You are a unit manager of a 24/7 business operation and have a team of 12 people in your department. Joan Williams is one of them and has been with you for three and a half months, however she has been with the company for two years.

Joan is absent today [Friday]. You know that she has been absent quite a bit but when you note down today’s absence in your records you are surprised to see she has been absent for three consecutive Fridays out of the past four.

This has no doubt interfered with the efficiency of the working day and impacted on the other team members, it has also been the cause of your extreme pressure of business reporting activity on Fridays. You have had to use other inexperienced departmental staff to try to cope.

You feel that some action must be taken about Joan Williams.