Absenteeism and Measures of Job Performance: A Meta‐Analysis

Abstract

The correlations reported in the extant literature between one form of counterproductive behaviors – absenteeism – and four different indices of job performance were meta‐analytically cumulated. Job performance indices utilized were productivity, quality, interpersonal behaviors, and effort. The former two were measured using organizational records, while the latter two were measured using supervisory ratings. The results suggest that absenteeism measures are more highly correlated with organizational records of quality, and supervisory ratings of both effort and interpersonal behaviors. Lower correlations were found with organizational records of productivity. These results suggest the potential for common determinants of absenteeism and some aspects of job performance. The fairly independent literatures that have developed on absenteeism and job performance can inform one another. Implications for modeling and assessing job performance are noted.