Recent research found that working while unwell is not always bad for organisations or employees, but the more damaging instances of ‘presenteeism’ should be stamped out. Ben Moss looks at the presenteeism hotspots and how these can be addressed.
The concept of presenteeism has increasingly garnered attention as organisations have struggled to understand and measure its impact.
One major difficulty that businesses face is that the term has previously been used as a catch-all, with definitions differing significantly.
If businesses were to believe the frequent headlines on the topic, then all behaviours currently thought of as presenteeism – that is, all instances of working whilst unwell – are detrimental to productivity and ultimately very costly. However, our first instincts, and then our data, were telling us something quite different.
Through our latest Seeing presenteeism differently research, we wanted to help businesses gain some clarity by providing a framework to help them measure the real prevalence and impact. We knew that the cost to business cannot be measured effectively when there is no singular, clear definition of presenteeism.
Presenteeism hotspots
Study: Working while unwell not always costly to business
In response to this challenge, we used our experience and data to develop a new taxonomy to help organisations measure and manage different types of “working whilst unwell.”
Our research identified three distinct types of working whilst unwell, only one of which should be classed as presenteeism and eradicated from businesses. Up until now, all three types have been considered presenteeism and portrayed as detrimental to the business, but we found two types of functional presence (pragmatic presence and therapeutic presence) and one dysfunctional type (presenteeism). Current definitions and practices within the workplace fail to acknowledge the contrasts between the types and their implications.
Presenteeism hotspots
During our analysis, we also explored how presenteeism impacts a series of key sectors. The three sectors with the highest recorded instances of presenteeism were professionals working in:
- Pharma and science
- Professional services
- Construction
The survey asked employees what troubled them about various aspects of working life – that is, what prevents them from having a good day at work. The results showed some distinct differences between sectors that had high presenteeism rates versus those that showed lower rates – sectors like legal, banking and manufacturing.
The most troubling aspects of working life for the presenteeism hotspots were:
- Job insecurity and/or the prospect of future job change
- Lack of feedback on performance
- Dealing with difficult customers
- Long hours
This is not to say that these things don’t exist in the lower presenteeism sectors, but the data suggests that employees there are much less troubled by them than those in the higher presenteeism sectors.
Absence correlates with presenteeism
We know from our research and the literature that absence and presenteeism tend to be highly correlated – that is, they rise and fall together. This is counter to received wisdom which holds that when one is high the other is low. The sector data showed the same pattern – the high presenteeism sectors show 33% higher absence rates than the lower presenteeism ones.
We know that the direction of causality tends to be from presenteeism to absence. These findings imply that organisations in the high presenteeism sectors can have a major impact on absence and its costs by managing presenteeism more effectively – and that starts with measurement.
What does this mean for HR?
Our research found that for some employees, the decision to exhibit presenteeism came from a strong sense of duty or because they did not want to burden their colleagues with additional work..”
The data here, and almost all organisational and research data on presenteeism, is based on capturing all instances of working whilst unwell. While the findings about relative prevalence across sectors hold true, this approach to measurement implies that all instances of working whilst unwell are negative. Our research challenged that assumption.
The idea behind this new measure was to enable businesses to identify and manage presenteeism, and working whilst unwell more broadly, much more effectively than is possible using current concepts.
In addition to influencing presenteeism rates, employers can improve communication with their employees and see the result in measures such as retention, engagement and even health and safety. In sectors such as construction, presenteeism can be harmful for many reasons including the threat to the health and safety of the employee who is not well enough to work, and those they interact with. Therefore, channelling these new insights into open, honest communication is a must.
The key drivers of presenteeism can come from both internal and external factors, therefore the responsibility to have these conversations lies with both the employee and employer. Our research found that for some employees, the decision to exhibit presenteeism came from a strong sense of duty or because they did not want to burden their colleagues with additional work.
Employers must invest time and effort into setting a good workplace culture and facilitating an open channel of communication for employees to communicate how they feel at work. However, employees also must be willing to share their needs and work closely with their line manager to ensure that functional presence does not become dysfunctional when they do need time off sick.
Our research highlights the presenteeism drivers and proposes a new framework for understanding and measuring the ‘real’ impact. Going forward, businesses can use the research to look inward and reflect on their presenteeism rates. The changing narrative on presenteeism presents a huge opportunity for employers to accurately measure rates and put appropriate strategies in place to manage all types of working whilst unwell.
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