What does absenteeism cost a company? Well… and presenteeism?
As a manager, director, or executive, you’ve likely run into the issues of presenteeism and absenteeism in the workplace. Why? Because they’re both prevalent in the working world, no matter what size company or team we’re talking about. Apart from addressing the root causes of why presenteeism and absenteeism occur, it’s also crucial to understand the cost of these on your business; and to understand that, it’s vital to understand how to calculate both.
Absenteeism in the workplace can be defined as unplanned absences from the office—missed workdays due to family emergencies, sick days, and other unforeseen circumstances. Of course, employees are human, and all managers can plan ahead and budget for some level of absenteeism in the office. Presenteeism, on the other hand, can be a bit trickier, both to measure and to plan for. Presenteeism is defined as when employees are present at work, but not doing their job or being productive. While measuring absenteeism is quite straightforward, presenteeism is not. And this might be a surprise, but presenteeism actually costs businesses more money annually than absenteeism does.
If this is news to you, that’s alright; it’s never too late to put new policies and procedures into place. But before you make your first move, make sure you understand the underlying factors that promote absenteeism and presenteeism. You might want to look into your team’s engagement levels, workloads, and overall well-being. The infographic below goes into further explanation about the levers that trigger absenteeism and presenteeism, plus offers actionable advice from industry experts to combat both.
