Employee absenteeism results in annual productivity losses of approximately $74 billion and reduced profits for some retail stores. The purpose of this single case study was to explore the strategies used to minimize absenteeism and increase productivity outcomes for organizational effectiveness at a retail store in northwest Florida. The targeted population included managers who had success with minimizing absenteeism and enhancing productivity in the retail store. Herzberg's 2-factor theory was the conceptual framework, and semistructured interviews with 5 participants were the primary data collection technique. The secondary data sources included employee absence data and gross profit reports for 3 years (2014 through 2016), publicly displayed goal charts, and the absence policy that employees sign to document receipt and understanding of the policy. Methodological triangulation was established by analyzing and comparing data from the semistructured interviews with the company documents. Based on the NVivo coding tool used to identify word frequencies and thematic analysis, 3 primary themes emerged: leadership support and comradery, effective communication, and competitive compensation. The implications for social change included the potential to provide retail managers with the tools needed to decrease absenteeism, enhance productivity, increase organizational effectiveness, increase profitability in retail stores, and develop quality customer service to improve living conditions.

MA (Psychology) / Department of Psychology

Institute of Rural Development / PHDRDV