Handbook of Organization Measurement
Absenteeism
construct.absenteeism
§1How it’s measured
This is a behavioral construct — an event recorded in HR systems, not a self-report. It is measured as an operational metric with a formula, not a questionnaire; a Likert scale here would be a category error.
The average number of absence instances per employee in a period.
Total number of absence incidents / Number of employees · rateUnscheduled absence as a share of scheduled work time.
absence days / scheduled days · rate§3The math on what we know
Synthesized priors from the live registry: pooled r, studies (k), total N, top study grade, and heterogeneity. Rows flagged for heterogeneity or single-study evidence are directional, not settled — read them as a central tendency.
What drives absenteeism
| Predictor | r | k | N | Grade | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Job Satisfaction | −0.16 | 2 | 100 | A | coherent |
| Lateness | +0.26 | 1 | 50 | A | single study |
| Employee Engagement | −0.22 | 1 | 11,460 | B | single study |
| Work Engagement | −0.17 | 1 | 69,038 | A | single study |
| Organizational Commitment | −0.12 | 1 | 50 | A | single study |
What absenteeism predicts
| Outcome | r | k | N | Grade | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Employee Turnover | +0.25 | 1 | 50 | A | single study |
| Voluntary Turnover | +0.25 | 1 | 50 | A | single study |
§4As a model node
Where absenteeism sits when you drop it into a model — what feeds it, what it moves. Read left to right as a small, actionable causal claim.
Inputs (drivers)
- Job Satisfaction−0.16
- Lateness+0.26
- Employee Engagement−0.22
- Work Engagement−0.17
→
Absenteeism
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Outputs (outcomes)
- Employee Turnover+0.25
- Voluntary Turnover+0.25