4 Ways to Reduce Employee Absenteeism

Employee absenteeism is a big problem for many businesses. In the United States alone, employee absences cost companies $225.8 billion each year. They can also significantly lower productivity levels and lead to poorer outcomes for companies all across the country.

So, if you are a business owner, you are going to want to ensure that you do all you can to reduce employee absenteeism in your company. Below are some of the best ways you can start to do that:

1. Maintain a healthy and hygienic workplace

One of the best ways to reduce employee absenteeism is undoubtedly to ensure that your workplace is as healthy and hygienic as possible. There are a number of ways you can do this from investing in higher quality restrooms with restroom partitions, faucets, and toilets that meet the highest hygiene standard to replacing junk food vending machines with healthier versions and subsidizing gym use. Anything you can do to encourage healthy habits in your employees will be a win for your business too.

2. Make your employees happy

Employees who are happy in their work are much less likely to take a leave of absence because they will be less stressed and less unwell overall. Luckily, it is not too difficult to boost employee happiness levels. From simple things like filling the office with plants and natural lights to bigger changes like ensuring employees have access to training and development, there are so many ways to increase happiness levels, and investing the time and money in doing so will be worth it when employees are absent less, more productive and increasingly loyal to the company.

3. Enable flexible working

If you allow your employees to work flexibly, then they will have more control over their schedules, so they will be less likely to need time out to visit the doctor or dentist or whoever. Not only that, but they will also have more autonomy which means they will be less likely to get stressed out and need to take a leave of absence too.

4. Discourage presenteeism

You might think that encouraging a culture of presenteeism would be a good way to reduce employee absenteeism. However, the opposite is true. If you encourage your employees to come in with the flu or whatever it is they are suffering from, that illness is likely to spread from them to other employees, which means you could have half the office out by the end of the week. It’s far better to make it clear that employees who are sick should stay home, and that they will not be penalized for doing so, if you want to minimize absences in your workplace.

Employee absences are always going to be an issue for companies, but if you implement the above in your business, take good care of your staff and do what you can to minimize stress, chances are you will see a vast improvement in your numbers, although it may be a gradual change at first. So, what are you waiting for?