In the workplace, absenteeism is more easily flagged than presenteeism, but both are just as unproductive and are signals to deeper issues within the individual.
I have worked with people who do not like to go home early or go on paid leave. They complain like the crowd that they don’t get enough rest, but anytime you offer rest, they seem very anxious or insecure. When you force the issue and overrule their resistance to taking breaks, they find a way to remain hooked by phone, by email or by coming to the office at odd hours.
Some time ago, I had a chat with one such person and I realised that for him it was linked to a belief that relevance was directly proportional to being ever-present. His dad lost his job because he was sickly and out of work often. This led to a very difficult childhood for him and his siblings. The fear it planted had grown into an unconscious need to always be present.
I could see a man that was burning out fast and heading for a complete shutdown. He was married but he was so detached from his home, he never had anything to say about home. It is impossible not to speak fondly about what brings you joy. The only thing he spoke fondly about was his long hours, it was his most frequent bragging feature.
I decided to work with him through his insecurity. I started reacting as strongly as I would to someone who is unexplainably absent to anyone who is unexplainably present. I realised through working with him that I unwittingly created an environment that nurtured presenteeism, because I never questioned anyone that was present when they shouldn’t be. I just let people be, assuming that they were catching up on some personal training needs.
I showed him proof of his increased productivity not just in hard numbers, but in the quality of his output. And then I appraised him better for taking a chance at balance. His family finally became a part of his discussion and he had his first children – twins. Children have a way of helping humans re-prioritise and luckily he was already on that path.
His twins will have a present dad and an excellent provider.
– Osasu Oviawe
One thought on “Presenteeism”
Perhaps, we too often associate being present with being productive. This, in my opinion, is why orthodox companies did not adopt the work-from-home work model until covid-19 forced them to.