The impact of absenteeism on the private security industry in Gauteng Province, South Africa

Abstract

Absenteeism is a grave problem in the workplace in South Africa. One can expect that the impact and patterns would differ from one sector to another. For instance the seriousness of absenteeism in a hospital or the security sector would not be the same as for a coffee shop or being absent from a school. However, absenteeism needs to be addressed in all sectors of the economy since it leads to losses in production and output, as well as a reduction in profits in many South African companies. This study explores absenteeism only in the security industry in Gauteng Province. The personal experiences of practitioners and managers regarding absenteeism, its extent and the impact in this province were examined during the research undertaken for this project.

The aims of this study were largely the following: • To determine the main causes and reasons given for the current level of absenteeism among contract security personnel in the private security industry in Gauteng; • To see whether gender and employment grade contribute towards the absence of security officers during working hours; • To find out whether security officers routinely submit a sick note after being absent; • To ascertain management practices and responses to combating absenteeism, and • To identify what can be done to reduce absenteeism.

The main research instrument used was a questionnaire. Some experienced academics were interviewed prior to administering the questionnaires to respondents in order to provide expert opinion and advice regarding this problem. Two different questionnaires were prepared, one for managers and one for security officers. The questionnaire had both closed-ended and open-ended questions. Three hundred questionnaires were distributed to security officers in the Gauteng region, and one hundred to security managers. The questionnaires for the managers had 48 questions while those for the security officers contained 38 questions. Those academics and security managers interviewed all agreed that absenteeism is a workplace problem in the country, a problem that currently has not been investigated in sufficient detail. They accepted that a formal study of this nature would be worthwhile doing in the private security industry.

Furthermore, a literature review was undertaken while a close analytical examination of the various concepts being used in the research was also done. The literature provided the theoretical base to which the study was able to link the collected information from the empirical part obtained by means of the questionnaires. The sources for the literature review consisted of books, journals, the internet and newspaper articles.

The research established various causes of absenteeism in the industry, with the main ones being: i) Poor salaries ii) Long working hours iii) Poor communication with immediate supervisor iv) Transport problems v) Poor working conditions vi) Family problems, and vii) Boredom

The exploration done in this research was intended primarily to determine ways to address absenteeism. The ideal solution would be to reduce and ultimately prevent absenteeism. As a result and emanating from the research findings a number of recommendations were formulated and directed to the industry as a whole, while others were directed towards the security managers, and lastly some to the security officers themselves.