Meet the Usual Suspects – Butch Presentee
Our fourth chapter in the Usual Suspects saga introduces ‘Butch Presentee’. As the name suggest, he is the epitome of the phenomenon called presenteeism.
Presenteeism, unsurprisingly, means the opposite of absenteeism. It describes employees who struggle into work even whilst they are ill and should have stayed in bed. Presenteeism has several downsides to the business. Not only do the presentees bring their germs into the office or workplace and spread them to their colleagues, they are also working at half speed and lowered productivity. It’s easy to make mistakes when you can’t think as sharp as you would when you are feeling fit and healthy.
Take Butch Presentee, for example: ‘I don’t have time to go off sick!’ says Butch. His 100% attendance record remains unbeaten and no illness will prevent him from losing this title. He comes to work to spread his germs and tell anyone who will listen how hard he works and how little it is appreciated. If he stopped moaning and trying to work whilst ill, his productivity would double and the length of his colds would halve. He might actually get some work done for once! His colleagues wish he would just go home, relax and come back happier and healthier and stop bringing them down, too.
A common cause behind presenteeism is job security – or lack of it. If employees are worried they might lose their jobs, they are scared to go off sick and will make the effort to come in even when they can’t really do their job properly. Some believe they are demonstrating commitment and loyalty by going to work whatever their health. Others are simply such perfectionists that they are reluctant to delegate their tasks to colleagues and want to be there to do everything themselves. They feel they are irreplaceable – or want to give that impression.
Ultimately presenteeism is a symptom of a poor company culture. To tackle widespread trends of presenteeism, the will to change must come from senior management. And often the top managers are the most likely to be guilty of presenteeism! However, actions speak louder than words and by setting an example for zero tolerance on presenteeism and asking ill employees to stay at home with their germs will eventually trickle down through the ranks. Healthy behaviour and efforts to improve personal health and wellbeing should also be rewarded. That should go hand-in-hand with an anti-presenteeism campaign so that a ban on presenteeism doesn’t result in a major hike in absence.
Read up about our other Usual Suspects in the previous articles in this series to meet Buffalo Skiver, Sleeps-with-Smartphone and Annie Excuses. And keep an eye out for our next and final part in the Usual Suspects series next week! If you don’t want to miss it, why not sign up to receive our weekly newsletter.