Managers face many issues running an office, but these are usually easy to overcome with the right approach. However, some problems prove more challenging to solve. Presenteeism is a major issue that arises from a lack of motivation or uncertainty surrounding projects or day-to-day tasks.
While not all employees struggle with presenteeism, it can quickly spiral out of control and affect your company’s progress. So, how can you fix workplace presenteeism? Here are ten solutions to consider.
Spot the Signs of Presenteeism
The first step is to know how to identify the key signs of presenteeism. However, this is not as straightforward as you want it to be. Some employees can easily skirt by putting in a substandard effort, which could take a long time to notice, especially in a busy office. Key signs include productivity problems and increased mistakes. If these issues sound familiar, it could be proof that your office is suffering from presenteeism.
Offer Flexible Working
You must understand that the job is not the be-all and end-all for your employees. They are human and have other responsibilities in life that they deem more important. These responsibilities can include medical issues or family demands they are more concerned with. Offering flexible working enables them to handle these issues and complete their work to a high standard. They do not need to be in the office all the time, so allowing them to fulfill other needs can help you improve issues surrounding presenteeism. You should learn how to handle your responsibility as a remote manager, too.
Allow Time Off
Another way to overcome presenteeism is to allow more time off than you do currently. You might think that demanding consistent work benefits your company, but there will come a point when your employees are fatigued and overworked. This issue leads to burnout and can impact the quality of their projects. Create a culture where (reasonable) time off is acceptable to give your employees the chance to recharge and come back to their jobs with renewed vigor and motivation.
Encourage Employee Health and Wellness
More time off can also promote better employee health and wellness. You aren’t forcing your employees to work ridiculous hours, which enables them to focus on their health, whether they need to balance their physical well-being or their mental health. Demonstrate that you understand how important these factors are and you will see a significant decrease in presenteeism. Furthermore, healthier employees are happy employees, which can contribute to better work and more creative ideas when substantial projects come their way.
Empower Your Team
Presenteeism can also happen when employees feel like they are doing the same things every day without any chance of progressing. If they feel that they will never get a promotion or even a raise no matter how hard they work, they will feel it’s unnecessary to give the job their all. You need to find ways to prevent them from feeling like they’re stuck in a dead-end job by offering professional development opportunities. These opportunities could include courses, MBA options, or trusting them with senior responsibilities that challenge them and enable them to expand their skills.
Improve Communication
Poor communication can confuse the office. This confusion could mean that projects are not completed on time or your employees are scared of making mistakes. The result is presenteeism. Your employees are there but are not fulfilling their duties for various reasons. You need to improve your communication and make it easier for your team to come to you to ask questions. It is also beneficial to encourage collaboration between employees. Create a culture where everyone helps each other to improve the team’s bond, boost their confidence, and enjoy better results.
Get Feedback
It is challenging to improve the office if you don’t know which issues affect your employees. You can overcome this by getting feedback from your team to determine what holds them back from fulfilling their potential. They may highlight problems you did not even realize, which gives you the chance to find solutions that benefit your employees and the office. The result should create a happier and more motivated office atmosphere that everyone benefits from.
Accept Your Employees Get Sick
By now, you should understand the dangers of having sick employees at the office and how it can affect productivity. However, many businesses still demand their employees come into the office even when they are sick. This can create a domino effect where one person infects another, and they infect someone else. If you’re not careful, you’ll soon have an entire office off sick. Since many jobs are doable from home, you let them work remotely if they can. At the very least, give them a few days off and encourage them to work remotely for a while when they start to feel better to avoid lingering sickness.
Provide Health Insurance
Health insurance is another way to prevent presenteeism as it enables employees to receive treatment without risking financial strain. Every business should offer health insurance, so establishing a group health insurance plan can be an excellent solution. Although this type of plan may not cover more serious issues, it gives employees confidence that they can get medication or medical advice and it proves that you care about their health rather than expecting them to make money for you and the company above anything else.
Host Employee Challenges
Sometimes, presenteeism arises because your employees are distracted or lose focus. One way to prevent this is to host employee challenges that help them keep their brains sharp throughout the day. A daily crossword puzzle with prizes for whoever completes it fastest is a great motivator and avoids the potentially toxic solution of pitting employees against each other with higher stakes.
Be Here
While presenteeism is not common everywhere, some businesses will experience issues that could impact the company’s future. These solutions should help managers not only identify presenteeism but also find ways to solve it and create a positive environment for their employees to guarantee success.
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