This is according to a recent survey of nearly 2 000 South Africans aged between 18 and 55 by cold and flu medicine provider Pharma Dynamics.
According to Mariska van Aswegen, spokesperson for Pharma Dynamics, "South Africans won't let a cold or flu get the better of them with eight in 10 determined to go to work even though they're as sick as a dog."
On the face of it this seems almost commendable, but the cold hard truth is that going to work sick does far more harm than good.
Apart from the obvious - infecting our colleagues and spreading illness - did you know that productivity within the organisation actually drops more when we go to work sick instead of staying home?
Instead of our workload being picked up by someone else and completed marginally slower (or at full speed by us the next day), we struggle through the work at a snail's pace when we are ill.
"Studies show," according to Mariska van Aswegen, "that productivity levels only drop to about 28% when employees take sick leave, compared to a much more significant drop of 72% when they show up at work feeling lousy."
However, when you start looking at the reasons our employees choose to come to work instead of recuperating at home, such as mounting workloads (48%) or being an unexpendable member of the team (33%), it starts to raise questions about our leadership and management in South Africa.
Especially when you consider that 17% of respondents indicated that their employer either discouraged taking time off due to illness or penalised them for it, or that 11% feared losing their jobs for taking time off.
But the maths simply don't add up.
If my employees come to work sick, the following may happen:
A) they may infect other staff members (can you afford your entire team off at once?),
B) productivity decreases about 72%, and
C) the environment in which they work is not conducive to getting better, meaning they will be sick for longer and pose a higher health risk to other staff (not to mention prolonged periods of slowed productivity).
If they stay home, the following will happen:
A) the remaining workforce will be safe from infection,
B) productivity drops about 28%, and
C) the sick employee will recuperate faster, which means the company will be back to full tilt much quicker.
I understand not having a contingency plan in place for when your entire workforce is stricken with flu, but to have no backup plan for when employees are sick, to such an extent that you would rather they were present than protect your remaining workers and your overall productivity level, is just crazy.
Employees taking time off due to illness should not force you into crisis mode, and the fact that it does, and that your employees are afraid (or cannot afford) to take time off when sick can have a lasting effect on morale, loyalty and ultimately staff turnover.
What is the policy for taking time off where you work? Do you think it needs to be revised?
Staff Training is a soft skills training provider. Contact us at (021) 839 3021 or drop us an email