With presenteeism in the workplace on the rise, Activ Absence suggests ways companies can tackle this

A new survey from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) highlights the growing problem of ‘presenteeism’ – with 86% of employers they surveyed having observed staff coming into work while ill in the last year.

This is up from 72% in 2016, and just 26% of employers in 2010. However, employers are doing little to tackle this growing problem. The CIPD found just a quarter of respondents that have experienced presenteeism say their organisation has taken steps to discourage it over the last year, a figure that has almost halved since 2016 (48%).

Adrian Lewis, Director of Activ Absence says,

“These new figures suggest that people are scared to take time off from work even if they are sick, for fear of losing their jobs or not getting work finished on time. However coming into work whilst ill can make people worse, not to mention spread germs to others if they are suffering from colds and flu.”

“Preseetenism can also have a long term effect on an employee’s health and wellbeing and lead to further problems down the line such as stress, especially if they are regularly coming into work sick. It can be a vicious circle that increases stress as people struggle to work and find it difficult to perform at their best.”

The CIPD found that increased presenteeism is associated with increases in reported common mental health conditions, such as anxiety and depression, as well as stress-related absence – among the top causes of long-term sickness absence. The CIPD also found that the average level of employee absence rose slightly to 6.6 days per employee per year, up from 6.3 in 2016.

Adrian Lewis says,

“Both presenteeism and absenteeism can impact productivity and employers must do more to tackle these issues. One solution is to invest in technology such as absence management software that can help organisations spot trends, which can uncover underlying health issues such as stress.

“Often employers are blind to what is happening and have no idea that someone has taken a lot of time off sick or regularly coming into work feeling unwell. Having the right systems in place adds transparency and a way to get to the root causes of any rise in absence.

“This in turn helps a business plan more effectively, tailor support if needed and improve the health and wellbeing of their employees. The long term business benefits of looking after your workforce shouldn’t be underestimated, including better engagement, motivation and productivity,” 

Here are some other ways organisations can start to tackle presenteeism:

• Develop a policy on both absenteeism and presenteeism and make sure everyone in the organisation is aware of it

• Boost morale in the workplace. Perhaps look at more team building activities or something simple such as ordering lunch in the office every Friday to say thank you

• Encourage people to look out for their colleagues and spot signs if someone is ill or struggling at work. Also provide proper training for managers to recognise the symptoms of stress, ill health or mental health problems

• Ensure managers are aware of what causes presenteeism. Large workloads or tight deadlines can stop people taking time off in order to get things done. Line managers should be able to manage their teams workloads appropriately

• Make sure managers have the soft skills to be able to communicate effectively with their team and promote open communication. They should also encourage positive working and wellbeing practices including strategies for better work/life balance

Ten steps for employers to tackle stress in the workplace

April is Stress Awareness Month[i] which seeks to raise awareness of this growing problem. It’s also a good opportunity for employers to consider their role in helping reduce stress in the workplace.

The Health and Safety Executive[ii] says that 12.5 million working days were lost due to work-related stress, depression or anxiety in 2016/17. Some of the causes include workload pressures, including tight deadlines and too much responsibility and a lack of managerial support.

Adrian Lewis, Director of absence management software company, Activ Absence says,

“Stress is a growing epidemic in Britain’s workplaces. High pressure working environments, a long working hour’s culture and the increased use of mobile technology can make it difficult for people to switch off. Increasingly, we are talking to employers who are very concerned about how to alleviate employee stress and improve people’s mental wellbeing.”

Recent research from Reward & Employee Benefits Association (REBA) in association with Punter Southall Health & Protection, highlighted that mental health was the top concern for Britain’s CEOs when it came to wellbeing, with almost three in five (60%) CEO saying it is the area of employee wellbeing that interests the Board most.

Adrian Lewis, says,

“Mental health is moving up the workplace agenda, with more CEOs wanting to tackle the issue but many are still overlooking the fact that more must be done to help identify potential mental health issues early on before problems escalate.”

“Monitoring absence patterns and producing detailed reports is one way for companies to do this. These can be used in conjunction with return to work interviews and data analysed to show the true picture of the health and mental wellbeing of their workforce.”

Lewis says that companies should use this data to ensure their staff wellbeing initiatives are being targeted accurately and that they address the needs of employees. Data can also help line managers identify employees with possible mental health challenges and direct staff them to support services such as EAPS and counselling which can help them work through their issues and provide vital support to get them on the road to recovery more quickly.

Adrian Lewis offers the following ten tips for managing stress in the workplace:

1. Encourage conservations about mental health and promote an open culture where people feel they can talk to their line manager about any concerns.
2. Include a section on the intranet about stress, recognising the symptoms and ways to reduce stress such as exercise. Make sure staff are aware this section is there.
3. Consider introducing flexible working practices and allowing people to work at home now and again. For instance, some companies let employees do a nine day fortnight which means they can get every second Friday off.
4. Train managers to recognise stress, anxiety and depression and how to manage staff with mental health issues.
5. Look at ways to improve employee engagement and morale.  For instance, introduce Friday afternoon drinks to thank everyone for their hard work or a monthly team outing for lunch.
6. Encourage people to take regular breaks and not eat lunch at their desks.  Time away from their desk and perhaps going for a walk outside can help people feel more refreshed and less stressed, plus it’s good for their posture.
7. Hold a social media free day or week. This could even be a sponsored event to raise money for a local charity. Social media is known to increase stress, so by raising awareness of this link, people make start to monitor their usage.
8. Don’t rely on out-of-date paper forms and spreadsheets to monitor absence trends. Invest in an absence management system so absence can be tracked, along with holiday leave or any other leave (volunteer/study days etc.). This can also make managing flexible working easier.
9. Always conduct back to work interviews when people are off sick, so that employees can talk about any issues that might be causing them stress. It’s also an opportunity to spot areas of concern.
10. Create a positive working culture by regularly praising and recognising achievements and encourage employees to suggest new ideas and become more involved in the goals of the organisation.

[i] http://www.stress.org.uk/national-stress-awareness-month-2018/

[ii] http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/causdis/stress/stress.pdf