ABSENTEEISM VS PRESENTEEISM

In HSE management process absenteeism subsequent to any injury and ill health treated as primary loss and given all thrust to control it. However one new scenario formed in the era of this digitalised, over informed and immobilised office set up. This can considered as presenteeism. It is just opposite of absenteeism where a worker is off from office after any kind of injury. Where as in this scenario employee will be physically present in the office for work but he will not deliver the desired quality and quantity of his assigned work. He is not an under performer, but because of his/her poor wellness, weak attention, burden of personal and official information inflow and out flow, he/she will not deliver what expecting form normal employee.
Personally available in office but individuals wellness not health , mental condition including feelings, emotions and psychological alertness may not fit for performing his day to day work, or person is virtually absent even though physically available in office and engage in his normal work. When it read with the electronically connected individual’s real presence ,peer pressure from society, over burdened by the electronically transmitting communications in every second, he/she is missing his golden hours, basic required attention level required for work(eg.first 2 hours after reaching office, getting electronic message while on urgent meeting).Finally individual is not deliberately engaged anything but forced by coming messages other than official, or unable to concentrate on work after the attention diverting communication reaching without out his deliberate invitation or wish.
Absenteeism scenario is very easy to handle, measure and control, however presenteeism cannot be tackle easily. The main reason is it cannot accurately measurable or immediately understandable. Superiors and colleagues cannot assess the presenteeism problem of an employee, hence failed to take any counter measures. This included his well being, physical and mental fitness to engage his given task and deliver within the targeted time and volume.
Emotional connections and very weak in this era of electronic closeness, and capacity of an employee’s delivery range or skills and actual delivery is seldom evaluated other than given target and time line. Hence unfortunately presenteeism is not considered as a symptom urgently needs detection and correction.