05.05.11 by Work Screen
Bob Grove, Joint CEO, Centre for Mental Health, explained how he feels that the debate on presenteeism is very welcome. ALthough research on the topic is still in its infancy it all points in the same direction - that lost productivity due to ill health from people who are physically present in the workplace is significantly more costly to employers than losses due to sickness absence.
Having said that however - what does it mean for employers and managers on a day to day basis? Surely we should not be encouraging people to take time off work? Is it not better to put up with some lost productivity and keep people at work while they recover? These are tricky questions and the answers may differ between individuals and to some extent from one industry to another, but the most important thing is that the issue is recognised and not swept under the carpet.
Surveys about mental health show that employers tend to have very low recognition of depression and anxiety - they consistently underestimate the incidence and prevalence. The flip side of this coin is that in many workplaces employees are very reluctant to disclose mental health problems for fear of damaging their workplace relationships and their careers - hence presenteeism due to mental ill health is common. This is particularly the case for people with "white collar" jobs.
To attempt an answer to the question "should employees be encouraged to remain at work if possible?" - the answer is probably yes, far better to make some temporary adjustments and maintain a lower level of productivity than have the employee stewing at home getting more depressed and anxious about their job. If however the employer's focus is only on avoiding absence rather than on dealing with the health problem, then one likely outcome is that the distressed employee will stick it out unproductively until it becomes impossible to remain in work any longer and then go off for a much longer period of sickness absence. This knock on effect of unmanaged presenteeism is starting to be recognised in the research literature.
There is now evidence from a number of studies that presenteeism (and Work Instability) can be a strong predictor of future sickness absence, particularly where this is associated with the neglect of health problems in their early stages.
The BITC Workwell Summit on May 10th was also used to lauch a discussion paper - Managing Presenteeism - Bob Grove said "I do hope that we can begin a practical discussion there on the best ways of dealing with this costly problem"
Read More
