Managing_and_Communicating_Information

Werner Vermeulen Managing and Communicating Information Written Assignment. Word count. Assignment 2712 Reflective Statement 335 27 April 2011 Managing and Communicating Information. Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………………………page 2 1.1 Describe criteria used in sourcing data…………………………………………………….. 2 1.2 Identify Quantitative and qualitative sources of data……………………………….. 3 1.3 Access data in line with legal and organizational requirements relevant to a work related activity……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 5 2.1 Select data and information specifically related to the work activity………… 6 2.2 Identify trends and patterns…………………………………………………………………….. 6 2.3 Identify the impact of the trends and patterns on future activities…………….7 2.4 Identify conclusions and make recommendations………………………………………7 3.1 Identify the communication methods that could be used………………………….8 3.2 Identify the target audience for the communication………………………………….8 3.3 Evaluate the impact of the communication……………………………………………….9 Reflective study……………………………………………………………………………………………….9 Bibliography ……………………………………………………………………………………………………10 Introduction The Shelter Trust is the largest provider of services for homeless people in Jersey. The Trust is a charity offering shelter, support and a way forward for homeless people. At present we offer accommodation for over 80 homeless people from 3 sites around St Helier. Our doors are open for advice and support to all those who are vulnerable or at risk of homelessness The Shelter Trusts Sickness and Absence policy aims to ensure that the Trust is fair, objective and sympathetic in its treatment of all employees’ in regard to the issue of sickness absence. The Trust recognizes the need to allow for, and provide support for staff during, reasonable episodes of sickness absence from work. Our Sickness policy is based on the length of service (continuous) to the sick pay entitlement. We work on a rolling year which for the purpose of determining entitlement in respect of any period of sickness absence, a rolling year, based on the first day of the current sickness absence is used. Sick pay entitlement is not accruable from year to year 1.1 The following is in place to build up a database of absence and sickness in the Shelter Trust. Absence reporting Absence of the less than 3 days a “Sickness Self-declaration must be completed and signed by the employee and returned to the manager. Absence of 3 days or more if an employee is sick for 3 days or more consecutively they should consult a doctor and obtain a medical certificate covering the period from the first day of sickness, this should be send to the manager as soon as possible. This would then be relayed to and absence and sickness sheet that runs on a rolling year per staff member. Broken down into months that relate to amount of days sick and the incidences related to the sickness. For example 7 days sick on 4 different occasions. 1.2 Qualitative data is obtained in the following ways through Sickness Self- declaration here the individual gives a written explanation for reasons for absence and also a doctors medical certificate. This would be followed up by a return to work interview where the manager would have the opportunity to obtain further information to seek reasons for absence. To clarify possibility of any underlying medical problem which could indentified by seeking medical opinion and if so, to advise the employee to do so. Provide the employee with the opportunity to discuss any underlying personal or work related issues, which may be having an impact on their health and attendance. To identify any support or action that can be taken at work to improve the situation eg. Ways of managing stress/time, addressing particular training needs, reviewing workload, etc. To identify effects the employee’s absence has on the work of the individual and the team. To ensure that the employee is fully aware of the reasons for the present concern, the level of attendance expected of them and the steps that may be taken if this is not achieved. To set a time period to review further absence during which time the manager will follow up any agreed action and, where appropriate, offer further support, guidance through supervision. The cons of using this data is that it is based on individual-to-individual and employees can misuse this to their advantage, by relying on sympathy and sometimes this can lead to emotional blackmail. Quantitative data is maintained and kept on a monthly basis on individual Sickness and absence sheets. They are updated as sickness occurs as they are there to help at the end of month in collating information relevant to individual sickness entitlement and what action need to be taken if any. These sheets would contain the following The Name of the Individual and their Job title. No of days person was sick and the number of incidence when sick days occurred. The Month during which their sickness occurred. This would then run on a rolling sickness year the format for example is from the 15/04/2009 – 15/04/2010 during this time all sickness and absence would count against the length of services and the maximum pay entitlement for sickness. |NAME: |Joe Blogs |POSITION: |Resettlement Worker | |ENTITLEMENT |HOLIDAYS TAKEN |SICKNESS |  | |ANNUAL |  |B.H. |No |DATES | |NOTES: |Start date - 22nd November 2004 |No sickness entitlement | | |  |1 day holiday = 5 hrs. 1hr= 0.2 of a | | | | | | |day | | | | | |  |Entitlement 145 hours |  |  |  |  | | |  |  |  |  |No sickness, No deductions for December 2010 | | |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | | 1.3 The Shelter Trust is in the process of formulizing a data protection Policy not just to protect the employees of the Shelter Trust but also the residents as we hold a variety of very personal information on the residents that help us to understand more clearly where their personal issues lay that needs assisting in resolving them. The process to deal with avoiding unfair dismissal for the Shelter lies within our sickness and absence policies. The stages are as follows. 1)The employee will be required to meet with his/her manager for a return to work interview to establish the reasons for their absence. The interview would be recorded by the manager a copy of which would be handed to the employee to co-sign and date with the manager. This would be held in the employee’s private file. There need to be a clear record of any absence and the reasons for the absence whether self certified or a Doctors certification. All subsequent meetings need to be noted and co-signed. You need to make sure all information is. • Fairly and lawfully processed. • Processed for limited purpose. • Adequate relevant and not excessive. • Accurate and up to date. • Not kept longer than necessary. • Processed in accordance with the individuals rights. • Kept secure. 2) In cases where the employees level and/or frequency of sickness absence continue to be unacceptable, further meetings could be arranged to further investigate reasons for persistent absence. The manager may decide to take further action after the set targets and time-scales for improvements have not been met to improve absence levels. The manager may also issue a Final written Warning and a final time-scale for the required improvement. 3) If the required improvement is not made, the employee will be required to attend a meeting with the appropriate manager/s. At this stage consideration will be given to the termination of the employees contract of employee. 2.1 The data from our monthly and yearly sickness and absence records combined with return to work interviews, sickness self declarations and medical certificates can then be combined to create and extensive breakdown of information. Broken up into a yearly format that would stipulate combined days, hours and incidence for the Shelter Trust. Highlighted are the are the individuals where action is necessary. |Name |ID |Days |Incidents |Bradford factor |Hrs of work | |AMG |AH1 |8 |3 |72 |37 | |SC |AH2 |0 |0 |0 |37 | |ST |AH3 |0 |0 |0 |39 | |BM |AH4 |6.5 |2 |26 |39 | |AW |AH5 |16.8 |4 |268.8 |39 | |EP |AH6 |11 |3 |99 |39 | |LW |AH7 |0 |0 |0 |39 | |GW |AH8 |0 |0 |0 |39 | |RG |AH9 |2.8 |1 |2.8 |39 | |TOD |AH10 |26.2 |2 |104.8 |39 | |JT Cleaner |AH11 |6 |2 |24 |25 | |SC chef |AH12 |15 |3 |135 |35 | |FDS Cleaner |AH13 |34 |3 |306 |25 | |CR |SJS1 |5.6 |2 |22.4 |39 | |CK |SJS2 |19.5 |3 |175.5 |39 | |TC |SJS3 |20 |3 |180 |39 | |NF |SJS4 |8.5 |5 |212.5 |39 | |LMC |SJS5 |27 |7 |1323 |39 | |WV |SJS6 |7.4 |4 |118.4 |37 | |TP |MVR1 |3 |2 |12 |37 | |AS |MVR2 |5 |1 |5 |39 | |KN |MVR3 |1 |1 |1 |25 | |TOTAL |  |223.3 |51 |3088.2 |804 | 2.2 By reviewing our sickness self-declarations, Medical certificates and return to work interviews I have come to the following conclusions on sickness. Reasons for Absence Self-certified 1 - Head cold & chest infection where regular reasons for sickness absence in the self – certified section. 2 – Right ear inflamed. 3 - Flu symptoms 4- Norro Virus 5 - Head cold GP Certified 1 – Operation to wrist 2 – Chest Viral infection 3 – Vaginal bleeding x 2 4 – Hospitalization miscarriage 5 – Post op 6 - Unresolved pains down arm 7 – Dental surgery The following trends and patterns have emerged during the data-collecting phase. There is a definite increase in cold, flu and chest infection self certifications. There has also been an increase in sickness levels after a particular series of shifts on the Rota due to the duration and length of the shifts. This could be attributed to stress or exhaustion. The prevalence of certain staff taking the maximum days of before a doctor’s certification is necessary then returning to work. 2.3 As the Shelter Trust deals with people issues and how to resolve them in finding ways for individuals to be able to live independently again, we rely heavily on staff presence at our projects and how assessable they are to the client group. There has to be staff manning the offices and at hand for any help needed on a 24/7 basis daily. So any sickness shifts, has to be covered by one of our relief staff or if possible by one of the permanent staff members. To identify the impact of trends and patterns on future activities I have broken down the hours taken for sickness and the relief staff we had to bring in to cover the sick days. Hours covered by relief and permanent staff for sickness & absence. Relief staff - 282 Hours – Rate £9.52 hour = £2684.64 Permanent staff – 120 Hours – Highest increment rate £12.03 = £1443.60 Sickness during F-Shift, which does not get covered – 90 Hours = £0.00 2.4 The conclusions hat I have reach is as follows. • By looking at the overall sickness records I have noticed certain trends from some staff members of calling in absence before extended holiday time taken as their work is shift orientated this can easily extend their holiday time considerably. • There is also a tendency to come into work as the three-day cut of approaches thereby avoiding going to the Doctor to avoid doctor’s certification and also for financial reasons. Then informing the manager that they still do need feel well enough to work and need to go home. • There also has been an increase in cold and flu related self-certification from staff members. • The shifts that need to be covered have a big impact financially. The recommendations need to correct the balance of these incidences of absence should be. • The flu jab should be made available to all employees and cost covered by the company. • A closer monitoring system and the recording of individuals who return to work before a full recovery. • Informing staff of absence levels and letting them know that we are aware and concerned about the problem. • Asking staff to help identify the most critical causes of absenteeism thereby making staff more proactive in finding solutions. • Implementing and making staff aware of parental sick leave thereby eliminating staff taking of on sickness due to a child or partners illness. • During staff meetings allowing for staff to openly discuss the affects absence have on their own workload by having to cover for someone else’s absence. 3.1 Methods of communications can be as follows. 1 - Staff meetings 2 - Managers meetings all meetings offer multiple information cues (words, postures, facial expressions, gestures, intonations), immediate feedback (both verbal an non verbal) and the personal touch of “being there”. 3- The telephone is another channel that is strong but less so than face to face. 4 – Letters are used but as they can be slow and time consuming on a lesser level. 5 - Emailing on an individual or group basis this leaves a permanent record so is very efficient, messages stored until needed and can be relayed to all sites and individuals. 6 – Memorandum this is also a permanent record but is short and to the point and can be done internally. 7 – Appraisals as they are one on one they allow for individual feedback and response and also to implement any development plans on a personal base. 8 – Notice boards good for general information on improvements or as reminders, but less so for more personal or internal information. 3.2 The target audience for the communication on absence would be as follows. • Downwards From higher management to support workers within the Shelter Trust. These can be instructions or notices. Generally do not require feedback unless making a complaint about it. • Sideways (Lateral)
Between employees on the same level within an organizational hierarchy. Plans and discussions take place on this level as well as much of the actual working within the Shelter Trust on a team level. • Upwards These messages are from the Support workers to management within the Shelter Trust. This could be to describe issues relating to stress that leads to absence. Feedback is expected but not always acquired. Individual staff members would be shown their absence records during appraisal and supervisions to highlight any problematic absence and to set up targets and time – scales for improvement, and to arrange for follow up meetings to review the situation. The managers to determine if there is any relevant action that needs to be taken on an individual base, to set up meetings with all relevant parties involved in action that need to be taken. The Financial manager as all quantitative data gets relayed to him on a monthly basis, which he processes to determine sickness pay entitlements, and to be able to collate the information into a financial data sheet for a financial audit as staff that are of sick gets covered by relief staff. The assistant Director to keep track from all sites, to identify any patterns that have developed to be brought to the attention of the director. The Director would be informed of any problematic absence that needs to be addressed through a disciplinary hearing or meeting and for the end of the year reports. Shelter trust Trustees would get the end of the year reports where the absence records would show up through the financial reports. 3.3 The importance of communicating the above information to all relevant staff and management is to look at solutions and the impact that Absence has on the whole of the organization, from overloading other staff members with work to the financial impact it has on the Shelter Trust. Its important for upper management so that the information can be used into putting and action plan together that embodies all the figures and reasons for absence, by doing this it can then be converted into a Operational plan with a time frame attached that can be reviewed after a year to see if there has been improvement. By communicating the information to staff it makes them aware that we acknowledge their absence but that we are also aware of problematic absence and do allow for a certain degree of compassion this allows them to be more open and honest regards their absence. Reflective study Communication is both an art and science it is not only what we say. Communication is about much, much more and therefore deserves a lot of attention.  It is vital that within the Shelter Trust environment where constant interactions and interpersonal skills are required and are often at the heart of our work we are able to transfer the necessary info to safe guard our staff and clients. It is also the widest use tool in all our dealings with other agencies and institutions, by using it to transfer our ideas and plans clearly we have the capacity to get people interested in the work we do. Through communication at the Shelter trust we carry our thoughts and visions as an organization to the staff and client group. Thereby allowing for feedback that can be analyzed and incorporated back to the Shelter trust thus allowing for things to be expressed, ideas to share and thoughts can be joined. By using communication on all different levels not just to collect information for statistics but everyday general conversation we allow for a more indebt understanding of our staffs concerns, joys and what they perceive as their achievements thereby being able to recognize and resolve any underlying problems and building further on their strengths and achievements. It also allows for us as managers to communicate between our various projects any ideas or points to resolve staffing absence and issues relating to absences. As our workforce is the backbone of the Shelter Trust and the work done at the projects can have a big impact on the individual whether it is stress related or on an emotional level it is of paramount importance to be able to recognize any health issues relating to this, and the only way to gather this information is by communication. Because of the work we do you can have the highest level of education but if you lack communication skills you would never be able to resolve or manage any given situation. Bibliography Robert Heller/Tim Hindle. (1998) Essential Managers Manual. Darling Kindsley unlimited. Cy Charney (1999) Instant Manager. Published (2000) Stoddart Publishing John Freeman. The Healthy Organization. Published (2009) Division of Simon&Shuster Steve Shipside. Effective Communication. Published (2007) Darling Kindersley Limited Websites. Importance-of-communication.htm www.managementstudyguide.com Sickness absence/managing at work www.hse.gov.uk Article. 6198/ Employees habitual absence from work.www.hg.org Stress/Work related stress www.hse.gov.uk