Workplace Presenteeism - Causes and Remedies: A Study of the IT Sector

Abstract

The human resources arena today is not much acquainted to the term ‘presenteeism’; yet, from time immemorial, it has been a problem that is inherent in the corporate system and is showing its effect on the productivity and performance of the companies in the industry. Presenteeism is the simple phenomenon of an employee doing nothing useful at the workplace at a given time; simply put, it means ‘body present, mind absent’. It is high time that awareness is created about this problem, recognised as existing in the system, causes studied and remedies implemented. Unlike absenteeism, which is a quantifiable problem by looking at the records of the company, presenteeism is unseen in records. Thus, it has to be identified by looking at the areas where time is being unproductively spent by the employee at the workplace and the factors leading to this situation. Factors such as demotivation, job redundancy, illness, emotional problems, domestic disturbances, lack of conducive environment, work-life conflict and stress are few to mention. A study in this field is required to make sure that harmful repercussions, like increase in the crime rate, suicidal deaths, creche culture and an overall transformation in the attitude of the employee fraternity, are not seen. The present study therefore focuses on interacting with the employees in the chosen information technology sector and studying the existence, extent and effect of presenteeism in those organisations. Also, an effort has been made to study causes for it and suggest remedial measures to reduce the intensity of the problem, if not to totally overcome it. The results of the study will be useful to the organisations that aim in dealing with the problems of presenteeism and to the policy makers for improving the productivity and corporate culture, which ultimately has its effect on the national economy and societal culture.