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Productivity in the Workplace
submitted by Personnel Assistance Services
The understanding of productivity in the workplace has led to a focus on absenteeism and presenteeism as component parts of the individual’s contribution to this concept. While
absenteeism is more easily defined and measured ( you are at work or not; whole day or part of the day), presenteeism is more difficult to define and measure especially among knowledge
workers.
Presenteeism is defined as having the worker present but not working to capacity. As such, it encompasses qualities like lack of focus, mistakes and accidents, interpersonal
difficulties, poor work skills and production problems. Presenteeism issues can often be invisible to management. Companies that can measure individual productivity (assembly line, call
center) have access to data that can point to an individual with presenteeism issues such as increased errors, inspection failure rate, decreased call handling,etc. For companies who
have a preponderance of knowledge workers, the recognition of presenteeism issues is more challenging. Managers will need a clear understanding of the individual’s work goals, projects,
task completion rate as well as have an awareness of more subtle issues such as team work response and morale.
Presenteeism has a major impact on a company’s bottom line and studies are showing that it is more costly than incidents of absenteeism. A number of studies have focused on disease state
related presenteeism. For example, a survey completed by Pfizer and Medstat showed that depressed workers reported an average of 1.8 hours of unproductive work time during an 8-hour day.
Other studies report an average of 115hours per year per employee of health condition related decrease in work productivity. Studies have looked at most common health conditions ie
headaches, allergies, asthma, blood pressure, obesity and have consistently found that the cost of presenteeism was between $2 to $3 for every dollar spent on the direct medical
treatment of these illnesses.
Incidental to the effect of chronic medical conditions on presenteeism, but less ‘studied’ is that of sick workers with a cold or flu who come to work rather than take a few days off to
recuperate. The spread of the highly contagious illness can
effect many more people and have a significant toll on productivity.
The root causes of presenteeism are not always medical as any experienced human resource person can attest. Major transitions in the workplace such as mergers, bankruptcy, downsizing,
significant changes in senior management, loss of
contracts, can all lead to presenteeism issues in the workforce. More widespread and costly are personal issues that the individual faces in the course of family life. Psychosocial
issues such as eldercare, child care, financial and personal
bankruptcy, addiction, divorce or marital strife, adolescent acting out and just plain being overextended can have an impact on employee productivity.
Employee problems can also ripple through a department, impacting morale and team
cohesion, shifting the burden of work onto others and distracting co-workers.
Presenteeism can be effectively managed. First, establish a work climate that fosters not coming to work if you are ill. Spreading the flu to coworkers effects the overall productivity
of the workplace and can endanger customer response.
Second, promoting the EAP to workers by helping them understand that personal psychosocial issues have an impact on their productivity ( and what that looks and feels like) and the EAP
is a confidential, non-threatening and professional resource to help them get started dealing with their issues. Third, the scope of supervision should allow managers the time to
effective meet with their employees to develop and follow goals, projects and time lines. Managers should also be concerned with their unit’s morale and act as a conduit of “official”
information during times of company change.
This article is not meant to be construed as legal advice, but is provided as an overview of good business practices.
submitted by Personnel Assistance Services Ready to get multiple quotes!
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