… a phe­no­me­non of our time.
A mul­ti­tas­king, over­worked, understaffed
work­force fear­ful of taking sick
time, pena­li­zed if they did, has created
a new trend. Rese­arch group CCH recently
shed light on „pre­sen­te­eism”; the
anti­the­sis of absen­te­eism. A 2006 CCH
study showed 56% of employ­ers perceived
a pro­blem with pre­sen­te­eism. But
while absen­te­eism pro­duc­ti­vity loss is
mea­sura­ble, track­ing pre­sen­te­eism productivity
loss is not. Employ­ers emphasizing
well­ness encou­rage staff to take
sick time and are rewarded with loyalty and
enga­ge­ment. And pre­sen­te­eism also affects vacation
time which in turn adver­sely influences
crea­ti­vity, pro­duc­ti­vity and anger management.
But when vaca­tion is taken, an 82% increase in
pro­duc­ti­vity is obser­ved (The Families
and Work insti­tute Study). Nevertheless,
a Hud­son study (Busi­ness Week,
May 21, 2007) reve­a­led many USA
workers can­cel vaca­tion plans, use only
a few days and more than 50% fail to
use up annual leave. Reco­gni­zing this,
some com­pa­nies require vacations,
others like Intel offer sab­ba­ti­cals every
seven years. Because tech­no­logy enables
work­place access ²⁴⁄₇, some hotels
are now pro­vi­ding safes/​check spots for
devices con­nec­ting their guest to the real world.
Finally com­pa­nies are rea­li­zing the cumulative
effects of too much work and that too much of a
good thing can be coun­ter­pro­duc­tive. — Aus­ge­wählte Berichte und Kom­men­tare aus den Schwer­punkt-Aus­ga­ben bereits erschie­ne­ner eco­nomy Printausgaben.