It’s never good when employees habitually go absent. But people showing up every day at the office isn’t necessarily a good sign either. Especially when they’re feeling under the weather, dragging themselves to function efficiently.
The problem is, business leaders have only been paying attention to absenteeism, not its equally-bad counterpart, presenteeism. You could be losing a lot in terms of productivity and, eventually, financial gains, when you allow this thing to breed in your corporate culture.
The Price of Presenteeism
The real problem in presenteeism is simple: employees are present, yet they’re not a hundred percent there. This kind of set-up brings in a lot of negative consequences. For one, it makes the ill employee more vulnerable to mistakes.
They could be busy typing away that marketing report you told them to finish, but there’s a good chance that they would key in a few wrong figures here and there. Of course, there’s also the fact that it would take them longer to finish the task, as compared to when they do it in the best of health.
This ultimately means losses in your finances. Because work is riddled with errors, naturally, their fellow employees would pick up the slack. When this happens habitually, other team members will not just experience burnout, but also feel resentment towards employees who “can’t do their job right.”
When there’s animosity among your team, it will be very hard to move forward and get things done altogether. Perhaps, the costliest price to pay in presenteeism is the high risk of other employees catching the sickness. With your entire team disabled, productivity level will be at its lowest of lows.
The Fix for Presenteeism
Presenteeism breeds from certain pressures in the workplace. It can come from a strict boss who expects their employees to finish the job no matter what, at a certain deadline. It may also be subtler. A boss who shows up for work despite being ill or injured sends the message that employees need to make the same “sacrifices.”
Given this, the first step in curbing presenteeism is communicating to team members that you want them to put in their best efforts at work. So if a sickness keeps them doing that, then it’s better to stay at home and nurse themselves back to better health. Formalize it by rolling out guidelines.
The next thing to do is to reconsider your attendance and time-off policies. Perhaps it’s time to introduce a few more sick days. This will send a stronger message that you care about your employees’ health and productivity more than their mere appearance at the office.
Maybe you could introduce flextime and telecommuting to make the work set-up suitable for the employee’s needs.
Finally, prevention is better than cure. Make your office a clean, stress-free environment. One that reduces the risk of catching illnesses. Schedule routine cleaning of your space. Consider MC Janitorial’s commercial cleaning in Kansas City.
At the same time, dedicate spaces in the workplace for relaxation. Remember, stress weakens the immune system. So if you can get rid of stress altogether, it will be a win-win situation for both your employees and your organization.
No to Presenteeism
Again, while absenteeism is no good, presenteeism is no better. Don’t let team members drag themselves to work when nursing the flu. You’ll be better off with them in bed at home, than behind their office desk.