Presenteeism and the Disengaged Employee

Presenteeism and the Disengaged Employee

Presenteeism is the act of an employee showing up at work without fully engaging their energy, hearts and minds. In many organizations, it is actually the norm. Employees gather around the water cooler talking about what they’re manager is doing wrong, what the company should be doing for them, what a lousy place they live they work in or spending time preparing grocery lists, shopping or surfing the internet, chatting on msn. These are all symptoms of disengagement and emotional distress in the work place.

When people are disengaged at work, it is generally because they suffer from the same disengagement from themselves. They are not aware of their needs, motivations, or primary striving style and so unconsciously they expect others to meet their needs for them. They become angry and upset when this doesn’t happen. Because they are unable to do anything with these emotions, they stop striving to be the best they can be and start surviving the workday. When they are at work, they can’t find the energy or motivation to meet their commitments and deadlines. They blame others for their condition rather than looking at how they have created this state in themselves.

Terry left university believing that he would get a high paying job, advance quickly and would be recognized for the intelligent, hardworking individual that he believed himself to be. He went to work for a large bank. He was recognized for being a hard worker, yet he did not receive the promotion or the level of pay he believed he was entitled too during the first year on the job. Terry was used to being in control of his success and found it unbearable that he was not able to get immediate traction. He began to blame the bank and his manager for not seeing how much he had to offer. He openly discussed this with other employees who also felt entitled to better treatment, better pay and promotions to roles where they had more autonomy. This began to impact their productivity and colleagues who were engaged in their work felt distressed by their attitudes and constant complaining. They would send emails back and forth to each other; chat online; play computer games and actively look for other jobs while at work. Terry and his cohorts exhibited the key symptoms of presenteeism, disengaging from work and being resentful of others who actually enjoyed their jobs.

Entitlement is only one of the causes of presenteeism. Many people look outside of themselves for validation and to be taken care of rather than investing their energy to get their own needs met and feeling proud of doing so. People do not know the predominant need they need to meet at work in order to continue striving and self actualizing, yet their is an underlying expectation that others should meet it. Fear, anger and frustration cause employees to use surviving behaviours at work rather than striving and investing themselves in their work.

Watch for more about Striving Styles and Presenteeism.