning: Interview the employee again. Show him/her the
statistics and point out that there has been no noticeable (or sufficient)
improvement. Listen to the employee to see if there is a valid reason and
26
after
consultation
with
the
appropriate
superiors):
Dismissals should only be considered when all of the above conditions and
procedures have been met. The employee, upon displaying no satisfactory
improvement, would be dismissed on the grounds of his/her unwillingness to
correct his/her absence record.
27
physically unpleasant workplaces led them to make up excuses for not coming to
work, such as claiming to be sick. One way to determine the causes of absenteeism
is to question your supervisors about their employees' excessive absenteeism,
including what causes it and how to reduce it.
Q. How much formal training have your supervisors received on absenteeism
containment and reduction?
If you find that your supervisors hesitate to provide meaningful answers to your
questions, then you're on the right track toward a solution. Ask yourself, "How
much formal training have I given my supervisors in the areas of absenteeism
reduction and human resources skills?" If your answer is none or very little, your
solution can't be far behind. The fact of the matter is, you cannot ask a person to do
a job he or she has never been trained to do.
Following are the measures to control absenteeism: ADOPTION OF A WELL DEFINED RECRUITMENT PROCEDURE:
The selection of employees on the basis of command, linguistic and family
consideration should be avoided. The management should look for aptitude
and ability in the prospective employees and should not easily yield or
pressure of personal likes and dislikes .Application blanks should invariably
be used for a preliminary selection and tools for interviews. The personal
officer should play more effective role as coordinator of information,
provided that he has acquired job knowledge in the function of selection.
Employers should also take into account the fact that selection should be for
possible rely on employment exchange. .
PROVISION
OF
HEALTHFUL
AND
HYGENIC
WORKING
CONDITION: In India, where the climate is warm and most of the work
involves manual labour, it is essential that the workers should be provided
with proper and healthy working conditions. The facilities of drinking water,
canteens, lavatories, rest rooms, lighting and ventilation, need to be
improved. Where any one of these facilities is not available, it should be
29
provided and all these help in keeping the employee cheerful and increase
productivity and the efficiency of operations throughout the plant.
PROVISION OF REASONABLE WAGES AND ALLOWANCE AND
JOB SECURITY TO WOTRKERS: The wages of an employee determine
his as well as his family standard of living. This single factor is important
for him than other. The management should, therefore pay reasonable wages
and allowances, taking into account the capacity of the industry to pay.
MOTIVATORS
WELFARE
AND
SOCIAL
MEASURES:
The
management should consider the needs of workers and offer them adequate
and cheap housing facilities, free of subsidized food, free medical and
transport facilities, free education facilities for their children and other
monetary benefits. As for social security is concern, the provision of
Provident Fund, SBI facilities, Gratuity and Pension, all those need to be
improved.
IMPROVED COMMUNICATION AND PROMPT REDRESSAL OF
GRIEVANCES: Since a majority of the workers are illiterate or not highly
educated bulletins and written notices journals and booklets are not easily
understood by them. Meetings and concealing are called for written
communication becomes meaningful only when workers can readied
understood them, too many notices should be avoided only the essential ones
should be put on the boards, which should be placed near the entrance inside
the canteen and in areas which are frequently visited by the workers so that
they are aware of the policies of the company and any sort changes being
made.
LIBERAL GRANT OF LEAVE: The managements strict attitude in
granting leave and holidays even when the need for them is genuine, tempts
workers to go on E.S.I. leave for under this scheme, they can have 56 days
leaves in years on half pay. An effective way of dealing with absenteeism is
to liberalize leave rules.
SAFETY AND ACCIDENT PREVENTION: Safety at work can be
maintained and accidents can be prevented if the management tries to
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31
Setting these triggers is entirely dependent on the organization using the Bradford
Factor. It is usually advisable to use the Bradford Factor as one of a number of
absence policies. However, setting these triggers and making staff aware of them,
in addition to taking action, resulted in the Prison Service reducing absenteeism by
18%.
By implementing mandatory procedures for tackling absenteeism across an
organization led by the Bradford Factor, an organization can remove the potential
for differences across teams and management and remove the difficulties and
reluctance that line managers often face when having to discipline a close staff
member. The Bradford Factor can provide organizations with a two pronged
method for tackling absence: proactively deterring absence in the first place and
utilizing a set procedure to identify and tackle persistent absenteeism.
33
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The research reveals that one of the major problems is absenteeism in our industry.
Absenteeism hinders planning, production, efficiency and functioning of the
organization. In fact high rates of absenteeism affect an organization state of health
and also supervisory and managerial effectiveness.
OBJECTIVES OF RESEARCH
To identify the rate of absenteeism of worker.
To identify the causes of absenteeism.
To suggest any measures to reduce the rate of absenteeism
35
There are some limitations for research which are as follows: As it was not possible to visit each department the true picture of working
condition could not be judged.
The workers were busy with their work therefore they could not give
enough time for the interview.
The personal biases of the respondents might have entered into their
response.
Some of the respondents give no answer to the questions which may affect
the analysis.
Respondents were reluctant to disclose complete and correct information
Because of a small period of time only small sample had to be considered which
doesnt actually reflect and accurate and intact picture.
36
Q1. For how many years you are working with Aircel?
Interpretation: It can be seen that 56% of the workers are working for more than
10 years whereas 36% are working for more than 5 yrs.
Interpretation: It can be seen that 96% of the workers do not remain absent.
37
Q3. According to you what are the main reasons of employee absent?
Interpretation: It can be seen that 96% of the workers remain absent for personal
problem and 4% says stress can be the reason.
Interpretation: It can be seen that 76% of the workers rate Present Absenteeism Policy
as good where as 22% rate it as excellent.
38
Interpretation: It can be seen that 94% of the workers are clear about their job
responsibility.
Interpretation: It can be seen that 82% of the workers are fully satisfied with
their work whereas 16% rate it as good.
39
Interpretation: It can be seen that 82% of the workers feel that environment is
good and 14% rate it as excellent.
Interpretation: It can be seen that 76% of the workers have good relations with
their superiors and 22% rate it as excellent.
40
Interpretation: It can be seen that 42% of the workers say that their superiors
attitude towards their problem is excellent and 56% rate it as good.
Interpretation: It can be seen that 86% of the workers consider that facilities provided to
them are good whereas 10% rate it as excellent.
41
CONCLUSION
Almost 94% of the workers are clear regarding their work responsibilities.
82% of the workers are fully satisfied with their work whereas 16%
workers think their work as good.
76 % workers have good relations with the superiors whereas 22% have
excellent relations with the superiors.
42% workers think that their superiors behavior towards their problems is
excellent & 56% workers consider it as good.
42
43
In the end to conclude this report I would like to specify that the project
allotted to me on ABSENTEEISM was of immense help to me in
understanding the working environment of an organization, thereby providing
a first hand practical experience. In this project while identifying the reasons
of absenteeism of the workers of AIRCEL I got an opportunity to interact
with workers to observe their behavior and attitude. In the end I would once
again like to thank the people of AIRCEL who helped me in accomplishing
this project and boosting my morale by appreciating and recognizing my
efforts.
44
QUESTIONNAIRE
Personal Information
Name
Age
Sex
Job status
For how many years you are working with AIRCEL?
(a) 0-1 yr
(b) 1-2 yr
(c) 2-5 yr
(d) < 5 yr
How often you remain absent in a month?
(a) Nil
(b) Once
(c) Twice
(d) More than twice
According to you what is the main reason for employees absent?
(a) Health problem / domestic reasons
(b) Stress
(c) Work dissatisfaction
(d) Working environment
Your views regarding the present Absenteeism Policy of AIRCEL ?
(a) Excellent
(b) Good
(c) Fair
(d) Dont know
Are you clear about your work / job responsibilities?
(a) Well clear
(b) Good
45
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Books
Research Methodology C. R. Kothari
Websites:
http://en.wikipedia.org
http://www.aircel.com
http:// www.ibef.com
http://www.scribd .com
http:// www.trai.gov.in
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