The Deceptive Eight Percent: Presenteeism in the Workplace

Here's a pattern I've seen more than once in Tokyo.

A company's well being numbers improve. Stress scores come down, EAP uptake is healthy, the dashboard is green.

And within the year, two of the strongest people on the team resign.

Nothing had warned anyone.

Almost everything we measure in Japanese workplaces is designed to catch distress. Stress checks, absence data, counseling referrals.

Those systems work, and they've improved enormously in the thirty years I've been here. But they're built to find the person who is suffering — not the person who has quietly stopped caring (presenteeism).

Those are two different people. They usually need opposite things.

And only one of them will ever raise a hand.

The numbers are in the video — including one thats moved a single percentage point in thirteen years.

Which one is your dashboard built to find?

Contact me to discuss.