{"id":136647,"date":"2024-02-01T07:04:37","date_gmt":"2024-02-01T07:04:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/?p=136647"},"modified":"2024-01-31T16:29:04","modified_gmt":"2024-01-31T16:29:04","slug":"presenteeism-in-construction-lessons-for-the-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/hr-skills-news\/presenteeism-in-construction-lessons-for-the-industry\/136647\/","title":{"rendered":"Presenteeism in construction: Lessons for the industry"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ben Moss, business psychologist and managing director at Robertson Cooper, discusses new research on presenteeism in construction and its implications for the industry<\/h2>\n

Presenteeism is a frequently used term in the workplace and is generally thought to mean \u201cworking while unwell\u201d. However, until now there has been a lack of consensus around what employee behaviours the term actually covers.<\/p>\n

In our latest research, Seeing Presenteeism Differently<\/a>,\u00a0 we sought to help businesses gain clarity by providing a precise, universal framework for presenteeism<\/a>. This would allow businesses to first, measure its \u2018real\u2019 prevalence and impact, and then start to manage it more effectively.<\/p>\n

The research identified three distinct types of working while unwell<\/h2>\n

1. Pragmatic presence:<\/strong> When employees perform close to, or at, their full capacity and at the same time recover at least to a certain degree from their health impairment. These are the occasions when employees want to be in work to complete some tasks, despite not feeling their very best.<\/p>\n

2. Therapeutic presence:<\/strong> When employees are performing well below their maximum productivity, but they get some form of \u201ctherapeutic\u201d benefit by being in work (ie social connection or a sense of purpose). For example, when duties and\/or hours are adjusted to aid return to work after a period of illness.<\/p>\n

3. Presenteeism<\/strong>, in its true sense, is when employees are unwell and being in work either offers no functionality for the employee or employer (ie, people are too ill to perform their tasks) or has no therapeutic benefit (ie, people do not gain other benefits such as social connection and meaning). This behaviour impacts both the business and individual negatively and must be managed appropriately.<\/p>\n

Under these new definitions, only the third type should be classed as presenteeism and managed out of businesses.<\/p>\n

Presenteeism in construction<\/h3>\n

The research found that around 80% of employees across all sectors reported at least one instance of working while unwell in the last three months. It revealed one of the three sectors with the highest recorded instances of presenteeism to be construction.<\/p>\n

In addition to presenteeism questions, the survey asked employees what troubles them about various aspects of working life. For the three \u201chigh presenteeism\u201d sectors, including construction, the most troubling aspects were identified as:<\/p>\n