The positive potential of presenteeism: An exploration of how presenteeism leads to good performance evaluation

Abstract

The presenteeism literature to date has largely focused on the negative aspects of presenteeism. Little is known about the potential functional or positive aspects of presenteeism. Drawing on the social cognitive framework of presenteeism, we examined the positive effects of presenteeism on performance evaluation in the context of high work demands. Across two experimental scenario studies (Studies 1a and 2) and two time-lagged field studies (Studies 1b and 3), we found that presenteeism was beneficial for employees' performance evaluations, especially under high work demands. Furthermore, we found that employees' affective commitment explained why presenteeism had a positive effect on performance evaluations under high work demands. Building on trait activation theory, we further demonstrate that proactive coping employees were more likely to be activated to commit presenteeism and to subsequently attained better job performance under high work demands. Taken together, our results illustrate when and why presenteeism can lead to better performance evaluations, as well as who may benefit from the act of presenteeism. These findings elucidate the functional or "good" aspects of presenteeism. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Sickness presenteeism explained by balancing perceived positive and negative effects

“…With regard to previous research on consequences, it is obvious that it has usually been about the unfavorable health-related short-term and long-term effects for the individual or the economic impact for the organization ( Lu and Cooper, 2022 ). Only recently, have (potential) positive effects of sickness presenteeism gained momentum (e.g., Karanika-Murray and Biron, 2020 ; Lohaus et al, 2021 ; Wang et al, 2022 ).…”

“…The individuals’ health (representing the vulnerability and the severity in terms of the HBM) is one of the most important person-related factors influencing presenteeism ( Miraglia and Johns, 2016 ; Hirsch et al, 2017 ). With regard to job demands, workload has turned out to be a very strong impact factor in the sense that workload is positively associated with presenteeism (e.g., Demerouti et al, 2009 ; Miraglia and Johns, 2016 ; Pohling et al, 2016 ; Baeriswyl et al, 2017 ; Brborovic and Brborovic, 2017 ; Saijo et al, 2017 ; Wang et al, 2022 ). On the other hand, job control or adjustment latitude understood as workers’ options to reduce their work output or adapt work practices in response to discomfort ( Johansson and Lundberg, 2004 ) has been identified as an important personal resource that reduces presenteeism (e.g., Gerich, 2014 ; Jourdain and Vézina, 2014 ; Oshio et al, 2017 ; Mach et al, 2018 ).…”

“…It is only relatively recently that (potential) positive effects of presenteeism have been given more attention (e.g., Demerouti et al, 2009 ; Garrow, 2016 ; Giæver et al, 2016 ; Miraglia and Johns, 2018 ; Lohaus et al, 2021 ; Wang et al, 2022 ). However, these are mostly either conceptual considerations (e.g., Miraglia and Johns, 2018 ; Whysall et al, 2018 ; Karanika-Murray and Biron, 2020 ) or only a few (potential) effects are considered at a time (e.g., Giæver et al, 2016 ; Lohaus et al, 2021 ).…”

“…For example, affected individuals report that presenteeism had the positive psychological effect for them of not letting the illness get them down ( Lohaus et al, 2021 ). Further, presenteeism was found to be useful for obtaining better performance evaluations under conditions of heavy workload ( Wang et al, 2022 ). Several studies examined the reasons for sickness presenteeism.…”

Authoritarian Leadership and Nurse Presenteeism: The Role of Workload and Leader Identification

“…The high incidence of presenteeism has been widely proven among nurses. Although the positive effects of presenteeism on performance evaluation has been examined in recent research [57], providing healthcare services under poor health may interfere with the work e ciency of healthcare professionals, with the consequent risk to patients and impairment of the quality of healthcare delivery [10,58]. On the contrary, sickness absence sometimes may be an effective way to recuperate from poor health and regain high work e ciency, though it would bring challenge to daily management of human resources and its implementation would subject to a variety of factors [59].…”