The reaction this week to Hilary Clinton calling in sick has us all thinking. Since have we become so alarmed at this and why? Rather alarmingly, you’d be surprised on practices around this matter. Please take note all you managers and business owners. With 33% of Irish employers citing presenteeism as a key concern, it’s time to take stock. So what is it and why is it a problem? Basically this term refers to times employees turn up for work when they aren’t fit to be there. In other words, when they are sick.
There are two problems here. Not only are they unlikely to be able to perform well and therefore are “present physically, absent mentally”, but this behaviour can also impact the health of those around them, thus affect others’ productivity also. There are multiple reasons for why this happens.
Sometimes employees are nervous about calling in sick (Hilary’s not, but then again she is the boss) or feel under far too much pressure in their work environment to be able to take time off. With ever-lengthening working hours, the continued intrusion of work matters into private time along with scant support for stress pressures in many companies, the results can be negative if mismanaged. They don’t have to be though. Once upon a time, this was called flexibility.
Flu, coughs, colds, reluctance, exhaustion (mental and physical) will catch all of us at some point this winter. Let’s get organised now. It’s time to look at your employees’ annual leave entitlements and manage them helpfully. Help your team to perform at a high level in an organised fashion. Leave them alone at the weekend. Encourage them to perform at a high level when at work and look forward to time away. Organise your technology so they can work from home when needed and then trust them to do that. Want to know how to build an effective employer branding strategy? Click here.
By Jane Gormley
Cup and tissues photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
