The role of positive health in addressing the presenteeism productivity problem

In recent years presenteeism has become increasingly recognized as major contributor to the productivity problem, with perhaps up to 10% of lost productivity being attributed to presenteeism. The initial focus in studying presenteeism was on the impact that health risk factors and conditions had on presenteeism; somewhat later social factors including parental and carer responsibilities were examined as potentially important contributors. Other factors, however, have also been shown to have a significant impact on worker productivity including employee commitment, employee engagement, work strain, work-family conflict, work-life balance and working conditions. To date there have been few interventions designed to reduce the presenteeism problem have been assessed; those that have been implemented have primarily been either medical interventions (eg,, ensuring that employees with migraine headaches are on the most efficacious medications) or individually-focused risk factor reduction interventions. There is no obvious underlying theoretical approach that has been used to guide the development of presenteeism interventions. Thus, one action that would advance the field is the identification of an underlying theoretical approach that could be used to guide the development of interventions capable of addressing the multitude of factors known to affect productivity. One option is the 'positive health' approach proposed by Seligman. By facilitating employees' efforts to attain the highest state of positive health they can it is conceivable, and indeed likely, that presenteeism would be reduced which in turn would result in productivity improvements. Seligman has proposed that positive health can be achieved by focusing on three key types of variables - subjective, biological and functional. If the design of intervention strategies were guided by these key variables, it is likely they will be more effective than the single target interventions that are currently being used