Prevention is better than cure
I am in full support of employee wellness initiatives or programmes being implemented as a preventative measure for ill health. But what happens when an employee is already unwell?
Not all unwell employees are easily identifiable. But in my experience, they generally display one of two behaviours:
(1) they are absent on regular occasions or for extended periods
(2) they present with performance difficulties, referred to as presenteeism (the phenomenon when employees are at work but not being productive)
The cost of absenteeism and presenteeism
In South Africa, absenteeism costs our economy R12 - R16 billion per year. Businesses are losing as much as 17% of their payroll every year due to absenteeism. Studies also show that presenteeism costs companies up to four times more than absenteeism. Presenteeism could be costing SA businesses R89 billion i.e. employers are losing an average R596 566 per 100 employees per annum
due to presenteeism.
Common causes of presenteeism
Presenteeism could be resultant from a number of different factors:
(1) an unwell employee trying to “keep going””
(2) a job and employee mismatch
(3) an unengaged employee
(4) excessive workload
(5) limited access to sick leave days
(6) team loyalty
(7) ‘saving up’ annual leave days
(8) fear of losing the job altogether
The result of presenteeism
Prolonged presenteeism could start to affect the employee’s work function i.e. their ability to be productive. It could even result in an employee becoming permanently incapacitated or occupationally disabled. So, in my opinion, it makes sense to start addressing the issue of presenteeism as ruthlessly as we do absenteeism. The problem, it would seem, is that organisations do not know how to do this.
The “cure” for presenteeism
There seems to be a shortage of strategy on how to deal with presenteeism – despite best efforts to address employee wellness through the aforementioned initiatives. My research uncovered many suggestions to deal with presenteeism, but I found that among these suggestions, the skills offered by the OT to be missing.
“What we do have, is a very particular set of skills”
While we may not be as terrifying as Liam Neeson, OTs to indeed have a very particular set of skills. Skills which we have developed over years of working to improve the function of our clients. Skills which can significantly improve the employee’s work function and save the organisation millions – at the same time! But the key is that we need to be invited in early - as soon as difficulties are disclosed or recognized.
Why use an OT?
By involving us early, we are able to identify the possible reasons an employee is struggling. When this is related to ill health, we are able to assist the employee by acting as the third-party liaison. An employer/HRBP/supervisor is not equipped to investigate and manage the ill health of an employee. Since OTs are medical practitioners, we can interpret the medical information through the lens of function, which is more useful for the employer. A diagnosis in isolation, if it is even disclosed to the employer (which is not legally required), is not useful to an employer. What is useful is knowing how that medical condition will affect this specific employee in their specific role within your specific work environment.
And that is what an OT can do! With our very particular set of skills...
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