The Costs of Presenteeism
For many years, absenteeism has been the focus for businesses, but now ‘presenteeism’ is also becoming a problem, with over 86% of organisations saying they have observed this in the past year. Presenteeism is a concept that describes employees working when they are not fit to work, either mentally or physically, so although they are ‘present’, their performance and engagement is reduced. This, it is claimed, leads to a massive reduction in productivity and therefore costs businesses more than sickness absence, standing at an estimated £21 billion a year (Parsonage & Saini, 2017). Performance and wellbeing are strongly linked (Luthans, Avolio, & Youssef, 2007) and although many organisations have wellbeing initiatives, over a quarter report that there are no positive results from them (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, 2018). This is because many organisations are not taking a proactive approach. They have many important services in place to support people at crisis point but have not yet found a way to create a wellbeing culture that may prevent people from reaching crisis point.
Statistics suggest that 44% of work-related stress, depression and anxiety is caused by workload and other job-related stressors, including interpersonal relationships (Health & Safety Executive, 2018). Organisations clearly need to take a serious look at how to reduce workload strain while also offering support to staff to build resilience to the difficulties they face.
There is also a broader question here about the responsibility of employers to not only provide support for staff to manage workload and pressure but also consider whether the demands they are placing on staff are reasonable. This is where a shift in culture to recognise the importance of balancing performance and wellbeing is essential. Both employees and employers need to take action to create an organisation that thrives.
The Stevenson and Farmer Report (2017) suggests that there is a moral responsibility for organisations to take the role of improving mental health through workplace initiatives. Goldcrest supports organisations to develop their wellbeing initiatives to create a culture of wellbeing. Research shows that increasing wellbeing reduces absenteeism, presentism alongside increasing engagement (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, 2018).
References
Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. (2018). Health and wellbeing at work. Retrieved from https://www.cipd.co.uk/Images/health-and-well-being-at-work_tcm18-40863.pdf
Health & Safety Executive. (2018). Work related stress, depression or anxiety in Great Britain, 2018. Retrieved from http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/causdis/stress/index.htm
Luthans, F., Avolio, B. J., & Youssef, C. M. (2007). Psychological capital: Developing the human competitive edge. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195187526.001.0001
Parsonage, M., & Saini, G. (2017). Mental Health at Work: The business costs 10 years on. Centre for Mental Health. Retrieved from https://www.centreformentalhealth.org.uk/mental-health-at-work-report#report
Stevenson, D., & Farmer, P. (2017). Thriving at work - The Stevenson / Farmer review of mental health and employers. Stevenson / Farmer Review. https://doi.org/10.1016/0950-5849(90)90110-D