Employee sickness is an unavoidable part of running your own business. Every single member of your workforce is human, after all, so every one of them is going to feel under the weather now and then. That being said, without proper management, those absences can get out of hand and create a serious impact. If even one of your employees gets sick, their work needs to be given to someone else, or, even worse, put on hold. This puts a strain on your team and company as a whole. To reduce employee sickness in your business, here are ten things that you can do.

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1. Hire The Very Best

Not all employee absences are the result of sickness. Sometimes an employee just doesn’t want to come into work. Perhaps they stayed out late the night before or planned to go out on the day in question, but didn’t book it off. Whatever the cause, you can reduce these sorts of absences by choosing your staff carefully. Always check past employer references before offering anyone a position to ensure that the individuals that you hire have a good work ethic.

2. Avoid Long Chair Time

Working in an office environment means you must be in front of a computer most of the day. This involves a large amount of sitting down. Although this doesn’t seem too harmful a habit, it can actually be incredibly damaging, putting you at a greater risk of having a heart attack and facing other serious problems. For this reason, you must reduce the number of hours your staff spend on their seats. You can do this by installing standing desks and holding walking meetings.

3. Offer Healthier Food Options

Nowhere does it state that you have to put out food for your team, but, when the only lunch option your employees have is the fast food restaurant just down the road, it’s difficult for them to eat right. To encourage your team to adopt a healthier diet, you should offer nutritious and healthy foods for them. If you can’t afford to provide everyone with a meal every day, then ensure that there are healthy snacks available instead. You could even put these in a vending machine.

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4. Create A Cleaner Workspace

An untidy workplace causes numerous problems. It results in stress, hides bacteria, and increases the risk of accidents. Therefore, if you want a healthier team, the office needs to be clean and tidy. You can start by clearing out any unnecessary clutter. You may also want to have automatic doors installed. This allows you hands-free opening, which is much more hygienic. You can have your team help you clean up, but some businesses hire cleaning staff too.

5. Allow Flexible Work Hours

Even if employees aren’t sick, that doesn’t mean that they don’t have a valid reason for staying at home. Some people have kids and pets that need looking after, while others simply aren’t programmed to work the traditional nine to five hours. Allowing flexible working, as well as a chance to work from home, means that your staff will be able to work around their life and responsibilities. When they have this ability, they will have less of a reason not to work at all.

6. Tackle Conflict Right Away

A business is not a social environment, but, no one can deny that working is much more pleasant when you actually like your colleagues. When you fall out with them, on the other hand, it can leave you dreading going into work, making it much more likely that you’ll choose to stay at home. With that in mind, you should tackle office conflict as soon as you learn about it. Hear both sides of the argument, try to come up with a resolution, and, if you can’t, call in professional help.

7. Leave The Door Open

Business owners have a lot to be getting on with. For this reason, you may not notice that there is a problem with one of your employees until it becomes very serious. Because of this, you should consider introducing an open door policy. This shows your team that you are always there to talk, which may encourage individuals to step forward and speak to you when they’re struggling. This allows you to deal with any issues before they result in absences.

8. Keep A Paper Trail

Unfortunately, even an open door policy may not be enough to push employees to come to you. This means that you may need to go to them. Absences should be recorded in every single workplace. The reason for this is that, when you log the days employees call in sick, it allows you to spot patterns, either in individuals or the entire workforce. Once you see that a trend is there, you can address it with your staff and combat the cause of it together.

9. Bring A Professional In

Regular checkups are necessary for good overall health. However, some of your employees may cancel these important appointments so that they don’t need to have any time off work. Unfortunately, this can result in sickness, which will mean even more absences down the line. To avoid this, you could ask a doctor to come into the office every week or so. There they can provide checkups, give vaccinations, and offer advice to all the staff on ways to be healthier.

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10. Make It A Competition

Even with all of the help and support that you provide, some of your staff will need a little more of a push than others to lead a healthy lifestyle. This is why you should try gamifying it. By turning healthy living into a competition, it makes the process fun and provides motivation. There are many competitions that you could host, such as most steps walked or furthest distance cycled. Whoever won would then win a prize, like a gift card, cash bonus, or another treat.

Employee sickness is a big issue, but, with these tips, you can manage it better in your business.