Small Business: Absenteeism and presenteeism - John Barley, Barley Insurances and RiteTrack

John Barley, owner of Barley Insurances and RiteTrack.

This week, Small Business editor Caitlin Sykes talks to business owners about absenteeism and presenteeism.

John Barley and his wife Suzanne are the owners of insurance broking business Barley Insurances, and RiteTrack, which refers businesses to products and services to improve productivity, profitability and resilience.

What effects have you felt in your business as a result of absenteeism or presenteeism in your team?

Both absenteeism and presenteeism have been a problem in our business. We've recognised that for every day a staff member is either absent or present but not focused it affects outcomes in terms of productivity and customer service. Simple mistakes like incorrectly quoting cost us.

As a small company even if one member is absent through sickness, it places enormous stress through the increased workload on everyone else. We've had several episodes in the last 17 years where valued staff have experienced illness and the outcome has been difficult to manage. When you don't know how long someone will be out of action and you're paying a premium for temp staff to fill the gaps, it hits the business in the pocket.

We've also been affected by employees' medical issues that weren't declared in the recruitment process, and which have ended up affecting their work performance. We've paid the price on two occasions for that.

What positive changes did you make in the business as a result of those experiences?

Those experiences definitely influenced some of the changes we've made in the business, but I've also had my own health issues, which have changed the way we address these things. A lot of my personal research around my own health led me to look at the effects of poor nutrition, and the links between that and issues in the workplace around absenteeism, presenteeism, accidents and errors, poor productivity and ultimately the loss of profitability.

So now we provide supplements to our staff members and also offer fruit in the workplace. Then during break times we often talk about health issues, and just what's going on in our daily lives - both in and out of work - that might be affecting how well we feel.

What outcomes have you seen as a result?

Since around July last year I've lost a total of 40kg due to changes I've personally made. But in the business we definitely see fewer sick days. As a business we've been growing in the past few years, but because my staff are fully on to it we deal with our stress in a lot better ways. And if someone comes in with a cold I tell them to go home. There's no point in them being here if they're not functioning, and if they're going to pass their illness on to others.

What's one piece of advice you'd have for another small business owner wanting to reduce the effects of absenteeism and presenteeism in their workplace?

Really take care of the people that are around you and work with you, and make a conscious effort to share conversations with them about how they are. I think it's important to have an empathetic perspective rather than always just looking at the bottom line and your KPIs, because when you care for the people around you the KPIs tend to look after themselves.