Let’s talk about problems with employee attendance.

I know you’re ouching at these very words.

You know, and I know, that anything that is a higher priority for the employee will pull them away from their job and they’ll use whatever means possible to go in that direction.

It could be something as small as going to a concert all the way up to serious family issues.

It boils down to wants, desires and conflicting commitments, and it sometimes seems like we’re the lowest spot on the totem pole.

We end up feeling like we’re herding cats or we’re on a loop-d-loop carnival ride that’s called “our attendance policy.”

But here’s what I want to say on this.

As long as the employee’s reason for being here is just to make money for themselves and nothing else, their personal level of commitment will be very low.

Playing the attendance rule game with them will not increase their commitment but it will make them very clever.

We need to raise up the level of personal commitment that we want to cultivate. We need to honor it and we need to communicate it on an ongoing basis in our trainings, conversations, and chats with our staff. This is not rules but person to person sharing.

Many of us have a thing called “open book management”; I propose a thing called “open commitment management”.

Let’s talk about how impactful our work is here on this planet and in our communities.

Let staff know from day one that we are creating a culture of self-responsibility and development that is mutually beneficial to them as well as the co-op.

That together we can all grow our resiliency and skills when faced with challenges.

That together we can cultivate high levels of personal commitment where we are truly there for one another, appreciating one another, and uniting our efforts.

Yes, we need a strong, enforced attendance policy. But that’s just the start.

We need to turn the focus from rules to expectations that pull staff together. This takes ongoing chats, talks and huddles.

Talk with your staff about how co-ops are different, and that part of that difference is the high level of commitment we make to one another. We’re doing important things here and many people are depending on their attendance.