Absenteeism and Presenteeism Are Worse Than Each Other

First, the devil stalking your business was absenteeism. Your employees who found work so unbearable, they'd use any excuse to not turn up.

They'd cost you a lot in real dollars - how could paying someone to stay home do anything else?

Plus, it was disruptive. It made it hard to plan for things if folk wouldn't show up.

But then...

The real enemy, people found, was presenteeism.

A threat so dangerous it earned two different definitions:

It either meant showing up to work when you should stay at home, or

Showing up to work but not doing any... you know, work.

Either way, it's not great. They're symptoms of a dysfunctional organisational culture, where employees aren't valued and time at desk is the only thing worth celebrating.

These are signs of low organisational trust.

With high absenteeism, employees don't trust the organisation to notice or care about them. It's so bad they choose to not show up at all.

With high presenteeism, however you define it, employees don't trust the organisation to recognise their contributions. They think some bigwig is going to say, sure, you completed all your tasks and went above and beyond... but I notice you kept leaving early, so...

And, really, it's the same story. Employees see themselves as interchangeable cogs in a vast machine, rather than people with something real to offer.

If this describes your organisation, you're doomed in the long run.

Why?

Because your people won't put in their best work.

Yeah, even if they want to.

How can they, when they're too busy wondering how they look to their bosses?

When the culture values attendance over performance - which so many do - performance tanks.

Ambitious folk focus more on appearances that contributing.

Hard workers know their work isn't recognised.

The wrong people accumulate influence, leading to bad hiring, bad priorities and bad decisions.

You might think I'm overstating things.

Many organisations track attendance and not all of them are circling the drain.

And, hey, you might be right.

But none of the senior leaders in these organisations are happy with how things are.

They know their organisation is capable of so much more, if only everyone would pull in the same direction.

They won't because not only is that not rewarded, in a way it's punished.

That's why absenteeism and presenteeism are worse than each other. Each is a quiet herald portending of lost potential and squandered opportunities.

An organisation that trusts - I mean genuinely trusts - its employees doesn't scrutinise attendance, either formally or informally. It scrutinises attitude, work and outcomes. Nothing else matters, yet everything else can take priority over them.

If that's your organisation, then it's time to change.

The best way to enhance your organisation is with the ultimate advantage: trust.

But how do you measure something like that, let alone improve it?

Especially if your workforce is stretched thin, cynical and burned out on change?

There are simple, effective and proven strategies you can begin implementing today. I know you can unlock the creativity, productivity and joy of your employees.

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