Canadian Safety Reporter

5 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2015 News | August 2015 | CSR Looking at presenteeim: An invisible productivity killer Stress can drive workers to be on the job, but doing very little work BY ANASTASIYA JOGAL ABSENTEEISM IS AN easy-to- spot, easy-to-track productivity killer and resource waster. But there's another force at play in the workplace, and it seems to get away with everything — pre- senteeism. Eight out of 10 Canadian em- ployees self-reported experienc- ing presenteeism at the work- place, according to a survey by Morneau Shepell. Whether an employee is com- ing into work sick, playing hooky or simply wasting valuable work hours by procrastinating be- cause he is not in the mood to work, the end result is the same — company resources are not used efficiently. The majority of absences — 52 per cent, according to the survey of employees, employers and physicians — are not due to physical illness says Paula Allen, vice-president of research and integrative solutions at Morneau Shepell in Toronto. "Employers did have some understanding of the fact that people sometimes take sick days without being sick," she says. But they vastly underestimat- ed the problem — pegging just 22 per cent of absences as not due to physical illness. While absenteeism is a prob- lem in its own right, absenteeism due to issues outside of physical health speak to the bigger prob- lem of presenteeism. Some people surveyed said they took time off due to family issues while others, says Allen, "were looking for another job, they had conflict with their man- ager, they had difficulties with co-workers, the other reason that was given was that sick days were paid, they want to make sure that they use it, like using up benefits." The researchers correlated the superficial findings and found that the people who took sick days off for non-medical reasons were more likely to also report work stress. Presenteeism occurs when an employee is at work while not productively engaged in work. The occurrence can be better observed by fellow employees, while "employers might see it af- ter awhile," says Allen. "Employ- ers might see it after it gets to a very difficult stage when people are constantly missing dead- lines." The findings suggest presen- teeism is an issue at more than one-half of Canadian workplac- es, says Allen. "The employee view is more likely accurate than the employ- er view; employers really don't have a good way to measure it." Reasons behind presenteeism Some signs of presenteeism include changes in behaviour, increased errors in work and missed meetings. Some of the drivers identified by employees surveyed include physical illness, depression, stress and issues with co-work- ers and management. "With the recent meta-analy- sis that has not been published yet, we now have a pretty good understanding of the broad factors that contribute to pre- senteeism," says Gary Johns, professor with the department of management, John Molson School of Business at Concordia University in Montreal. Reasons behind presenteeism can be positive as well as nega- tive, he says. In a company with heavy emphasis on teamwork, if one person is missing, the whole team suffers — so employees may show up sick just so they are not seen as bad apples who let the team down. On the other hand, a specialty professional whose work skills are unique within a company may also engage in presentee- ism, says Johns. "A fair amount of research is showing people who have depen- dent clients or patients, a lot of these people in the human sector they are inclined to go to work." And again presenteeism can also show in those who love their job, he explains. People who are satisfied and engaged in their job are more likely to come to work when they are not feeling well Presenteeism > pg. 8 " e employee view is more likely accurate than the employer's; employers don't have a good way to measure it." Credit: oneword/Shutterstock

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