{"id":2364,"date":"2021-06-10T14:27:52","date_gmt":"2021-06-10T06:27:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pacificprime.co.uk\/blog\/?p=2364"},"modified":"2021-06-10T14:27:52","modified_gmt":"2021-06-10T06:27:52","slug":"5-ways-to-stamp-out-presenteeism-in-the-workplace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pacificprime.co.uk\/blog\/5-ways-to-stamp-out-presenteeism-in-the-workplace\/","title":{"rendered":"5 ways to stamp out presenteeism in the workplace"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ever subconsciously find yourself favouring the early bird employee? Or the one that is always the last to log off at the end of the day? We can all agree that presenteeism in the workplace is counterproductive. In other words, what is the point of employees who show up just for the sake of it when they\u2019re actually sick, stressed, or simply not in the frame of mind to work? Not only does it create a toxic work environment that values facetime over output, but it also costs the economy billions of pounds each year in lost productivity.<\/p>\n

So why is presenteeism still valued? As a phenomenon that was on the rise pre-pandemic, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) found that 83% of employees said that presenteeism existed in their organization in 2019<\/a>, while 25% said that the problem had gotten worse since the previous year. Contrary to what we\u2019d expect, presenteeism hasn\u2019t gone away during the pandemic either, where scores of employees found themselves working from home. In fact, employees are working longer than ever.<\/p>\n

This Pacific Prime UK<\/a> article tackles the presenteeism vs. productivity debate once and for all by giving you 5 ways to stamp out presenteeism in the workplace.<\/p>\n

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\"Corporate<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n\n

1. Recognise your own biases that favour presenteeism-related attributes<\/h2>\n

Managers aren\u2019t hell-bent on chaining employees to their desk, but are hardwired to favour presenteeism-related attributes. As such, the first step to stamp out presenteeism in the workplace is to recognise your own biases, as well as why and how they make you value presenteeism. This is typically the result of two psychological phenomena: \u2018mere-exposure effect\u2019 and \u2018halo effect\u2019 (explained below), but there may also be other reasons why you personally value facetime. Perhaps it stems from your own unhealthy relationship with work? Or tendency to micromanage your employees? It\u2019s advisable to self-reflect on these matters.<\/p>\n

Mere-exposure effect<\/h3>\n

The mere-exposure effect is a phenomenon by which people tend to develop a preference for others simply because they are more familiar with them. If you see a lot of an employee, you might have an affinity for them, and these are the employees that are able to quickly climb up the career ladder via promotions and raises.<\/p>\n

Halo effect<\/h3>\n

The halo effect is a phenomenon whereby there\u2019s a tendency for people\u2019s good impressions of others in one area to positively influence their opinion or feelings in another area. You may think the employee that brings you coffee is also a productive and hard worker – even if there\u2019s no evidence to back this up. Again, this can lead to such people being favoured at work.<\/p>\n

2. Understand the negative impacts of presenteeism, and who it affects the most<\/h2>\n

It is crucial to understand \u2018what is presenteeism\u2019 and \u2018what the impacts are\u2019. But more crucially, it is to understand \u2018who is most affected\u2019. More often than not, it\u2019s the employees that have the time to show up that benefit the most from the culture of presenteeism, while employees with children or those with caring duties lose out. As the pandemic has highlighted, the latter includes a large percentage of female employees<\/a>. All in all, a culture of presenteeism means that:<\/p>\n