The Empty Desk: The Workplace Absenteeism

It's time to get ready for school at 8:45 AM. Out of the office, sitting in a glass walled space in Mumbai or maybe a digital dashboard in a remote first startup, a note rings out. One of the very talented and usually reliable project co-ordinators sends an e-mail: “Not feeling well today. Taking a sick leave.”

To the manager, it’s a challenge to be overcome, a box to be ticked and a job to be moved. HR: another data point in the monthly absenteeism report. This is so different to the employee, though. This is the third morning they've had their heart beating fast, the weight of their limbs, and the dread of their troubled hearts, so heavy it was as physical as a weight.

It's not a virus or seasonal flu, it's the heavy, depressing feeling of being in a place where it's not okay to fail, it's not okay to talk, it's not okay to be human.

Indian institutions have been dealing with absenteeism as a disciplinary problem for many years. We keep count of the numbers, we make the rules on leave harsher, we require doctors' notes for the day off, and we discuss "work ethic. What if we're looking at the wrong thing, though? What if the absence is not due to “laziness” of the employee, but is the result of a desperate cry for an emotionally unsafe workplace?

The Neurobiology of "No Show".

Our attitude to work attendance is disciplinary. When an employee is absent, we take it that he or she doesn't have "grit" or "loyalty. But modern workplace psychology states otherwise, and that there is a much deeper connection between absenteeism and avoidance a nervous system response.

A biological explanation to the human brain's resistance to perceived threats is that the brain naturally wants to run away. This is controlled by the brain's alarm system, the amygdala. That is the danger in the wild, it could be a predator. That is a toxic manager, a culture of public shaming or an impossible workload which has forced the person into survival mode functioning in the modern corporate world.

If an employee continues to miss work multiple times, it is likely that the employee is having a dysregulated nervous system. Their brain is saying, "this is a dangerous environment, the workplace. Their brain is telling them that the workplace is a "danger zone". A hyperactive amygdala takes over the prefrontal cortex, the brain area involved with logic and focus. Finally, the only other option that the body has is flight.

Individuals aren't deterred by places that feed them. They steer clear of areas that drain them.

What emotional safety really is (The Blueprint).

Before we can determine emotional safety as the cure for absenteeism, we need to know what it is. It's not about being nice to employees or not having to deal with tough conversations. It is related to psychological safety: a culture in which everyone feels safe to take interpersonal risks.

Demonstrates and models Emotional Safety:

Freedom from Public Humiliation: A culture that allows feedback to be a private developmental conversation and not a weapon to create a hierarchy in front of peers.

Allowing employees to ask "stupid" questions or say that they don't know something without being rolled their eyes at or getting a sarcastic "Weren't you listening?"?

Predictable Leadership: Out-of-control emotions spell the demise of emotional safety. Staff should be aware that poor or bad work will not be penalised for not having had their coffee.

Validation of the “Human Factor” Recognition of the fact that workers are people who have lives, griefs and concerns. The "threat level" an employee feels from their manager is lowered when he/she feels cared for by their manager.

In an emotionally safe workplace, workers need not "act normally," "pretend to be fine", or "act cool" the draining and difficult practice of emotional masking they engage in when they are drowning. Masking is one of the most energy intensive mental activities. If the employee wears a mask the entire day, then he or she doesn't have any energy left to work. Finally, the mask tears and the only "repair" is to remain in the home.

“Absence” is different because of three reasons:

Emotional safety is a tricky thing in India because of its particular cultural level. Hierarchy is often valued over honesty; more presence is given than performance.

Leave by 6:00 PM is considered as a lack of dedication in many Indian offices and this is known as the "Log-in" Trap. This means a chronic stress situation for employees, that they are being monitored instead of appreciated.

We are instructed that work equals suffering in the Sacrifice Narrative. When the employee hits his/her breaking point, they feel embarrassed to take a mental health day, and they fake sickness with a "stomach bug. When the employee has hit his/her breaking point, he/she is embarrassed to take a mental health day and pretends to have a "stomach bug".

Learned Helplessness: This is a sense of psychological helplessness that an employee may have over his/her surroundings. "As long as I work as much as possible, the boss will still shout. If this happens, absenteeism is not only a vacation, it's a silent protest.

Stress literally takes people out of the office!

If leaders have an understanding of how the mind and body are connected, then they will be better equipped to reduce absenteeism. The environment is a stressful environment, with the creation of a primary stress hormone, cortisol.

Weakened Immunity:

Chronic cortisol exposure can literally weaken the immune system. That's why many times people feel the effects of "stress leaves" as actual physical ailments. Emotional unsafety is too much for the body to handle.

Sleep Deprivation:

‘Sunday Scaries' is a gut feeling. If an employee is concerned about the Monday morning meeting, they are going to be more likely to call in sick so that they can get to sleep.

Being anxious at work is not the same thing as being "nervous. It's a constant feeling of unease and anxiety which can escalate to panic attacks and mean they can't ever enter the office building.

The "Hidden" signs of withdrawal

Physically, an employee leaves BEFORE he or she emotionally leaves. By being alert of these indications managers can stop absenteeism from occurring:

The "Silent" Meeting: A typically talkative worker who all of a sudden ceases to talk or provide ideas. To avoid being a target they are "staying under the radar".

When a worker starts doing what is in his or her job description, instead of doing more. When a worker who was once pro-active begins to do only what's in his or her job description. This is to ensure protection against burn out.

Over apologizing: Indicating a fear environment where the staff member thinks he or she is "wrong" or "in the way" all of the time.

Dreading Notifications: You can see how physically flinches when a phone notifies. This is an indication of digital burnout and lack of boundaries.

The Organizational Cost

Many employers' face absenteeism as a problem but feel "the work is still being done. However, it is really quiet a tremendous price.

Absenteeism is nearly always the last warning before someone resigns and is a precursor to the turnover. It is the time of testing out leaving.

The Morale Virus:

When one is often missing because he or she has an unsafe culture, the other members of the team feel a burden. This results in compassion fatigue and “collective burn-out”.

Lost creativity:

When a worker is not on the premises, he or she gives no ideas. At the urging of a "present" but anxious employee, safe but uninspired ideas come forth. Breaking throughs are only possible from an emotionally safe employee.

Strategic steps that HR needs to take and what leadership means.

To get people to come through the door you need to create a space that they want to go into!

A. The term "Sick Day.

Promote Mental Health Recovery Days. If you get the idea that it's OK to take a day off from work due to emotional stress and fatigue, you should also realize that you're not actually losing any more days of work as your employees don't go into a complete breakdown.

B. Don't look for a "Check-Up" look for "Check-Ins"

After an employee returns from an absence, be sure not to ask, "Is the work done? Examine feelings of support, ask, "Are you feeling supported? The psychological safety which encourages people to return is achieved by changing from a policing approach to a coaching approach.

C. Weigh the pros and cons of being a woman in the military

Emotional safety must be a behaviour of senior leaders. If the CEO boasts that he has taken no vacation for five years, then he is saying to the employees that "safety and rest are for the weaklings. Instead, the leader needs to openly share his/her own need for boundaries.

D. The "Mistake Room"

Establish formal settings to discuss with team what went wrong without any risk of punishment. By taking out the fear of failing, the biggest obstacle to visit to office is gone: The fear of being found out.

How to leverage Compassion's strengths as a competitive advantage in the Future of Work.

The world that we are living in is a world of Emotional Intelligence (EQ) and we are in it! In the global talent war, it's not about who pays more, it is who provides a better sense of belongingness in the workplace.

Millennials and especially Gen Z are very cognizant of their mental health. They're the first generation to take care of their emotional safety as a thing they can't do without. They'll quit if they feel their manager causes them a lot of stress. If they don't feel that the culture is one that is founded on fear-based leadership, they will not even apply!

Attendance is something that staff members decide to do each and every morning.

A Final Reflection.

At work we spend about 90,000 hours of our lives. It's a whole lot of time to be hypervigilant.

You will no longer see ‘problem employees' when you consider absenteeism in terms of emotional safety, you'll see ‘human signals’. When a company's absenteeism percentage is flashing "Danger" on its dashboard, it's time to take a closer look at the company culture. It is an indicator that the environment has become so poisonous that it is no longer able to support the life of humans.

To the managers: The task isn't to be managed, it's the energy of the people who do the tasks. Safety is necessary for energy. For energy, safety is necessary.

To the employees: It's not your fault that you need an emotionally safe environment at work. That's an indicator that you are a human being, with a nervous system, and it's protecting you.

If you think 'changing to emotionally safe workplaces' is a 'soft' HR trend, you are wrong! It's one of the business requirements that has an edge to it. After all, an organisation is a bunch of human beings. Those humans won't feel safe otherwise, the organization will not stand.

Build safety. The attendance will be after the reading.

A healthier workplace starts with emotional safety. If absenteeism is becoming a pattern, it may be time to look beyond attendance and understand what your employees are experiencing. Create a workplace where people feel supported, heard, and safe to show up.