Stress can drive workers to be on the job, but doing very little work
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 — presenteeism.
Eight out of 10 Canadian employees self-reported experiencing presenteeism at the workplace, according to a survey by Morneau Shepell.
Whether an employee is coming into work sick, playing hooky or simply wasting valuable work hours by procrastinating because 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 underestimated the problem — pegging just 22 per cent of absences as not due to physical illness.
While absenteeism is a problem in its own right, absenteeism due to issues outside of physical health speak to the bigger problem 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 manager, 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 after awhile," says Allen. "Employers might see it after it gets to a very difficult stage when people are constantly missing deadlines."
The findings suggest presenteeism is an issue at more than one-half of Canadian workplaces, says Allen.
"The employee view is more likely accurate than the employer 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-workers and management.
"With the recent meta-analysis that has not been published yet, we now have a pretty good understanding of the broad factors that contribute to presenteeism," 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 negative, 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 presenteeism, says Johns.
"A fair amount of research is showing people who have dependent 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 physically or otherwise.
Mental illness
Two of four main issues behind presenteeism and absenteeism directly correlate to different levels of mental illness, whether it is anxiety and stress that occur due to the inability to deal with one’s emotions under certain circumstances or a full-blown medically diagnosable depression, according to Johns; employees need to deal with the issue sooner rather than later, not only for the benefit of the employer but for their own benefit as well.
"Rates of presenteeism could be an indicator maybe that someone is having some mental health challenges or difficulties," says Laura Kalef, co-founder and occupational therapist at L&L Consulting in Toronto.
Presenteeism is one way you might see a pattern to potential mental illness issues she says; but it is important to keep things in perspective.
"I am sure there are a lot of people out there who are physically at work and just spending hours on Facebook, and that does not necessarily mean that they have (a) mental illness. Maybe they are bored or (more) interested in other things," says Kalef.
There is a spectrum when it comes to defining mental illness, she says.
"Imagine a traffic light, the green zone is when you are feeling mentally healthy and you are productive and fruitful. From there (we can) move into a yellow or an orange zone, where maybe you are fatigued or you’re tired and your thinking is a bit altered but you can move between zones and then I would say the red zone… (is) where your mental health is really impacting your day-to-day function."
Bells gets to root of problem
Telecommunications and media company Bell is well-known for supporting employees before they reach that red zone.
Maree-Josee Boivin, vice-president of HR at Bell in Montreal, says a mental health program started at the company three years ago and since its inception, improvements in work culture have been evident.
A mandatory course to train and inform managers about mental illness is the first step to having happy and healthy employees, says Boivin. The key is educating managers and upper-level employees to be able to have an open conversation with an employee if signs of presenteeism and absenteeism show.
"You would engage the conversation and, hopefully, the employee will volunteer what’s wrong," says Boivin. "Some people will do it naturally and for some people, it’s not as natural to notice those things."
The three-module program helps "raise awareness and provide them with tools, so we do role-playing where we give some examples of conversations and how to address a situation," she says. "We try to make it, as easily applicable as possible."
