A Study Of Impact Of Presenteeism On Workforce Productivity In Steel Manufacturing Firms In Odisha , Including A Gendered Perspective Of The Same

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Ms Nivedita Roy , Dr. Subash N Nath , Dr. Mrs Jyotirmayee Acharya

Abstract

Large scale industrialization and globalization have led to undue stress on workforce rationalization, notwithstanding the fact that it is the human capital in a company with its rich knowledge base, its skills, personality, behaviour and attitude that actually add value to the Company and are its resource in the true sense that run the wheels of its physical capital. However existing principles of economic accounting based on GAAP guidelines are yet to take into account this largely valuable resource in Companies and suitably account for the economic value add by people resource in a Company that help it gain its edge over its competitors. In fact, any amount of physical capital in a Company is of no avail unless it is harnessed to its full potential by the human capital at its helm. In today’s stiff competitive world, especially in the steel sector, with no global boundaries, the performance of human capital is of paramount importance. Notwithstanding the fact that we normally lay too much stress on availability of human capital at their designated workplaces, it is more a necessity to assess their contribution to the company in their designated work roles while at the workplace. The number of hours they actually spend at their workplaces and contribute to the Company as against their allocated hours is a matter that needs to be delved into in details during today’s competitive times. A few decades ago, i.e. prior to globalization and liberalization, this mattered little, since business competition, especially in the steel sector in India was abysmally low. Hence cost of production of steel, and as such, manpower costs mattered little. However, in today’s VUCA world with cut throat competition in the steel business, a lot of thought has gone into it.


The humungous competition today has led to situations where employees report at the workplace inspite of poor health and as such their productivity remains low. This in turn affects the overall workforce productivity of the company or firm, more so in steel manufacturing firms where the work is largely labour-intensive and calls for physical efforts. This has led to the new parlance of ‘Presenteeism’ in companies where employees present themselves at work inspite of ill health and this in turn affects the workforce Productivity levels.This is a relatively new concept and has not been researched into in detail, more so in steel manufacturing firms in India. A proper analysis of Full Time Equivalent of employee workhours as well as Presenteeism amongst executives or employees in the steel manufacturing sector has rarely been resorted to, although it has an impact on the Workforce Productivity of the Company.


This study aims at analyzing  ‘Presenteeism’ amongst the employees in a steel manufacturing concern in Odisha and its impact on Workforce Productivity including a gendered perspective of the same..

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