Enhance Business Performance By Avoiding Employee Presenteeism
Businesses should be aware of how the growth of "presenteeism" could affect productivity during the present economic climate.
Research by O2 has revealed that nearly half of office-based employees feel that they are under pressure to appear visible in the office for longer periods of time due to job security concerns created by ongoing economic uncertainty.
A growing number of employees are turning down the offer of flexible working in favour of spending time in the office because they think this will demonstrate that they are working harder than other colleagues who are not visible.
Many workers thought that their performance was measured by how much time they spent in the office and this belief was the main motivation causing them to disregard a better work/life balance in favour of perceived greater job security.
Job security concerns were also leading some employees to not ask their line managers for flexible working in case they thought that it might indicate their lack of commitment to office work.
Businesses must encourage employees who they feel will benefit to take advantage of flexible working because not only is it likely to improve their performance, it will also reduce costs and maximise competitiveness.
Holding teleconferences instead of calling employees into the office for face-to-face meeting and changing work hours so staff members can collect their children from school are all valid flexible techniques that can help to combat presenteeism.
Flexible working allows employees to strike a better work/life balance which will decrease stress and therefore reduce levels of absenteeism which can severely damage business performance.
Having flexible working policies during uncertain economic times can improve both employee and customer engagement as well as making business processes more efficient.
Employees who feel forced to stay at their desk are likely to be suffering from low motivation and are not going to be working to full capacity so it is vital that they are supported enough to take advantage of alternative practices.
Businesses can encourage their workforce to work flexibly by having their senior managers and line managers lead by example in order to demonstrate that the initiative has full support across the board.
Changing organisational culture can be difficult so businesses may want to employ the services of performance improvement consulting experts who understand how to enhance work practices through process modification.
Performance improvement consulting professionals can enhance processes by applying system thinking theory to a business.