5 Unexpected Ways Leave Management System Can Improve Employee Output

All of us need some time-off sooner or later — no matter how much we love our jobs. Vacations give employees a much-needed break from all the stresses of the workplace. Time-off gives employees the opportunity to recharge, pursue their other passions, and spend quality time with their families and loved ones.

Vacation leaves also keep employees from getting burned out. This report from Gallup shows that of almost 7,500 employees who participated in the survey, 23% reported feeling burned out at work ALWAYS. From the same report, 44% said that they feel burned out SOMETIMES. Gallup concluded that about ⅔ of full-time workers experience burnout in their jobs.

Burnout is strongly influenced by how employees are managed

Burnout is not “part of the job”. It’s actually a result of unmanageable workloads, lack of role clarity, unreasonable time pressure, lack of support from the manager, and unfair treatment at work.  It’s a chronic problem that’s costing companies billions of dollars in productivity losses worldwide.

The Effects of Burnout

So, what happens to an employee when experiences burnout at work. From the same Gallup study, employees who often experience burnout are: 

• 13 per cent less confident in their work
• 63 per cent more likely to get sick and take a sick day
• 2.6 times as likely to leave their job
• 23 per cent more likely to visit the emergency room
• Half as likely to discuss how to approach performance goals with their supervisor

As a business leader, how will you inspire productivity and performance among your workforce without your employees getting burned out? The answer is simple. And it has nothing to do with expectations for high performance. Rather, it’s all about how you manage your employees.

Why Employees Don’t Take Time-Off

There are several reasons why employees avoid taking time off. While at first, this may seem beneficial to the company, it actually causes more harm than good in the long run. Aside from productivity costs, failing to properly manage leaves also has financial implications. Employees who don’t take time off tend to accrue weeks or years of leave, which is a liability to the company if the employee resigns and has to be paid out in a lump sum. Unpaid leave is registered in the company’s books as debt and could also cause a problem if you ever wanted to sell the business.

Below are some of the reasons why many employees don’t take time-off and risk getting burned out instead:

1️⃣ They don’t want to be seen as replaceable

Unfortunately, many employees feel insecure about their job and think that taking a vacation will make them replaceable. The best way to combat this issue is to make sure that your company’s vacation policies are discussed thoroughly during your onboarding process. Be forthcoming with your Paid Time Off policy right from the get-go so your employees don’t see it as something that is frowned upon in the office.

2️⃣ They are worried about too much work waiting for them when they get back

It’s natural to feel sceptical about the benefits of leaves when employees return to a mountain of work after three days of being away. As an employer, you can mitigate this by meeting with your employees on their first day back to establish priorities and give them a sense of direction for the coming weeks.

3️⃣ They want to show their dedication

Office-martyrdom as many put it. Some employees don’t take time off because they want to show that they are committed and dedicated to their jobs. You can address this issue by pointing out that your company values performance over presence. Teach your employees that the best way to show their dedication to the business is by using their allotted time-offs to recharge and take care of themselves so they can work more effectively when they get back to work.

The Importance of Paid Time-Off

Paid vacation days give employees an opportunity to take a break from work. Paid time-off benefits both employers and employees by contributing to a happier and more productive workforce. Research shows that paid time-offs help strengthen family ties, improves employee retention, increases productivity, contributes to the overall well-being of workers, and reduces healthcare expenses.

How a Proper Leave Management System can Improve Employee Productivity

A leave management system or LMS is a platform that enables HR to easily allocate, track, and approve leave or time-off requests. The same system also allows employees to monitor their own leaves and make time-off requests with just a few clicks. Below are some of the ways a good leave management system can help improve your employees’ productivity at work:

1️⃣ Increase employee satisfaction and engagement

Before the advent of LMS, taking time-off requires a lot of paperwork and face-to-face negotiations with your manager. CakeHR’s Leave Management module eliminates these hurdles by going paperless. Employees can now request time-off in just a few clicks and managers can approve them in real-time.

This innovation provides transparency, saves time, and increases employee satisfaction. It also helps reduce unexplained absenteeism in the workplace. All of these benefits combined will result in better employee performance.

2️⃣ Better employee confidence and wellbeing

If your employees know that they are getting fair and proper leaves, they will have more confidence not only in your business but also in you as a manager. Good leave management shows that your business is organised. This fosters trust which ultimately results in happier more engaged employees who stay productive and motivated to help your business succeed.

On the contrary, poor leave management can create resentments particularly in employees who have to cover more workload because one or two of his colleagues are not around.

3️⃣ Proper leave planning

Modern leave management systems like CakeHR enables the employee to see their remaining leave balances in real-time. This transparency contributes a lot to proper leave and holiday planning. This allows employees to plan absences in advance and you, as a manager, will have all the data you need to plan shifts accordingly to make sure you have enough workforce to cover the work.

Proper planning of annual and holiday leaves help reduce disruptions at work and prevents or limits any drop in productivity. Because you can plan ahead, you can ensure that the business can operate optimally to meet its deadlines and obligations.

Proper leave planning also improves employee morale. Nobody in the office will want to work extra hours just because you’ve not planned your shifts and holiday leaves accordingly.

4️⃣ You obey the law

According to Work Smart, 

A full-time employee in the UK is entitled to 28 days’ holiday. Employers can insist that you take some of your paid holidays on bank holidays, and some may insist that you are available to work on bank holidays. How bank holidays are treated will depend on what is said in your contract of employment and in any policy.

Part-time workers’ annual leave entitlement is proportionate to the time they normally work, e.g. a worker who normally works three days per week is entitled to 16.8 days’ annual leave, and so on.

Employers are allowed to include the eight UK bank holidays within your statutory holiday entitlement

So, what the point here? By making sure that your employees get the right amount of leaves they are entitled to by law will create a culture of trust and respect in the workplace. And when employees trust your business, they will do all they can to reciprocate and help your company succeed.

5️⃣ You’ll have more resources to use for programs that improve employee productivity

Do you know that admin costs are costing small firms in the UK 28 hours per week? 

That translates to an average of 5 billion pounds in annual expenses! Requesting and processing leaves in the traditional way is so laden with paperwork and red tape that it’ll take a good chunk of your annual administrative costs. There has to be a better way, isn’t it? 

Well, there is. Modern leave management systems like CakeHR is fully paperless. It also has a self-service feature where employees can request time off right from their dashboard and managers can approve or deny such requests in minutes — saving valuable time.

What makes CakeHR even better are the integrations. The Leave Management system is fully integrated into your Shift Scheduling, Performance, and Timesheets modules to provide you with an enterprise solution that’s automated, powerful, and scalable. 

The costs of implementing a leave management system are small compared to the benefits it provides. A fully integrated and automated LMS can help you save a lot of resources (i.e. time and money) which you can use on other programs and initiatives that can help improve the productivity of your employees.

Lenmark.

CakeHR is an award-winning HR software company that provides attendance, performance and recruitment management for customers worldwide. More information at www.cake.hr