How to Prepare for an Employee’s Leave of Absence

Edmonton, AB- Every business struggles with scheduling staff. It doesn't matter how big or small a business is, when an employee needs to be elsewhere, especially for a long period of time it can throw a wrench into an otherwise productive business.

As the head of several ActionCOACH business coaching regions in Canada, Greg Kopchuk sheds light on some solutions for managers and employers on how to tackle this problem.

“A leave of absence shouldn't affect the company if proper systems have been set up before a crisis occurs. The systems to deal with long term absence can include the following:

• Set up an absence policy that all employees are aware of when they have to give notice and make sure they know what is required and expected from them.
  
  
• Make absence management part of your business plan so that there are no surprises. This may include assigning a specific worker to take over the duties of another worker to make sure that there aren’t any gaps in service. Ideally an employee should be able to replace the person going on leave with 3 days or less of training. 
  
  
• Make sure the out of office emails are set up to go directly to the person that will now be handling the account and that all employees know the information to be given out. 
  
  
• Inform all the vendors or customer that the employee works with ahead of time when possible. If the absence is sudden, those clients should be on a master list so that any employee can step in and take over the work
• Write everything down! A plan for covering an absence is no good in someone’s head. It needs to be written down and communicated to everyone involved. 
  
  
• Make sure to have a strategy in place when the employee returns- convey any work pattern or personnel changes so that they don’t feel out of the loop

 “A company should be system-dependent, not people-dependent. Your staff should be given guidance and your strategies and policies should be part of a business plan. If your company doesn't have one it’s time to set that up! That's where our coaches excel and make a difference to businesses across the country” says Kopchuk who works behind the scenes training coaches as a Master Licensee of  ActionCoach’s Alberta, Peel, York, and Halton regions of Ontario.

For more information on business systems visit: http://www.actioncoachcanada.ca/ or http://www.gregkopchuk.ca/

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