Organisational Change Management - Essay Example

The cost of absenteeism for the Silkeborg Council had reached enormous levels and warranted prompt intervention and the majority of the cases of absenteeism, the council noted was as a result of high levels of sickness. The traditional approach to combating sickness absence is to consider this at a personal level. Strategies that are usually employed at this level consist of return to work initiatives, attendance monitoring and referral to a professional health service. Discovery Silkeborg Council Elderly Care Department: Key Issues and Problems Although the Council has previously taken several initiatives in an attempt to intervene to reduce absenteeism in the elderly care sector, the approaches taken have only resulted in production of short-term improvements without any significant long-term effect.

The approaches employed have included analysis of the root causes of lost time, developing a Stop-Lift policy that would ensure reduction in lost time caused by back injuries, and assisting the various leaders in developing supervisory skills. The Council also embarked on education of the management level in supervisory and leadership roles and assisting them and the overall care staff to contribute their skills together in order to develop a policy that would handle absenteeism effectively. Most of these strategies have been employed but they have always produced meagre results.

Nevertheless, recent research works have indicated newer approaches to approaching this issue, and as such work attendance has been revealed to be related to both physical and psychological environment at work. In addition, management performances, approaches and behaviours, social customs and economic strains, apparent health conditions and job contentment impacted on absenteeism. Conceptually, lower employment grades have long been linked with both short term and long term absenteeism, particularly those who take sick leaves.

Disparities in the level of absenteeism particularly sick leaves between different sectors within the council and amongst the work force operating within comparable socioeconomic profiles within the council imply that work features predict sickness absence behaviour. Absence has always been noted to be high amongst those employees, who consider their duties at work to be lacking leadership roles, low on variety and use of skills, low on assistance at the work place. Employees occupying lower grades at the elderly care facility were up to six times more likely than those in higher grades to report jobs perceived to be low in demands, control, and support; consequently, they are said to be susceptible to moderate, extended and very long periods of sickness absence.

The Karasek and Theorell’s demand-control model of work related strain has been regularly applied in such circumstances. The model proposes that risks to health do mostly arise when job demands are combined with low decision latitude that is perceived low control over work and possible fewer prospects in realizing those skills. However, most studies assert that decision latitude is said to be a stronger forecaster than demand including social support at work as a forecaster of job strain. The demand and control model can be a useful means of developing and designing structures for planning organizational approaches to combat job strain and related characters which include sickness absence.

Dream Addressing the Issues In developing an organizational change management intervention that will ensure