Presentism At Work: What Is It?
In the past, companies suffered from the burden of work absenteeism. Many workers did not respect their working hours, arrived late or were absent regularly. This phenomenon, which in recent years has led to alarming losses, has now found a replacement. In fact, a new trend has arisen, perhaps even worse than the previous one: presentism at work.
There are many workers who have long complained about how difficult it is to reconcile work and personal life. Taking the children to school or visiting a sick family member are priority matters that must be taken into account.
There are various points of similarity between presentism at work and absenteeism. Lack of motivation, frustration and bad relationships with the rest of the staff are factors closely linked to these problems. The main difference between the two is that in the case of presentism, the worker respects his working hours, but finds himself investing a significant part of that time carrying out activities that do not belong to him.
What are the causes of presentism at work?
The emergence of presentism at work was favored by the economic crisis. The fear of losing their jobs has prompted many unmotivated workers to never fail, even when this involved tedious days of boredom and frustration. Many of them extend their lunch or cigarette breaks, use the internet for non-work purposes, read or even play video games.
In the presence of such a situation, companies prefer to establish stricter timetables and exemplary sanctions rather than stop and think. Presentism at work has repercussions not only on the productivity of the company, but also on the health of the workers themselves.
Lack of motivation and goals can cause you to be disappointed with your job, which in turn can be at the root of a potential depression. The same happens in the case of employees who go to work despite being sick. Exposing one’s colleagues to the risk of contagion is not only not very useful, but also dangerous.
Unfortunately, on the other hand, there are also companies that force their employees to work extra unpaid overtime, otherwise threatening their jobs. This behavior is shameful and questionable, but the worker has to accept for fear of reprisals. We thus find ourselves in the presence of situations in which unethical benefits predominate rather than the attempt to find alternative solutions for optimizing work and workers’ performance.
Is there a solution to presentism at work?
There is a solution to presentism at work, at least to a large part of it, but it certainly does not include severe sanctions or a strict schedule. These remedies will only increase stress, anxiety and demotivation in workers, who will implement new strategies to get away with it anyway. Furthermore, companies that apply these measures run the risk of punishing truly motivated employees without reason, making their work more difficult.
On the other hand, we find concrete measures that want to reinforce the feedback received from the worker, favoring results that are far better than restrictive and sanctioning policies. We talk about social, group and individual recognition. If the worker feels that others value the product of his work, that the company reacts to the increase in his performance and not just to relapses, it is easier for the motivation to come back to the surface.
Depending on the position and responsibility, another factor that can have positive consequences is that the company implements programs to encourage the free expression and creativity of workers. In these cases, an attitude change is sought, not the observance of a series of rules out of fear. The more pleasant the workplace, the better the results.
Making working hours more flexible is also a good way for families to be able to reconcile working life with that of their children, thus directly affecting employee motivation. A place that allows work-family reconciliation, in today’s landscape, is undoubtedly a benefit for which the worker will be grateful, especially if up to then no measures had been taken in this regard.
We think that if the worker feels happy and content with his job (or at least reaches minimum levels in that direction), positive changes will be increasingly important. It is much more sensible to focus and help employees by offering them improvements than to put in place extreme policies. The safety and health care of workers are recognized as a citizen’s right by the World Health Organization, since job insecurity can cause irreversible damage to a person’s mental and physical health.
