Food manufacturer Aunt Bessie's employs 500 staff and, until 2004, had struggled to achieve a return on investment with a manually-administered absence management system.
It now uses a system in which staff call in to an automated voice-prompted line if they are going to be absent. The system removes the need to enter reason-for-absence codes from one HR system to another, eliminating duplication and potential errors.
Using the system, provided by Kronos, Aunt Bessie's has significantly improved the way that absence is monitored and measured, resulting in a 27% fall in absence levels at its main site since the system was implemented.
Carol Fletcher, HR manager, says moving away from a manual system means absence data can be accessed easily by the business. "The real-time availability of data now ensures an absent employee is spotted within seconds of their official start time, enabling production managers to take immediate action to either call in agency staff or transfer an employee from another line," she says. "Calendar-type displays show us exactly when an employee was absent over a year and we can easily spot trends, such as Monday absences or absence immediately before or after a holiday."
