Skip to main content

Absenteeism and Presenteeism

Everybody knows that absent means not there, but there are many ways of being absent, some while actually present.

When we are implementing time and attendance systems, we regularly find that absence from the workplace has a number of processes already in place, but there are a whole lot of other issues that management wants to get a handle on.

Absenteeism

  • Consistent late arrivals - simply put, if the employee is not on the premises, he is absent.
  • Downing tools early and spending 10 to 15 minutes in the restrooms, getting ready to leave
  • Absence from the workstation to smoke, make tea, have a chat
  • Regular, long bathroom breaks
  • When collecting stationery or tools, taking a lo..o...ong time to do it.
  • Treating sick leave as a target

Presenteeism
  • Extended personal telephone calls 
  • Playing computer games or social networking
  • Dragging out projects and work, not meeting deadlines, but doing just enough to stay under the radar
It is true that presenteeism is also defined as coming to work when ill, and generously spreading the illness, leading to genuine absenteeism!  However, there are people who have conditions which are not enough to get them medically signed off, but not well enough to perform at an optimal level and this is also defined as presenteeism.

I have always preferred to think of it as per the list above, coming to work, being present, but really not adding real value.

Unfortunately, as we all know, the knock on impact of absenteeism in a business is deep.  The time it takes to re-organise resources, manage productivity and client expectations is one aspect, the increased stress on the people who are present, and management is significant.

While there is a great deal of research and advice around how to handle absenteeism, much of which includes a combination of Time and Attendance systems and a structured management approach, there are very clear indications that implementing wellness programs and focusing on improving levels of employee engagement, will have a very positive effect.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Feeding the Right Wolf

Feeding the Right Wolf This Cherokee story resonated with me (see below).     Like many business people, I get caught up in managing details, instead of focusing on strategy and growth.   Measuring myself against the Good Wolf concept has become a way of thinking for me. Feeding the good wolf - focusing on the right stuff! In a previous article on this topic, I commented that the message is simple, the wolf you feed is the one that grows. The good wolf attributes in a business are where we ideally should spend our time, that good old 80 – 20 rule focusing on our   engaged employees, improving client experience and quality of product,   to name a few. Creating a Good Wolf Environment While we have many different tools – appraisals, customer and employee surveys – to try and understand the temperature and levels of entropy in our businesses – the truth is that it is really difficult to explain to people that they are not seen as feeding the good wolf.    Often the people

Sharing your last salary – re-enforcing the gender pay gap…

Sharing your last salary – re-enforcing the gender pay gap… The interview process is never easy.   Whether you are actively searching for a new position or being head hunted, selling yourself effectively can go against ingrained social habits. As a potential employer, there is significant risk in hiring the wrong people, too. So both sides have a lot to lose if the interview process is ineffective. While we frequently hear that people do not leave jobs because of money, very few candidates are looking to drop their salaries … Interviewers have a number of tools at their disposal enabling them to align the right candidate with the role on offer: ·        Psychometric testing ·        References ·        The face to face interview process ·        The CV / Resumé ·        Social media profiles However, the previous salary is a time tested way for the interviewer to measure against the skills and experience claimed in the CV. Why is there a risk that this re-en

It's all about the service... Gaining & Retaining Clients

Retaining and gaining customers has become increasingly challenging.  As customers we have abundant choice and it is so easy to comparative shop. We talk about great service We talk about the extra mile We talk about the attitude We talk about customer perception We talk about customer expectation We talk about meeting customer needs We talk about the tangible vs intangible We talk about the client experience So what makes a customer feel that they have received outstanding service?   What makes it a soft skill, rather than a science, is that we are all so different and people in services and sales need to read each situation and act accordingly. In a restaurant, if my chair is constantly bumped by the waitrons going past, no matter how great the food, my perception is negative.  My family don’t even notice the bumps.. A few years ago, I was lucky enough to visit Greece and Turkey. In Istanbul, we were wandering around one of the many fantastic street marke