Sickness absence rates across the UK are the highest they have been in a decade. Affinity Health at Work have developed an evidence-based Absence Management Review to help organisations identify and mitigate risks to absence and retention.
The reasons for absence and unsuccessful return to work journeys are complex. Over the last 20 years we have conducted research to understand what drives absence and what helps to sustain return to work.
Our research shows that an integrated and systemic approach to absence and return to work is needed. Having the right policies and practices in place, and ensuring that employees are aware of and confident to use absence management practices, is vital to creating an environment where people are supported to return to and stay in work following absence.
Affinity's Absence Management Framework, developed in collaboration with academics at Loughborough University and the University of Nottingham, guides our approach.
Affinity's Absence Management Review will:
- provide an in-depth mapping of your current activities against the Affinity's Absence Management Framework
- identify your current strengths and development areas in provision to create a culture of sustainable work
- make recommendations to strengthen provision drawing on research evidence, practitioner experience of what is known to work in other organisations, organisational data and employee consultation
- help you optimise resources and deliver return on investment on your absence management and broader wellbeing spend
- enable you to take a staged approach, prioritise action and develop an integrated plan to improve activities to support people to return to and stay in work following periods of absence from work.
How it works
We combine a broad range of data collection activities to ensure we draw on the best available evidence:
Stage 1: Review of policies, documentation and organisational data
Stage 2: Interviews with key stakeholders, and where appropriate interviews with recently returned employees and managers of absent employees
Stage 3: Focus groups with employees with representation from across the organisation,
Stage 4: Gap analysis and mapping against frameworks
Stage 5: Developing recommendations and reporting
Stage 6: Action planning
The scale of data gathering and timeframes vary dependent on client need and budget. Typically, Absence Management Reviews take between 3-4 months from contracting to reporting.
To talk about how we can help you develop a staged action plan to reduce absence and support your employees to thrive, contact us at hello@affinityhealthatwork.com.
Taking action
The Absence Management Framework has been designed to assess an organisations policies and practices, tapping in to the nine core areas of effective absence management as identified through research.
In reviewing an organisations' existing policies and practices on these nine dimensions, areas of strength and development are identified.
The real value comes next. The actions that an organisation takes to improve practice, and how these actions are implemented and monitored, will determine the impact on staff absence.
The actions may encompass prevention, development, health promotion and support and may include:
- Policy refresh including guidance materials to support all staff roll-out
- Flexible work policy programme
- Activities to improve break taking and recovery
- Training for line managers in health and work conversations
- Training for HRBPs in supporting access to work adjustments
- Personalised support for returning workers
- Job crafting interventions
- Provision of a return to work toolkit to support effective conversations between absent and returning workers, managers, health professionals, HR and colleagues.
Testimonial
"We commissioned Affinity to conduct a review of the drivers of absence in October 2022, where they:
a) examined existing data from across services, working with diverse stakeholder groups, conducting interviews and focus groups; and
b) mapped findings against Affinity's Absence Management Framework to identify areas of policy and process, root causes of absence and at risk staff groups.
Subsequently, we then commissioned . Using their extensive knowledge of workplace interventions and analysis of data we have collaborated to produce a series of benchmarking reports for organisations. The team at Affinity have been engaging, co-productive in their approach, met very challenging time constraints, with all of this built on built on a strong history of work in the field with a dedicated team of experts."
Director of Occupational Health and Wellbeing, Solent NHS Trust
To find out how we can help you...
... do not hesitate to contact us at hello@affinityhealthatwork.com
