Tardiness can be such a drawback to many businesses. Being late could set you back for weeks or even months if your employees tend to be tardy quite often. Just think of it this way; a late employee means hindered productivity, distractions for other staff members, and missed deadlines. As an employer or business owner; there are certain things that you need to enforce so they don’t come to work late ever again.
The perception becomes worse
If you look at the bigger picture and realize that the negative outcomes of tardiness; you will see that it will make other staff members and clients perceive that late person in a negative light.
Co-workers who show up on time follow a set of principles that shows determination and loyalty, and they hate it when they get dragged into verbal warnings or punishments to the entire team. Not to mention that they have to carry the load or cover for the person long enough till they arrive, and if they keep doing this too much, then it will lead to a certain level of animosity towards them.
This can lead to low morale and tension between the employees, so being late makes everyone’s life harder.
The company’s image gets tarnished
If you’re in an industry that works a lot with clients, handling client meetings or customer orientations; then they would like to see a certain degree of professionalism. If they have an appointment or they can’t find the person that oversees a certain topic/project, then they will get frustrated and angry. Which could lead to a lot of complaints, low confidence in the company, fewer referrals, and they might take their business elsewhere. Not only will they perceive it as disrespect from that employee, but they will think the company isn’t running a tight ship and isn’t professional.
The staff members are a reflection of the company, so if they are not trusted then the company won’t be trusted.
Some employees who are always running late believe that they can get away with tardiness and their boss wouldn’t notice. However, there are programs and tools that help owners tackle tardiness by checking timekeeping, records, employee working hours and more.
Coming to work on time is a key to any company’s success, and when you’re armed with the perfect timesheets from ExcelTemplate.net you have a weapon in your arsenal that gives you all the details you need. So whoever thought that managers were letting things pass is gravely mistaken; your work and when you clock in will be easily tracked, so the disciplinary course of action will take place eventually.
The consequences will pile up
Being constantly tardy can lead to a lot of different negative things; they can get simple questions of concerns first, then a verbal warning if it repeats, followed by an official warning if it persists. After the employee got three strikes; you should start the action plan to them understand that this is an important issue that affects everyone in the company. Start docking their pay, lowering bonuses or denying it entirely, give them unpaid overtime, and resort to suspension if the behavior keeps going on
As the boss, you should show a little respect for their privacy if you are reprimanding them, so doing it privately is the best thing to do. But understand that the level of respect will decrease gradually, outline the bigger consequences and push them to change.
One of the reasons for tardiness is that staff members aren’t motivated to come to work; the hours are long and the pay is just not good enough. As a manager or owner, you can see the patterns of how your employees behave over time, so figuring out that it’s your fault in the first place can be a huge problem. Try to encourage the employees more, giving them the recognition that they deserve. If they are doing a great job, you should reward them publicly so others can see what a loyal employee can get in return for good service. It might just help the tardy ones to be better.
Reinforce praise to the change
If you see that the employees who are always late have turned over a new leaf; then you should give them that praise that will boost the good behavior even more. Try to give them incentives and rewards if they continue to show promise; that can make other tardy staff members change their behavior too. That little jealousy they feel would actually be a fun game that you started; they will now compete with each other on being punctual and responsible, and that will lead to better productivity ratings, higher morale, satisfied clients, and more sales.
Frequent follow-ups
Continue to observe their behavior, making sure no one falls back to old habits. If that happens and someone did come late; don’t resort to anger or scolding just yet, but instead, you should be understanding at first and calm about it. Give them a second chance to not repeat it again, encouraging them that they are doing great and should continue to do so. Let them know that they are an important part of the company, and you need them to be at their best performance.
The people who are constantly late need to understand that they are holding the business back, and it can affect their overall pay if it continues any longer. Tardiness can affect their fellow staff members too, making them not focus on their tasks and they might get a taste of the punishments if it got enforced on the entire team; even though it wasn’t their fault. But with the right course of action and plan to eliminate any trace of tardiness in your company; you can see a dramatic change in the behavior of your employees that can make things a lot better for your company.