Reducing Absenteeism and Rescheduling Among Grocery Store Employees With Point-Contingent Rewards

The purpose of this research was to evaluate a reward program designed to reduce absenteeism among staff (N = 38) at a grocery store. The intervention included public feedback and a credit reward system whereby participants got store dollars for attendance and authorized rescheduling of work assignments. Results showed that absenteeism decreased from a group mean of 8 shifts missed per week during baseline to 4.25 shifts missed per week during the intervention before increasing to 6.75 shifts missed per week during the reversal phase. The mean total rescheduling occurrences were reduced from a baseline average of 19.83 per week to 9.25 per week during the intervention and returned to 22.25 per week during the reversal. Employees were also less likely to leave early during the intervention period.     

A Case Study Examining the Effectiveness and Cost of Incentive Programs to Reduce Staff Absenteeism in a Preschool

Most employers provide some number of paid sick leave days for their employees. If employees use their sick leave days by calling in sick on days they are feeling well, productivity (in terms of either goods or services) may be reduced. In this study, conducted at a preschool, productivity was defined as the number of children enrolled each month. In baseline, the 13 full-time employees were absent 4% of the time and 75 children were enrolled. The effectiveness and cost of two voluntary incentive programs designed to reduce employee absenteeism were examined for 4-½ years in a single case experimental design. The absenteeism of employees who volunteered to participate in the incentive program was .7% and overall absenteeism during the incentive programs was 2-½% while costs remained constant. Twenty-six percent more children were served. Employees preferred monetary to non-monetary incentives.     

A Case Study Investigating the Effects of a Low-Cost Intervention to Reduce Three Attendance Behavior Problems in a Clerical Training Program

ABSTRACT

Operant learning principles were employed to design an intervention aimed at reducing the frequency of dysfunctional attendance behaviors among a group (N = 13) of low socioeconomic females completing a clerical/office simulation training program. The Federally funded simulation provided a setting in which subjects learned the rudimentary skills required for employment. A low cost coupon incentive system served as the independent variable which effectively reinforced proper attendance behaviors. Effectiveness of the intervention was evaluated using a multiple-baseline design. Results were practically significant reductions in dysfunctional behavior rates which generalized to actual work settings following posttraining employment. Findings are discussed in terms of satiation, skills transferability, cost, and subject participation.     

The Effects of Attendance-Contingent Feedback and Praise on Attendance and Work Efficiency

Absenteeism continues to be a major problem for large segments of business and industry. Operant procedures have been used successfully to correct this problem, but most programs have used various forms of monetary reinforces. Applied research also has yet to examine the relationship between attendance and employee productivity. The present research uses feedback and social reinforcement to improve attendance, and examines attendance levels as they relate to worker efficiency. The findings of this study suggest that although there might be a slight increase in individual efficiency when absenteeism decreases, the relation between attendance and worker efficiency is not simple.     

A Simple Punishment Procedure for Controlling Employee Absenteeism

The present study examined the effectiveness of a punishment procedure for controlling staff absenteeism in a facility for mentally retarded persons. Subjects were required to report sick leave absences and related information directly to their supervisor. The supervisor then provided subjects with information concerning the effects of the absence on facility operations. Results indicated a reduction in sick leave absenteeism following the implementation of the punishment procedure. Results also showed that vacation leave absenteeism increased systematically with reductions in sick leave absenteeism. Results were discussed in terms of employee-controlled (sick leave) vs. employer-controlled (vacation leave) absenteeism, and the ease and economy of the punishment procedure.     

An Evaluation of Train-to-Code to Teach Implementation of PECS©

We evaluated the impact of a customized training program developed using an observation and behavioral coding software system (i.e., Train-to-Code) to teach implementation of Phase 3A of the Picture Exchange Communication System to four undergraduate students. The training program coached participants on all relevant steps of the procedure. To accomplish this, participants viewed multiple video exemplars of correct and incorrect implementation of each step in the sequence of behaviors, and coded these behaviors in accordance with a taxonomy developed by the experimenters. The training program provided prompts and feedback in real time based on participants’ current level of performance and required mastery of seven levels of training, each with fewer prompts and feedback, until an expert level of unprompted coding performance was demonstrated. A multiple baseline design across participants was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the training program on levels of procedural integrity during performance test probes conducted with a confederate learner before and after the completion of the training program. Results showed improved performance relative to baseline following training, and maintenance of performance at 2–4 weeks follow-up. A conceptual analysis of these findings will be discussed, along with implications for staff training in applied settings.     

Quality assurance in an IPA setting

The experience at CIGNA Healthplans shows that a quality assurance program can be instituted in an IPA-model HMO at low cost and with the addition of little new staff. Existing resources can be effectively restructured to implement a functional program of a traditional type that is easily understood by employer groups, members, and providers. It can serve as a transitional process until the HMO is large enough to put a total quality management program in place.     

Beyond the Steers and Rhodes model of employee attendance.

This paper presents a causal model of employee absenteeism which modifies and extends the Steers and Rhodes (1978) process model of employee attendance. A summary and critique of the Steers and Rhodes model is offered. The proposed model integrates diverse literatures regarding organization behavior and occupational health. Sources are provided for the acceptable operationalization of variables.     

IMPROVING THE DELIVERY OF SPECIAL EDUCATION AND RELATED SERVICES IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

The utility of organizational behavior management (OBM) for improving the delivery of special education and related services in public school districts was investigated in three experimental studies. Each study employed a multiple baseline design to judge the efficacy of an OBM intervention on service delivery problems common to most public school organizations. The problems and OBM interventions were: (1) expanding the range of functioning of school psychologists through performance feedback; (2) training special service teams to develop valuable individual education programs (IEPs) with a behavioral, in-service training program; and (3) ensuring the implementation of a special education resource room program by means of program consultation. All interventions were implemented by public school program managers and staff. In each study, the particular intervention resulted in improvement in service delivery performance. Results of the studies are discussed within the context of the recently enacted legislation for the education of handicapped children and in terms of generality to mental health, business, and industrial settings.     

The Use of In Situ Behavioral Skills Training to Improve Staff Implementation of the PEAK Relational Training System

The study evaluated the effectiveness of an in situ behavioral skills training program for training 3 direct care staff to implement the Promoting the Emergence of Advanced Knowledge Relational Training System (PEAK) with 3 individuals with autism. PEAK is an evidence-based behavior analytic language development curriculum that uses discrete trials to promote the emergence of language. The data suggest that behavioral skills training improved staff implementation of PEAK and resulted in a corresponding improvement in selected language skills across 2 of 3 learners with autism.     

Einflussfaktoren auf Fehlzeiten und Maßnahmen dagegen

Determining factors of absenteeism and strategies against it Due to its increasing costs, institiutional absenteeism has become a central problem of successfull management. Most researchers differentiate between illness related and motivation related absenteeism. This distinction is not very useful, because it does not reflect the multifactorial causes of absenteeism. Intra-individual factors, societal context, company culture, working conditions, work-related tasks, and the behaviour of superiors play a critical role in determining the frequency and duration of sick leaves. A set of strategies is described in order to develop more motivating working conditions and a staff oriented management style. A project comprising a set of individual and collective strategies to reduce absenteeism is delineated.     

Cumulatively Large Benefits of Incrementally Small Intervention Effects

Abstract

Metacontingencies are relations among practices within an organizational culture and their molar environmental consequences for the culture. They can be summarized by the ratio of all revenues from operations (or budgets received) to all expenses paid for operations. Rates of attendance/absenteeism have consequences in terms of effects on a culture's ratio of revenues received (budgets funded) to expense payments that appear as profits (losses) or budget surpluses (deficits) over some time interval. For a host of reasons OBM researchers place a premium on identifying and adopting practices that result in large immediate effects on behavior and performance in the short run. However, some practices created by OBM interventions can have small short-term effects and appreciably larger cumulative effects on revenue to expense and budget to budget expenditure ratios in the longer run. The importance of estimating cumulative benefits and/or costs of OBM interventions when intervention effects are small is demonstrated in this article using data from an operant based intervention that produced an immediate small increase in attendance.     

Effects of Individual and Group Contingency Interventions on Attendance in Adolescent Part-Time Employees

This study examined the effects of individual and group monetary contingencies on the attendance of adolescent part-time employees. Attendance increased in both individual and group contingency phases; however staff questionnaire responses indicated a preference for the individual contingencies. Future research should consider staff acceptability regarding interventions and provide guidelines for the determination of intervention appropriateness.     

Social support at work and its relationship to absenteeism

In this study, the impact of psychosocial work characteristics on illness and work absenteeism has been examined. The study group consisted of 133 civil servants (33 men and 100 women) with a mean age of 43 years (range 21-65 years). Psychosocial work characteristics, social support, quality of life, work absenteeism, psychosomatic and gastrointestinal symptoms were assessed by means of questionnaires. Five different work support or functions were identified by factor analysis: appraisal support, belonging support, instrumental support, emotional support and supportive atmosphere. The analysis showed that work absenteeism was associated with lower belonging support and a less supportive atmosphere. Furthermore, psychosomatic symptoms were associated with lack of support at work, measured as belonging support, instrumental support and supportive atmosphere. Gastrointestinal symptoms were associated with lack of belonging support and lack of social integration outside work. A bad general health status was associated with lack of insrumental support. The association between work absenteeism and social support at work was confirmed in multivariate analysis with control for confounding factors. In this analysis, high work strain and low social support were associated with a lower quality of life, which in turn was associated with increased absenteeism. Although there are well-known difficulties in drawing causal conclusions from cross-sectional studies, it seems reasonable to conclude that social support at work is an important factor to take into consideration when analysing illness and absenteeism from work.     

Comparisons of Performance and Job Insecurity in Union and Nonunion Sites of a Manufacturing Company

Layoffs and employment changes caused by current economic conditions have significant effects on employee work behavior and emotions as well as organizational outcomes. We examined the relationships between measures of job insecurity, organizational commitment, turnover, absenteeism, and worker performance within a manufacturer in Chapter 11 bankruptcy. A positive relationship was found between job insecurity and intentions to turnover, and a small negative correlation was found between measures of job insecurity and organizational commitment. Unobtrusive observations of union and nonunion performance over 4 months showed that nonunion production workers were on-task more frequently, although on-task behavior was high for both. Productivity and quality measures of different factories favored nonunion locations. Although comparisons between sites were constrained by a quasi-experimental design, repeated behavioral and outcome measures within sites showed differential effects when the company announced a plant closing in another state. Job insecurity appeared to be an establishing operation that produced differential effects between union and nonunion sites as well as among individual employees within sites.     

A Comparison of Two Data Analysis Training Methods for Paraprofessionals in an Educational Setting

Analyzing and using student educational data to guide instructional programming is a critical staff skill to ensure quality programming based on applied behavior analysis. We compared two training methods to teach staff to use rules to analyze graphed educational data to enact program changes: didactic instruction and behavioral skills training using direct practice. Participants showed improvements in verbally identifying data patterns using simulated data; however, participants in the latter group were also effective using actual student data. The lack of correspondence between rule identification and rule following challenges the assumption that an individual’s ability to identify rules predicts actual performance.     

Service Completion Estimates for Cross‐trained Workforce Schedules under Uncertain Attendance and Demand

Although cross‐trained workers offer numerous operational advantages for extended‐hour service businesses, they must first be scheduled for duty. The outcome from those decisions, usually made a week or more in advance, varies with realized service demand, worker attendance, and the way available cross‐trained workers are deployed once the demands for service are known. By ignoring the joint variability of attendance and demand, we show that existing workforce scheduling models tend to overstate expected schedule performance and systematically undervalue the benefits of cross‐training. We propose a two‐stage stochastic program for profit‐oriented cross‐trained workforce scheduling and allocation decisions that is driven by service completion estimates obtained from the convolution of the employee attendance and service demand distributions. Those estimates, reflecting optimal worker allocation decisions over all plausible realizations of attendance and demand, provide the gradient information used to guide workforce scheduling decisions. Comparing the performance of workforce scheduling decisions for hundreds of different hypothetical service environments, we find that solutions based on convolution estimates are more profitable, favor proportionately more cross‐trained workers and fewer specialists, and tend to recommend significantly larger (smaller) staffing levels for services under high (low) contribution margins than workforce schedules developed with independent expectations of attendance and demand.     

Social support at work and its relationship to absenteeism

Abstract

In this study, the impact of psychosocial work characteristics on illness and work absenteeism has been examined. The study group consisted of 133 civil servants (33 men and 100 women) with a mean age of 43 years (range 21-65 years). Psychosocial work characteristics, social support, quality of life, work absenteeism, psychosomatic and gastrointestinal symptoms were assessed by means of questionnaires. Five different work support or functions were identified by factor analysis: appraisal support, belonging support, instrumental support, emotional support and supportive atmosphere. The analysis showed that work absenteeism was associated with lower belonging support and a less supportive atmosphere. Furthermore, psychosomatic symptoms were associated with lack of support at work, measured as belonging support, instrumental support and supportive atmosphere. Gastrointestinal symptoms were associated with lack of belonging support and lack of social integration outside work. A bad general health status was associated with lack of insrumental support. The association between work absenteeism and social support at work was confirmed in multivariate analysis with control for confounding factors. In this analysis, high work strain and low social support were associated with a lower quality of life, which in turn was associated with increased absenteeism. Although there are well-known difficulties in drawing causal conclusions from cross-sectional studies, it seems reasonable to conclude that social support at work is an important factor to take into consideration when analysing illness and absenteeism from work.     

A cost containment program targeting home infusion drug therapy

A program was instituted to determine if retrospective, concurrent, and prospective analysis of home infusion therapy cases by a multidisciplinary team comprising clinicians and financial analysts would lead to cost reductions and cost-effective behavioral changes by providers. Actual invoices and prospective price quotes for infusion therapy were reviewed and compared to a database of "usual and customary" prices. The results were presented to providers with the intent of obtaining a reduction in prices for the services rendered or about to be rendered. As a result, $3,265,248 in short-term cost reductions were achieved, and $15,146,789 in long-term cost reductions are projected. Analysis resulted in average cost reductions of $2,247 and $10,424 respectively. Very significant cost reductions can be achieved through the use of a multidisciplinary team and a comprehensive pricing database for home infusion therapy.     

A MILP model for the long term academic staff size and composition planning in public universities

This paper proposes a model for dealing with the long term staff composition planning in public universities. University academic staff is organized in units (or departments) according to their field of expertize. The staff for each unit is distributed in a set of categories, each one characterized by their teaching hours, cost and other specificities. Besides the use for planning (and updating a plan), the model can be used to assess the impact that different strategies may have on the personnel costs and the structure of a university. The proposed model is formulated generally, so it can be applied to different types of universities attending to their characteristics. The model is applied to a real case and validated by means of a computational experiment considering several scenarios. The analysis is focused on achieving a preferable academic staff composition under service level constraints while also minimizing the associated economic expenditures considering a long term horizon. The results show that the model successes in approaching the staff composition to a previously defined pattern preferable one.