CIPD and Simplyhealth published their annual survey on Health and wellbeing at work in April 2021. It is based on responses gathered online from late November to mid-December 2020, between the 2nd and 3rd waves of Covid-19 pandemic in the UK. Continue reading
Category Archives: Top Story
73% find Engage easy to use
The latest Honeydew Customer Satisfaction survey closed at the end of March. Engage software received an overall score of 4 out of 5. Out of the 203 respondents, 73% find Engage “easy” to use.
“Very user friendly & easy to use”
“Easy to follow”
“Intuitive & easy to navigate”
76% said Engage helped them manage Covid-19
We are glad to report that 76% of our users told us that our service helped manage absence during the Coronavirus pandemic.
We were quick to create a new Coronavirus absence category and new absence causes were added along the way to respond to the ever-changing situation.
Messages to employees were updated regularly so absentees and our call handlers worked very hard to ensure the correct absence information was logged in Engage.
Overall 4-star rating
Honeydew absence reporting service and customer support both received 4 out of 5.
“Efficient & Helpful”
“Brilliant, the perfect team”
“Great help when needed”
You said, we listened…
The most important feedback tells us what we can do better. Based on your comments we will focus on:
- Accessibility of our services
- Helping newly hired or promoted managers with training
- Emphasising politeness, fairness and kindness in call handler training
Some managers asked to create tasks manually. This feature has already shipped!
We’ve also improved the way expected return dates are captured.
You can find notes about other new features on our blog.
Automate your absence policy
Many HR teams spend a lot of time putting together a comprehensive absence policy. Sadly, their efforts are watered-down if managers don’t know or understand the policy, or if they forget to check what absences meet the trigger criteria. Some absence triggers are so complex that you definitely need a computer to check who trips them. Working with spreadsheets is the worst enemy of a sophisticated absence management process. Never fear, Engage is here to help.
Continue reading
Creating absence management tasks manually
Engage is normally configured to alert managers to events that trip company triggers. Often, these events should result in a review meeting, welfare call or potentially a referral to Occupational Health. These tasks are then logged in Engage to keep a complete record and receive reminders for anything that is still outstanding. As an additional option, managers can now choose to create a task manually, too. Continue reading
When do you expect to return to work?
A key part of capturing full absence data is knowing when the employee thinks they might be able to return to work. Engage absence registration forms have always had a date input field for the estimated return. However, a lot of absentees struggle to provide an estimated date because their situation can easily change from one day to the next.
Early intervention before the absence becomes long term
Most companies that have an absence policy define what is considered Long Term Absence. There are usually management tasks linked to absence that is categorised as long term. Commonly, managers are asked to refer long term absentees to Occupational Health and to have a welfare meeting with the employee. But how many organisations would start these activities already as soon as the manager knows the absence is likely to become long term?
Managing complex absence triggers easily
Does your organisation have fiendishly complex absence policy? Do you need to juggle a combination of different terms and conditions for different staff members? Does the policy change based on length of service? Do you want to track pro-rata allowances for part-time employees? If you answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions, Engage can help you manage the data.
Absence management more essential work than ever
Do you struggle to record who on your payroll is isolating, shielding, furloughed or recently reported possible Covid-19 symptoms? Are you tired of keeping your teams updated with ever-changing public health advice? Is your company balancing the tightrope between safeguarding staff whilst staying in business? If so, you are definitely not alone. The good news is that a robust absence management system can help make these tasks easier. Below are a few points to illustrate why absence management is essential work in the era of Coronavirus, especially for those employing essential workers. Continue reading
Should I choose Admin-led or Nurse-led Day-1 Absence Reporting?
Absence is a management issue, not a medical one. That is why similar organisations with similar work profiles can have very different absence levels. The difference is not that the employees in one company are more ill. The difference is that one company is managing absence better than the other one.
Any absence is a cost to the employer, regardless what the line of work or sick pay policies. And if absence is not measured, it can’t be managed. Therefore, it’s always recommended to start recording absence ideally before it becomes a problem. However, if you’re looking for a solution to turn around a culture of poor attendance, it is never too late to start.
New smarter employee details form
More new features to announce: the new employee form has been updated and simplified. This will be welcome news for any new administrators since the new form is even easier to fill in than before. The changes improve the form’s usability and guide the user to enter the correct details without making mistakes. Click on the image to watch a short tutorial video to see what is new: Continue reading