Here's a Way to Let Everyone Know Who the Slackers Are

There are employees who seem to get sick most often on Mondays and Fridays.

There are usually disputes about vacation time and who gets the day after Thanksgiving or Christmas week off.

And managers struggle with the long-term question of what kind of manpower will they have six months from now.

One way to highlight those issues is with a 365-day attendance monitor produced by Magnatag.

It's a board showing an entire year in one glance. Employees and managers alike can know who is available to work, how many sick days have been taken and whether that day after Thanksgiving is available.

The board let's everyone see the entire year's daily schedule in one glance — making priority scheduling a simple matter, says Wally Krapf, founder and president of Magnatag Visible Systems.

“Most companies we deal with have some version of a first come, first served vacation policy, yet employees and supervisors tend to struggle in effectively communicating — and marking — those requests,” Krapf says.

“The board also silently helps with the Monday sick-day syndrome because it allows sick days — and any notable absenteeism patterns — to be quickly noticed by using colored magnet signals.”

One manager said it helps track his slackers by showing everyone their “sick day patterns“ and quickly remedied that problem.

Another manager says that may seem harsh, but it's effective in work places where attendance is important.

Other uses include “graphically planning, scheduling, displaying and updating training, travel, time off, special assignments or any employee-time oriented activity throughout the year,” Krapf says.

The board comes in three sizes, ranging in price from $299 to $379.

More information: www.magnatag.com/AT.