They’re in the workplace, and they’re working, but they’re far from productive. That’s because at any given time, employees are either too sick, stressed, or unfocused to be effective or fully functioning. What’s more, sick and unhealthy employees who report for duty are potentially passing illnesses on to fellow workers and spreading the “unproductivity” factor.

Presenteeism is a growing problem for many organizations, though few companies are addressing it. Presenteeism is defined as workers who are sick, but show up for work anyway. The result is on-the-job productivity losses that are then multiplied as co-workers become infected or are affected. According to experts, the total cost of presenteeism to companies exceeds the combined costs of absenteeism, medical, and disability benefits.

It’s clear that organizations must take a more complete look at the economics of employee health and develop solutions to create ultimate efficiencies that can improve productivity.

Addressing the symptoms

Most employees feel obliged and pressured by their employers to work sick. Some wear presenteeism as a badge of pride, while others won’t call in sick for fear of repercussions or worry they’ll lose ground on heavy workloads. In many companies, the amount of available paid sick time has been reduced in the name of cost-savings, or absentee policies have been altered. This often means that sick employees will be less likely to take time off when they really should be home in bed. 

To address presenteeism, organizations should first examine their workplace expectations and attitudes about productivity and attendance. Managers should be made aware of the problem, and on a larger scale, sick-leave policies should be revisited and possibly revamped. Programs that are proving successful include accrued time off, or paid-leave banks that eliminate the distinction between the types of paid absences. This also eliminates the need to choose between calling in sick, or saving the time off for emergencies. Companies are also paying employees to stay home in cases of flu or virus outbreaks. 

It should be noted that some studies show presenteeism as being a bigger problem in companies with low morale—employees are fearful of the consequences of calling in sick. Conversely, organizations with higher morale experience less presenteeism. Thus, organizations would do well to examine their overall workplace environment to help eliminate a possible correlation.     

Making a better diagnosis

More than colds or flus, chronic ailments often account for the majority of presenteeism costs. Migraines, allergies, or depression have the greatest negative impact on employees’ ability to perform.

To discover what’s really impairing on-the-job productivity in your organization, conduct an evaluation to determine where presenteesim costs lie, then target programs accordingly. It’s possible to pinpoint factors that can affect presenteeism in a particular work group. For instance, if your customer service unit consists entirely of women, consider programs that address depression, as women are more likely than men to suffer from mental health issues. In an older workforce, arthritis and chronic pain may be most prevalent.

The overriding idea is to introduce targeted health promotion programs to keep workers well and as productive as they can be. Initiate health risk assessments as a way of identifying predominant health issues, and offer wellness programs to address them.

It’s also important to realign your investments in disease management efforts. Your efforts may be focused on heart health and diabetes when the real presenteeism culprits might be mental illness and respiratory problems. Introduce the right interventions for the right problems and your measures to ensure productivity will become more cost-effective.

Investing more on the medical side can be worth the cost when it equals achieved savings on the productivity side. Providing benefits for medications may be more costly upfront, but because it gets workers back to the job sooner or keeps them in the workplace and working productively, you’ll ultimately reap the cost benefits in efficiencies.

Healthy investment

What matters most to operational effectiveness is functionality. Healthy employees that are able to work are assets to every organization. Dealing with presenteeism will increase productivity. Giving employees the care they require and the time off they need is worth the operational investment.