The Importance of Good Work Attendance - The Whys & Hows
Setting a good work attendance record within your job is a very important resource, not only for you, but for your company as well. In fact, attendance is usually rated very high in the business world; sometimes placed higher than productivity and quality. Why is the importance of good attendance so important? In this article, we will go over the benefits and cons of work attendance and why it is always in your best interest to make sure you are on time.
What is Work Attendance?
Work attendance is of course an employee’s ability to be at work, at their given start time, and doing their assigned work at that time. Usually, companies and businesses will ask that employees come within fifteen minutes of their scheduled work shifts in order to get themselves in order to begin their jobs at the appointed time. For most businesses, there will be a portion of the company’s
employment policy that may go over what an employee needs to do in case they either need to be late or if they need to miss a day of work.
The importance of good work attendance is important for all employees, as it shows the company how reliable their workers are. For instance, a company does not want an employee who is always late for their shift or who never shows up for work. Also, for other employees, when someone does not show up for work, it can make their own work difficult. If a large project for the business is in progress and someone isn’t there, the work can become strained and it interrupts the lives of those who must then cover for the missing employee.
This makes an employee look not only unreliable to their superiors and the company itself, but co-workers will also begin to see that employee as being unproductive, unreliable, and even lazy. It can also reflect badly when that employee leaves the current company. A prospective employer may see or hear that someone wasn’t truly at work when they say they were.
How to Have Good Work Attendance
Having a good work attendance record is actually quite easy. Make sure that you arrive on time for your scheduled workday. It is best - and in some circumstances recommended or required - that you show up about fifteen to twenty minutes early, before your shift, so that you can get other things out of the way. Things like checking your email or phone messages, speaking to co-workers, or even going to the restroom. To make sure that you are on time, be sure to go to bed at a certain hour and wake up at a certain time. It’s usually a good idea to wake up an hour or more before you are due to arrive at work.
This is to ensure that you have enough time to shower, have breakfast, have coffee, and for those with families, get children and other things out the door.
Arriving to work early also allows you to get other non work related business out of the way during those early moments. Again, this includes checking email, Facebook messages, Twitter messages, and other things. Speaking of social networking, unless you are using certain sites or instant messaging programs for work, it’s best not to use them during work hours. In fact, some businesses use WebSense in order to block their employees from accessing certain websites during their work shifts.
If it is not work related, do not access it.
There are of course times where you can not make it to work on time or not at all. In those cases, it’s best to call a supervisor or manager and let them know that you will be late and the reason you will not be coming in at your appointed time. Honesty is most important in this, as employees get into trouble if they are caught ‘on vacation’ when they should be at work.
