Airbus

Attendance Management System

Airbus is part of the EADS Group of companies and employs around 56,000 people across 16 European sites.

Client Profile

Airbus is part of the EADS Group of companies and employs around 56,000 people across 16 European sites, producing a wide range of commercial military and executive aeroplanes.

The Problem

As of August 2008 Airbus had orders for over 9,000 aeroplanes, with over 5,000 scheduled for production.

To meet this demand, Airbus would need to substantially increase output in the UK. Typically this would mean an expansion in the workforce. However, in common with other parts of EADS, the UK manufacturing operation had an absenteeism rate of up to 8% and the UK main board realised that by reducing this to around 3%, in conjunction with improving manufacturing processes they would have significant additional manpower at no extra cost.

The Solution

The decision was made to introduce a phone based, self-service absence reporting system. The system would also be backed up with more proactive and timely management processes, coupled with occupational health intervention and support. The system would also need to interface with SAP, Airbus’ HR application.

The solution provided by BlackLight Software was centred on changing the focus from managing absence with an ‘after the fact’ form filling exercise to a comprehensive Attendance Management System (AMS) that would control each step of the process.

A proactive 5 stage “RETuRnS” workflow was developed by BlackLight, which provides Airbus with Management Information, as well as offering health assessment and return to work support for the absent employee from the initial stage of the absence.

The 5 stages of “RETuRnS” are:-

Register: Each employee is required, within 2 hours of their anticipated shift start time, to call an automated telephone system. The system allows the employee to register the reason for the absence along with an expected return to work date.
Enlighten: Once the absence is registered, the relevant managers, occupational health staff and the SAP HR system are automatically informed of the absence via the system’s workflows, and a confirmation letter is produced for the employee.
Track: For absences longer than 3 days, employees must call in and speak to a company nurse or doctor, which may result in appointments or further call backs.
Return: When an employee returns to work, their manager has a fixed period of time to complete and submit a return to work assessment. This is an electronic form that is held in the system alongside the other absence details. The interface into SAP, the company’s HR application, is used to provide an absence history to the manager, who must conduct an interview with the employee to complete the return to work assessment.
Support: Where appropriate, employees are found alternative work or given support such as physiotherapy or counselling to assist them in making a full recovery.

At every stage in the process the system audits activities and can be used to provide reports and supporting evidence in the event of any issue escalation. Once the absence process is complete the key aspects of the absence are posted into SAP HR.

The Benefits

Airbus has already seen a marked improvement in absence levels in the UK. The absenteeism rate is down to 4% in just 6 months; where Airbus has calculated that a 1% reduction in absence saves £1milliion in lost productivity.

The system has had a signification impact on reducing absenteeism and Airbus now has a system where:-

Absence is managed and visible across the business
Clear responsibilities are defined and allocated to the correct parties
Data collection is automated
There is consistent control and agreed responses
Rich Management Information is provided to continuously report on and analysis the situation

The employees have responded well to the system. Management and Union’s alike believe that all stakeholders will benefit from the application, with Airbus planning to roll out the Attendance Management System across all of its European sites.