The High Price of 'Powering Through'

New data on presenteeism reveals a costly cultural issue that no wellness app can fix, demanding a fundamental shift in leadership practice and capability.

The idea of a restorative summer slowdown seems to have been a fiction for many this year. New polling confirms what many at ImaginativeHR see on the ground: the culture of 'powering through' illness is deeply entrenched. A survey of 2,000 UK workers found that nearly half (49%) worked while unwell over the summer months, pushing through symptoms for an average of six days. This isn’t just a sign of individual stoicism; it’s a flashing red light for organisational health.

The data paints a picture of a workforce running on empty. Beyond that top-line figure, 45% of those surveyed reported trouble sleeping, a third struggled with stress and anxiety, and 31% with extreme fatigue. When asked why they didn’t simply take time off, the reasons given were overwhelmingly organisational: having too much work (28%), no one available to provide cover (17%), and fear of workloads piling up (16%). The consequences are predictable and damaging, with employees reporting reduced productivity, difficulty concentrating, and their health worsening as a result of not resting.

A cultural symptom, not a personal failing

Dr Reem Hasan of Vista Health encourages individuals to listen to their bodies and prioritise their health. That medical perspective is vital, yet it only tells half the story. Framing presenteeism primarily as an individual’s failure to “reset” or “make prevention part of everyday life” risks absolving organisations of their central role in creating the conditions for it. The survey data shows this is a systemic issue, rooted in workload, resource planning, and deep-seated cultural norms. When an employee says they can’t take a day off because there is no cover, that is not a personal health choice; it is a business process failure.

What rarely gets named explicitly, but which practitioners see constantly, is the powerful influence of leadership behaviour and the ambiguity of hybrid work. The line between being 'well enough to work' and 'too sick to commute' has become dangerously blurred. A manager who answers emails while supposedly on sick leave sends a clear signal that the same is expected of their team. A culture that celebrates 'heroics'—that is, working despite being unwell—actively punishes those who set healthy boundaries. Presenteeism is a cultural symptom, and blaming individuals for exhibiting it is like blaming a plant for wilting in poor soil.

The commercial cost of working while sick

An employee 'powering through' is not a productive asset; they are a performance risk.

For a leadership team, these findings must be read as a commercial warning. The risk is not just the long-term health cost of employees delaying medical appointments (which 29% admitted to doing). The immediate danger is the significant, hidden drag on productivity. An employee working at diminished capacity isn’t just delivering less; they are prone to making more mistakes, exercising poor judgment, and contributing to a negative team atmosphere. An employee who is struggling to concentrate is a risk in any role, but in a customer-facing or safety-critical one, the consequences can be severe. This isn't performance; it's the illusion of it.

A sensible leadership team should treat this data as a leading indicator of burnout, disengagement, and future attrition. The solution is not another wellness initiative. It requires a direct intervention in management practice. Leaders must ask themselves: do our managers have the skills to plan workloads effectively and build resilient teams where single points of failure don't exist? Are they equipped to have frank, supportive conversations about wellbeing without straying into micromanagement? Often, managers avoid these topics precisely because they fear being seen as 'too soft', when in fact, kind candour is a vital leadership tool. Ultimately, senior leaders must model the behaviour themselves by taking—and being seen to take—proper time off when they are unwell.

Building a culture of sustainable performance

Eradicating presenteeism is not about encouraging absenteeism. It is about creating a culture where performance is sustainable, and where people feel psychologically safe enough to be honest about their capacity. This cannot be achieved through policy alone. A sick-leave policy is meaningless if the culture penalises its use. The real work lies in shifting managerial behaviours from valuing 'time at desk' to valuing genuine output and employee wellbeing as two sides of the same coin.

This involves giving managers the confidence and capability to balance empathy with accountability, to manage team resources proactively, and to foster an environment of trust. Investing in targeted coaching solutions for leaders and managers is one of the most direct ways to address this, equipping them with the practical skills to build resilient, healthy, and genuinely high-performing teams. In the end, organisations don't just get the culture they talk about; they get the culture their leaders live.