Management

What is management? The origin of management is to train, horses in particular where manage comes from the Latin Manus meaning hand. Yet today management has a very different connotation.

If you manage something, then you exert control over it. To manage a system or operation is to control it. So when we talk about managing holidays, absence etc. we mean that you control it.

If you want to manage holidays, then you need to understand them. When do people want a holiday and why. Once you know and understand the function of holidays, you can meet those needs. There are two effective ways of managing holidays. One is called Holidays Included and the other is a Holiday Management Plan. The holiday management plan exerts control over how holidays are requested and booked. Therefore, minimizing the effect of holidays to the operation. A Holidays Included option takes away all of the problems of holiday, while ensuring that both the workers and the operational needs are met.

Controlling absence is a little more difficult. A company has complete control over when and how holidays are taken. Yet they have no control over when and how people will become ill. So a different approach is needed. Again you need to understand how and when absences occur. Then you can predict what will happen in the future. You then need to put in a proactive absence management plan. This means that you anticipate what will happen and have a procedure in place for all eventualities.

Yet as a manager you still need to train your people to follow your procedures. So the best managers are ones that still incorporate training into their management.

At C-Desk Technology we understand how holidays and absences occur because we have spent years studying people. Learning how and why people take holidays, so that we can help them achieve better quality time off. We have analyzed absence data, so that we can predict how and when absence will occur and then developed strategies to cover them.

If you are finding that holidays and absences are taking up too much of your management time, then contact us to find out how to manage your operation better. Call us on +44 (0) 1636 816466 or email on alec@visualrota.co.uk. We have training courses, books and consultancy packages to meet your requirements and budget.