A Study of Relationship among Security Guard’ Presenteeism, Physical and Mental Health and Turnover Intention

Abstract

In Taiwanese society, where universal values emphasize hard work, overtime has become a common phenomenon. In the security industry, security guards are responsible for maintaining social order and providing emergency assistance 24 hours a day. Excessively high work hours lead to high fatigue levels, increased error rates, and poor service attitudes, resulting in low productivity. Cooper first proposed the concept of "presenteeism" in 1996, which suggests that workers will continue to attend work despite physical and mental discomfort or fatigue from excessive hours, even if their productivity is reduced. This phenomenon has resulted in a high turnover rate among security personnel, a long-term manpower shortage, and increased operating costs for enterprises. This study focuses on security personnel employed by domestically listed security companies, examining the impact of their reluctant attendance on their physical and mental health and turnover intentions. A questionnaire survey was conducted using subjective sampling, yielding 1,058 valid responses with a 70.5% response rate. The instrument, developed through related studies, comprised 24 items across four factors: presenteeism (2 items), mental health (12 items), physical health (6 items), and turnover intention (4 items). All items passed reliability and validity tests. Data analysis was performed using linear regression with SPSS version 23. Results indicated that physical and mental health partially mediated turnover intention, with a total variance of 34.5%. The findings showed that higher frequencies of reluctant attendance correlated with poorer physical and mental health and higher turnover intentions. Therefore, improving the physical and mental health of security personnel can reduce turnover intentions caused by frequent reluctant attendance.