Absenteeism Common At Month-end Research

BABOKI KAYAWE
Staff Writer | Monday August 9, 2010 00:00

 

Findings of an interim report on productivity commissioned by the Botswana National Productivity Centre (BNPC), which was presented to stakeholders last Wednesday, shows that absenteeism is rampant in the wholesale/retail and construction sectors. 

It further states that employees are generally not satisfied with motivation attributes, occupational and health safety at work, employee recognition, compensation, training and development of labour relations with regard to productivity. 

The research led by Dean of Social Sciences at the University of Botswana, also former head of Economics department; Professor Happy Siphambe states that absenteeism without permission is most prevalent in the said sectors at month end, which usually goes to a maximum period of three days.

However, when asked what the cause could be, the team said it could not exactly tell, but concluded that since most cases are recorded on Fridays, as social people, Batswana could be attending funerals and weddings, though some could use that as excuses to save their jobs.

Participants requested the research team to go back and further interrogate the issue, as the most affected sectors are the ones that have faced unfair labour practices despite doing hectic jobs.

Though the study concluded that the labour force in Botswana has attained high levels of education as a result of past investments in education by the government, graduate unemployment continues to be high - a possible indication that the skills produced do not match industry demands.

Currently, the country is faced with shortage of technical expertise in areas of engineering and technology.

Siphambe said one of the major constraints that they faced was inadequate data as they could only measure labour productivity as opposed to total factor productivity, which could really tell the magnitude of the issue.

'We couldn't disaggregate productivity by sector, though it's a reflection of the industry's productivity - it doesn't show the magnitude compared to the total factor productivity method,' he said.

The study is made up of a population of 1,950 employees, and 191 employers from government, parastatal and private sectors.  The team, which recommends a tripartite approach for attaining productivity, will incorporate comments from employee representatives, employers and trade unions.