24 Jul Workplace Wellbeing – Absensteeism and Presenteeism

Your employees are your most valuable asset. Without them performing to their full potential business will be a struggle. This is why more and more organisations are investing in the wellbeing of their employees. By investing in employee wellbeing organisations will not only provide an added benefit of employment but it will also provide huge benefits to the organisation such as reduced absenteeism and presenteeism as well as improved productivity and team morale just to name a few.

It is estimated that for every £1 spent on employee wellbeing it equates to a £4* saving meaning that with a little investment into an effective wellbeing programme organisations can actually make money.

One quantifiable way of looking at this is through absenteeism. It is estimated that each year around 27 million working days are lost to illness, from coughs and colds to stress and bad backs. This costs the UK economy a staggering £29 billion** and even more worryingly, the associated cost of presenteeism is thought to be three times higher than absenteeism***.

Presenteeism is described as being the act of attending work when not well resulting in reduced productivity or staff not feeling valued as an employee / having low morale which in turn results in lower productivity.

The most effective wellbeing programmes are bespoke and tailored to organisations specific needs. By doing this the programme should lead to healthier, more motivated staff who feel more valued and organisations will benefit from lower absenteeism rates and reduced presenteeism as well as increased productivity and staff retention.

* CIPD Absence Survey, 2011

** Pwc, 2013

*** HR Zone, 2012