With working from home front and centre due to the coronavirus scare, Hira Ali believes that the culture of presenteeism is rightly under the spotlight

Opinions on working from home and antiquated perceptions of presenteeism could finally be changing as a result of coronavirus, according to Hira Ali, author of Her Way To The Top: A Guide To Smashing Glass Ceilings.

Already, she points out, countries are going on lockdown to slow the spread of coronavirus, while many schools in places such as Spain and Greece are now shut, forcing people to make arrangements to work from home or take annual leave to care for their children.

Against this background, we asked Ali some questions to get deeper into the presenteeism problem.

Why do some suffer from presenteeism more than others?

Being absent or working from home is traditionally associated with laziness. There is also a long standing office culture where the expectation is not just to show up but also be available after office hours. 

On paper, there is flexibility but the reality is different, and working from home or leaving early often has negative connotations attached to it. Hence, the practice of being present at work for more hours than is actually required and even in illness has become common. 

In Association with

Brexit makes it worse. Expats and immigrants especially feel the pressure to over-perform and be seen. People feel insecure about their job, so they want to be perceived as always there and working above and beyond the call of duty. Coronavirus is adding an additional layer of stress and worry for many workers.

Are more women than men affected?

The increasing prevalence of long working hours has had a worse negative impact on women. The design of work-life balance policies between men and women reinforces gender stereotypes and differences between paid work and care. 

While the gender pay gap is narrowing for young workers, it is widening among working mothers as they are effectively suffering a pay penalty for taking time off or working fewer hours than men. When women are at home or leave early, they feel guilty and that they are missing out on important assignments. 

Technology that facilitates answering emails at all hours in the evening, puts working mums at a disadvantage as they already bear a disproportionate share of domestic responsibilities. Organisations need to stop valuing presenteeism and on-call availability, if they wish to level the playing field for women with children.

What is the big problem with presenteeism?

Organisations must realise that having an employee working in an office doesn't necessarily guarantee improved results or productivity. Flexible work hours, work from home opportunities, job sharing, and part-time jobs (when appropriate), are options that organisations can evaluate to ensure they retain talented employees. 

Presenteeism, including people coming into work when they are ill, has more than tripled since 2010. Yet despite the alarming figures, only a handful of organisations are taking steps to challenge these unhealthy practices.

I hate to say this but perhaps it had to take a global emergency of this kind — with little choice available — for businesses and leaders to seriously start evaluating and considering viable work from home options. 

Sometimes we don't value or appreciate certain options until it is the last one. Yes, the economic impact could be enormous but according to the theory of relativity, taking precautions and working from home instead is a better option than being sick and not working at all.

Could we have the biggest number of people working from home ever?

It will definitely be more valuable and effective if such a mandate comes from leaders, political and business. But yes, this could potentially be the biggest number of people working from home and it might be good in the long run. 

We would then be in the position of the practice having already been initiated and implemented on a global level, so it won't be such a novel practice subsequently and could become socially acceptable.

What will be the impact of coronavirus?

There is definitely a lot of fear and anxiety at all levels. From a diversity, inclusion and belonging point of view, I fear that the escalating panic could also lead to an increase in racism and xenophobia, with people developing a prejudice or bias against certain communities.

Since I train and coach people from diverse communities, I have already sensed the immense pressure in people from certain communities and how vulnerable and cautious they already feel.

What’s your advice on how to respond?

I believe that businesses should think critically, act sensibly and avoid creating panic. We require new strategies of mitigation rather than containment, and businesses need to be informed about all changes not just daily basis but hourly. 

Since we live in an online world where information is disseminated quickly, businesses shouldn't assume that there is information available externally so they don't need to do anything internally for their organisation. Instead, they should create as much awareness as possible so that people are well apprised of the risks involved. 

Efficiency, resilience and flexibility in the current coronavirus situation will go a long way. This should also be taken as a learning experience and opportunity to prepare for future situations of this scale.

• Hira Ali’s Her Way To The Top is published by Panoma Press. Her website is advancingyourpotential.com