America's Benefit Specialist January-February 2023

PRESENTEEISM’S IMPACT ON WORKPLACE PRODUCTIVITY

By Brenda Smith Senior Director, Workplace Possibilities The Standard

Just because employees are showing up to work doesn’t mean they are “present” and realizing their potential. Presen teeism, when an employee is working but not performing at full capacity due to a physical or mental health condition, ill ness or injury, continues to be a problem for many companies. 1 When employees come to work feeling unwell, they are more likely to make errors, have reduced work quality and be less productive, which can lead to lower employee morale and profitability for an organization. In addition, if employ ees are experiencing presenteeism due to sickness, they risk potentially making other coworkers ill, further impacting the overall productivity of the team. ONCE YOUR CLIENTS HAVE IDENTIFIED SIGNS OF PRESENTEEISM, ENCOURAGE THEM TO PROACTIVELY ADDRESS IT.

Presenteeism or working while unwell is not an uncom mon practice. In fact, according to research published by BMC Public Health, 2 more than 60% of employees have attended work while sick, rising to 90% in some studies of occupations such as physicians. In addition, the expectation for employees to be available anytime, anywhere in today’s hybrid/virtual work culture has created increased stress, which also can affect an employee’s health and productivity. What advice can you offer your clients on how to mitigate the risks associated with workplace presenteeism? Encour age them to start with learning how to identify and prevent presenteeism. Helping them recognize and address presen teeism can help them reduce its impact in their workplace. Advise your clients to: • pay attention to any change in an employee’s typical per formance, such as a decline in volume or quality of work • be aware of employees who attend work even when they are sick

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