Two conclusions can be drawn from this action research project. First, there is a statistical link between certain company practices and the leadership behaviors of front-line managers, with employee stress, and absenteeism. Second, by focusing intervention initiatives on organizational issues which impact on employee wellness, absenteeism and one can achieve dramatic improvements in overall company performance.
Background
A Canadian subsidiary of a large American transnational retailer [1] , agreed to pay for and participate in a study designed to identify company practices and leadership behaviors causing stress and absenteeism. They have over 140 stores across Canada and between 50-100 employees per store.
The research team was lead by Michael Koscec, President, Entec Corporation, and included staff from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, the Research Services Unit at Georgian College. Bill Wilkerson, President, Business and Economic Roundtable on Mental Health, and Edgardo Pérez, CEO, Homewood Health Centre, and Director, Centre for Organizational Health, provided expert advice and guidance to the research team.
For the purposes of this research an organization is considered healthy when managers and individual employees, join together in a collaborative process, to take responsibility for creating a dynamic workplace that will lift customer loyalty and corporate profits.
Results
The analysis showed that proportionately, certain leadership behaviors had a much greater impact than company practices, (which also correlated strongly with employee stress), on employee wellness. Behaviors which had the greatest impact on creating a healthy workplace were found, where the managers exhibited a capability and a willingness to:
1.solve conflicts fairly and appropriately;
2.ovide their staff with the freedom to do their job, while giving clear direction, tools and information;
3.ovide consistent and direct feedback on performance; be supportive and trustworthy; and
4.eat everyone with respect
On the critical topic of absenteeism, the survey analysis tells us that absenteeism is lower when there is:
1.owledge and understanding of the company's goals;
2.rticipation in decision making;
3.ct feedback for good work;
4.monstrated behavior by employees, which reflect company values; and
5.idence of good communication and respect, among coworkers.
Further analyses of responses to individual questions in the survey, showed that the Organizational Health diagnostic, which was developed, was a valid method for measuring organizational health.
Entec's follow-up process focused specifically on the issues which where highlighted by the statistical analysis as having the greatest impact on health, absenteeism and performance. Some examples of the types of interventions that took place included: developing a new company mission statement; leadership training for managers, which emphasized desired leadership behaviors; changes in company practices such as scheduling and workload distribution; improved communication processes at the corporate and store levels; improvements in the application of HR policies e.g. internal promotions and hiring practices; processes to facilitate continuous learning to reduce stress and absenteeism; building greater awareness of the availability of their EAP; being intentional in creating a fun and positive employee and customer experience and aligning rewards to achieve this type of workplace culture.
Recent performance data is showing significant improvements. For example, year over year, turnover rates of all levels of managers (750), has dropped from 36%-19%. In problem areas, the rate has dropped dramatically from 56% - 8%, 48% - 5%. The turnover rate for store managers has dropped from 38% - 13%.
Secret shopper scores improved on average by 4.8% in the stores with the lowest organizational health scores, and by 5.2% in the stores with the highest organizational health scores.
About Author:
Kelly McCullough is a graduate with a Masters in Organizational Health from the University of Michigan. She has worked for Entec Corporation as research assistance. One of her most significant projects was her work as a research analyst on a major study of older workers that was led by Entec Corporation for the Canadian Federal Government.
