Presenteeism: There but not accounted for


Think absenteeism is the biggest workplace culprit? Think again. A new study shows that presenteeism adds up to a much bigger problem for businesses.

The great Aussie sickie has become a bit a joke lately, and the practice has fallen out of favour in recent years – sort of. But while businesses are distracted with efforts to reduce absenteeism, there’s another culprit tossing a wrench in the system: presenteeism. 

Absenteeism is pretty obvious to spot: an employee simply isn’t there. The effects of absenteeism have long been realised by businesses. The 2015 Absenteeism and Presenteeism report released by the Australian Industry Group estimates that each absent employee costs $578 per day in lost productivity. This adds up to about USD$150 billion per year across the UK, US and Australia.

Presenteeism is more subtle, though, which makes it more dangerous. According to a new study, it could account for as many as 57.5 working days lost per employee each year. 

The study, a joint effort from the Global Corporate Challenge (GCC) and the World Health Organisation (WHO), collected responses from 2000 employees and employers in 17 countries. What it found was that absenteeism levels were less than 10 per cent of total presenteeism levels.

“There’s always been a real focus and reporting on absenteeism in workplaces, and that’s just part of the business mind and social norms,” says Dr Olivia Sackett, GCC Insight’s data scientist. “Presenteeism fluctuates depending on how a person is feeling; it isn’t fixed, but you know it when you see it.”

Presenteeism is when people show up, but don’t perform at optimum levels, says Dr Sackett. Just walk around your office, and chances are you will see someone pacing tasks out, surfing the internet, or coming to work sick and muscling through the day. These seem like small things, but a typical employee admits to losing 25 per cent of their day being unproductive, says the GCC study. All together, that adds up to almost three working months lost per employee each year, or a whopping USD$1.5 trillion between the US, UK and Australia.

“This data really signals that the way businesses manage staff now is not optimal,” Dr Sackett says. Although the conversation is changing around flexibility and productivity, many workplaces still have a ‘bums in the seat’ mentality. “That view stems from the Industrial Revolution when people needed to be in factories or wherever to actually do their work,” says Dr Sackett. “We’ve come a long way from that, so our approach to work has to change.”

The study found three key metrics correlated to low levels of presenteeism: sleep, stress and happiness. Workplace policies that focus on improving these three indicators contribute to lower levels of presenteeism. Dr Sackett and her research partner Dr David Batman, chief medical officer for GCC, recommend that leaders focus on creating supportive environments and encouraging employees to take care of themselves, mentally and physically. When physical and psychological health improved, levels of presenteeism decreased and productivity increased.

The most recent absence management survey conducted by the Australian Human Resources Institute found that in the past 12 months, 29 per cent of HR practitioners have seen an increase in presenteeism levels in their workplaces. The top three causes of presenteeism were work-related stress, working through illness and having no one to cover workload when away.

Leading by example is the best way to break what Dr Sackett calls ‘presenteeism cultures’: workplaces where everyone arrives early and stays late because precedent has been set by leadership. She says the research found that when overtime hours decreased, there was a corresponding increase in productivity.

“The research is supportive of fundamental change to the way people conduct business,” Dr Sackett says. “This approach – focusing on presenteeism instead of absenteeism – is still experimental at this stage, though, so watch this space.”

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Lena Dimopoulos
Lena Dimopoulos
8 years ago

Thanks for this article. It is time to stop treating employees as if they are petulant children that need to be micro-managed. The ‘bums on seats’ mentality is more indicative of a manager’s suspicious attitudes towards their colleagues, and says more about the manager’s attitude to their job and what they might do in a workplace, than the employees’. The most successful global companies allow their employees great flexibility in the workplace, including work-from-home arrangements, start and finish times, and focus on accommodating an individual’s work patterns that achieve the greatest results, rather than time spent in the office. After… Read more »

aldeiy alderson
aldeiy alderson
8 years ago

Flexible working routines should not be seen as a right and not all personalities respond to the opportunity it represents. I’m a mid-level manager in the UK military and flexible working is a novel concept for us. In a front line unit it is simply impossible to conduct collective training if people are not concentrated at specific times and places. However, in my last 12 months running a team within an HR environment we have embraced the idea with caveats. Some people are motivated by the opportunity and are in roles where there is actual benefit; it unlocks their ‘discretionary… Read more »

trackback
Want to smash the pay gap? Here’s why it requires collaboration | Neena Bhandari
2 years ago

[…] far more women who work flexibly than men. There are entrenched cultural values in Australia around presenteeism and long working hours. A lot of young people, who have seen their parents’ generation struggle […]

More on HRM

Presenteeism: There but not accounted for


Think absenteeism is the biggest workplace culprit? Think again. A new study shows that presenteeism adds up to a much bigger problem for businesses.

The great Aussie sickie has become a bit a joke lately, and the practice has fallen out of favour in recent years – sort of. But while businesses are distracted with efforts to reduce absenteeism, there’s another culprit tossing a wrench in the system: presenteeism. 

Absenteeism is pretty obvious to spot: an employee simply isn’t there. The effects of absenteeism have long been realised by businesses. The 2015 Absenteeism and Presenteeism report released by the Australian Industry Group estimates that each absent employee costs $578 per day in lost productivity. This adds up to about USD$150 billion per year across the UK, US and Australia.

Presenteeism is more subtle, though, which makes it more dangerous. According to a new study, it could account for as many as 57.5 working days lost per employee each year. 

The study, a joint effort from the Global Corporate Challenge (GCC) and the World Health Organisation (WHO), collected responses from 2000 employees and employers in 17 countries. What it found was that absenteeism levels were less than 10 per cent of total presenteeism levels.

“There’s always been a real focus and reporting on absenteeism in workplaces, and that’s just part of the business mind and social norms,” says Dr Olivia Sackett, GCC Insight’s data scientist. “Presenteeism fluctuates depending on how a person is feeling; it isn’t fixed, but you know it when you see it.”

Presenteeism is when people show up, but don’t perform at optimum levels, says Dr Sackett. Just walk around your office, and chances are you will see someone pacing tasks out, surfing the internet, or coming to work sick and muscling through the day. These seem like small things, but a typical employee admits to losing 25 per cent of their day being unproductive, says the GCC study. All together, that adds up to almost three working months lost per employee each year, or a whopping USD$1.5 trillion between the US, UK and Australia.

“This data really signals that the way businesses manage staff now is not optimal,” Dr Sackett says. Although the conversation is changing around flexibility and productivity, many workplaces still have a ‘bums in the seat’ mentality. “That view stems from the Industrial Revolution when people needed to be in factories or wherever to actually do their work,” says Dr Sackett. “We’ve come a long way from that, so our approach to work has to change.”

The study found three key metrics correlated to low levels of presenteeism: sleep, stress and happiness. Workplace policies that focus on improving these three indicators contribute to lower levels of presenteeism. Dr Sackett and her research partner Dr David Batman, chief medical officer for GCC, recommend that leaders focus on creating supportive environments and encouraging employees to take care of themselves, mentally and physically. When physical and psychological health improved, levels of presenteeism decreased and productivity increased.

The most recent absence management survey conducted by the Australian Human Resources Institute found that in the past 12 months, 29 per cent of HR practitioners have seen an increase in presenteeism levels in their workplaces. The top three causes of presenteeism were work-related stress, working through illness and having no one to cover workload when away.

Leading by example is the best way to break what Dr Sackett calls ‘presenteeism cultures’: workplaces where everyone arrives early and stays late because precedent has been set by leadership. She says the research found that when overtime hours decreased, there was a corresponding increase in productivity.

“The research is supportive of fundamental change to the way people conduct business,” Dr Sackett says. “This approach – focusing on presenteeism instead of absenteeism – is still experimental at this stage, though, so watch this space.”

Subscribe to receive comments
Notify me of
guest

3 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Lena Dimopoulos
Lena Dimopoulos
8 years ago

Thanks for this article. It is time to stop treating employees as if they are petulant children that need to be micro-managed. The ‘bums on seats’ mentality is more indicative of a manager’s suspicious attitudes towards their colleagues, and says more about the manager’s attitude to their job and what they might do in a workplace, than the employees’. The most successful global companies allow their employees great flexibility in the workplace, including work-from-home arrangements, start and finish times, and focus on accommodating an individual’s work patterns that achieve the greatest results, rather than time spent in the office. After… Read more »

aldeiy alderson
aldeiy alderson
8 years ago

Flexible working routines should not be seen as a right and not all personalities respond to the opportunity it represents. I’m a mid-level manager in the UK military and flexible working is a novel concept for us. In a front line unit it is simply impossible to conduct collective training if people are not concentrated at specific times and places. However, in my last 12 months running a team within an HR environment we have embraced the idea with caveats. Some people are motivated by the opportunity and are in roles where there is actual benefit; it unlocks their ‘discretionary… Read more »

trackback
Want to smash the pay gap? Here’s why it requires collaboration | Neena Bhandari
2 years ago

[…] far more women who work flexibly than men. There are entrenched cultural values in Australia around presenteeism and long working hours. A lot of young people, who have seen their parents’ generation struggle […]

More on HRM