USA MOTORS

USA Motors



USA Motors

Will the incentive plan to reduce absenteeism succeed? Explain your opinion.

In my opinion, the incentive plan to reduce absenteeism will probably succeed because it brings some alternative implementations. For example, if a chronically absent employee exceeds the standard, then vacation, holiday and sickness/accident pay will be cut by ten percent through the next six months. Additionally, in case worker absence continues to exceed the allowable limits, then vocation, holiday and sickness pay will be cut during the next six months by the actual percentage of six days incurred by the chronic absentee. So, when an employee will miss fifteen percent of scheduled workdays through the first six months period, vacation pay for the following six month period will be decreased by ten percent. Moreover, if the employee will continue to be absent at the fifteen percent rate, than vacation pay will be reduced by fifteen percent during the next six months (Jackson, S.E. & Schuler, R, S., 2005). From my point of view, these are all relevant incentives and have the capacity to affect the behavior of employees seriously. However, it is also stated in the case study that the agreement negotiated ten years ago between the national union and USA Motors. According to my thoughts, this can cause a great deal of resistance from the employees because they will need some time to get used to the new program. It is a well-known fact that, in any large organization, change takes time. (Bridgewater Today., 2002). Moreover, Jack Parks is trying to make incentives a small piece of the great gear which we call as the organizational culture. However, organizational culture changes very slowly. (Schauber, A.C., 2001). As a result, I believe that the incentive plan will be successful to reduce absenteeism, but some problems may occur in the beginning and initial phases.

2- How much absenteeism is really under the employee's control?

Firstly, having frequent or excessive absences is called absenteeism. (go2 Tourism HR Society, 2006). It is my thought that, to extent, absenteeism is definitely under the employee's control. My research also supports my ideas and point out that a good proportion of absenteeism from work is potentially avoidable. (Yende, P.M., 2005). On the other hand, there are some other factors which are definitely out of employee's control such as illnesses, injuries and accidents. Plus, absenteeism is not always the fault of employees, it can also be business related. For instance, when an employee will be dissatisfied from his/her workplace, missing shifts will be observed as well as arriving late on a regular basis. Additionally, if employees will be less motivated or if they will have an excessive workload, again absenteeism will be experienced. By the way, the organization can even sometimes be responsible from the illnesses, injuries and accidents of the employees which I had mentioned being out of an employee's control. For example, a company can address these issues by ensuring a healthy work environment. Besides these, let's say an employee was not selected ...