The Daily Stat from Harvard Business Review

October 8, 2015     Coworkers’ Absences Make Employees More Likely to Call in Sick It’s unclear whether the motivation is imitation or revenge, but an individual employee’s absence rate rises if coworkers are absent, says a team led by Harald Dale-Olsen of the Institute for Social Research in Norway. On average, for every 1 sick day taken by colleagues, a worker will be absent 0.4 days longer than otherwise expected. In their study of Norwegian data, the researchers ruled out such possible causes as contagious diseases and the stress of increased effort on the part of nonabsent workers; instead, workers’ behavior may reflect conformity with colleagues or perhaps even retribution for absences. SOURCE: Imitation, Contagion, or Exertion? Using a Tax Reform to Reveal How Colleagues’ Sick Leaves Influence Worker Behaviour

BEST SELLERS HBR's 10 Must Reads: The Essentials | HBR's 10 Must Reads Ebook Boxed Set | HBR Guide to Persuasive Presentations Ebook + Video Case Study | HBR Guide to Better Business Writing | HBR Guide to Getting the Right Work Done

FEATURED PRODUCT Getting Beyond Better: How Social Entrepreneurship Works HBR Press Book Who drives transformation in society? How do they do it? In this compelling book, strategy guru Roger L. Martin and Skoll Foundation President and CEO Sally R. Osberg describe how social entrepreneurs target systems that exist in a stable but unjust equilibrium and transform them into entirely new, superior, and sustainable equilibria. These leaders—disrupters, visionaries, or changemakers—develop, build, and scale their solutions in ways that bring about the truly revolutionary change. Getting Beyond Better presents a bold new framework for understanding how successful social entrepreneurs go about producing transformative change. Martin and Osberg offer rich examples and share lessons and tools invaluable to anyone who aspires to drive positive change, whatever the context. Buy Now

FEATURED PRODUCT Financial Intelligence Collection Special Offer Many managers can’t read a balance sheet, wouldn’t recognize a liquidity ratio, and don’t know how to calculate return on investment. This specially priced collection gives managers mastery of the financial basics they need to plan, budget, forecast, and control resources with confidence. Buy Now

ADVERTISEMENT

HBR.ORG | THE MAGAZINE | TOPICS | BOOKS | CASES | STORE | SUBSCRIBE TO HBR UNSUBSCRIBE | NEWSLETTERS PRIVACY POLICY | CONTACT   Copyright © 2015 Harvard Business School Publishing, an affiliate of Harvard Business School. All rights reserved.   Harvard Business Publishing 60 Harvard Way Boston, MA 02163   CUSTOMER SERVICE: 800-988-0886 (US/Canada) 1-617-783-7500 (outside the U.S. and Canada)