If you run a business with a small team, then you know that having just one employee absent for a single day will create some disruption to your operation. Particularly when you receive late notice, such as a phone call just before their shift commences
Staff absence
is quite often of course the result of genuine illness, although sometimes it
can reflect a morale problem – and other times it can be because of family or
other circumstances (such as a sick child that needs to be minded).
When you run a
small business, the health and well-being of your staff is not something that
you can afford to ignore – and therefore any ideas that can help to reduce or
prevent absenteeism are worth considering.
I recently met
with Tracy Busse, who runs a small HR consulting business in Melbourne called Waveform Consulting, that offer services in this area of staff health and well-being.
Here’s what she had to say in response to some basic questions……
Tracy, what is your experience with employee
Health and Well-being?
I have
administered OH&S and my passion was managing a preventative health and
well-being program over many years delivering benefits to 600 staff. I combine
this passion with my organisational psychology/coaching background and life
experiences to offer coaching, seminars, webinars and workshops in the health
and well-being arena. My particular area of interest is building emotional
resilience, healthy thinking and confidence: a mindset for success before,
during and after life and career transitions:
Do you think small business can provide a healthy
environment for staff?
Most
definitely! I am sure that many already do and there is so much more that can
be done at the workplace. It makes business sense because happy, healthy staff
are productive and effective. As a small business owner you want everyone to be
at their best.
What can small business do on a shoestring budget?
I have operated
in workplace environments with a substantial budget but also where there is no budget
for health and well-being. As a small business owner you can deliver benefits
without cost or with minimal cost or you can also pass on cost or partial to
employees (user pays basis).
I have so many
ideas around this…….where to start? If you did nothing other than to make
health and well-being a regular feature at team meetings or informal chats then
that is a great start.
A successful
approach that I have seen is to start with your team and ask them what are the
key risks in their workplace – brainstorm and list them all, consider physical safety
risks as well as risk to their health and well-being e.g. trips and falls,
security for shift/late night workers, difficult / aggressive customers, sun
exposure for outdoor staff, sitting/standing for long periods, manual handling,
mental health issues such as depression.
Then when you
have all the risks identified and understood, you need to prioritise. Come up
with, say the 5 top risks in your workplace/s and develop a program around
those needs. For example, if staff feel vulnerable when walking to their car
after a late night roster, you might consider getting someone in to run a 1 to 2 hour self-defence
course for interested staff. Your solutions could involve making preventive information readily available in the workplace - such as posters,
or highlighting relevant websites.
You can either
run the program yourself or with a larger team in your business, you might ask
staff to work in pairs to run various elements, which can also have team
building benefits too. Try to be as creative as possible and use themes to
introduce humour, keep the programme light, fun and enjoyable.
What are some ways that health and well-being can
be fostered within a small business workplace?
Over the years,
I’ve seen small business owners do a lot of different things, including for
example ….
- yoga or exercise classes
- having a weekly fruit bowl
- organising a lunchtime walking group
- running a quit smoking program, weight loss
program,
- getting some specialist ergonomic advice to help
with better workplace design (this could be as simple as improved lighting, or seating that offers staff better back support, or computer screen covers that reduce eye strain)
- promoting regular health and medical checks (for example for high blood pressure, diabetes, etc.), including offering flu injections leading up to winter
Many larger
organisations offer an employee assistance program which usually provides free
access to psychologists. Did you know that your local GP can provide a mental
health treatment plan which gives access to up to 10 sessions per year with a
clinical psychologist and a range of health professionals? So people suffering for example from
depression or extreme relationship stresses can benefit from expert assistance.
Many charities
and not for profits supply posters and online resources e.g. Beyond Blue, Heart Foundation, Cancer
Council. In many cases they will send someone to talk on a particular topic –
if you are too small to offer this, then why not ask other businesses to join in or run it
through a local business network.
Another option
is to speak to your work cover insurer, private medical insurer or super fund
as they sometimes offer on-line resources on workplace health.
Are there risks associated with placing
a focus on workplace health?
The risk of
doing nothing about staff health is that your business could subsequently suffer through unplanned staff absenteeism, as well
as the possibility of higher insurance costs in the future.
However, there
can also be risks associated with doing something. The common fear is that you
will open up a can of worms However, if there are staff well-being issues in your workplace then you would have to deal with them at some point anyway - so you may as well face up
to them earlier instead of later.
There is also a
fear around confidentiality of information and liability. You don’t need to see
or keep any medical records - that is the role of a health practitioner. If you
do have knowledge of a condition or health situation you are liable to take
reasonable precautions/preventative actions to avoid further risk or aggravation to the injury.
If you are
promoting resources such as those from Beyond Blue – you can have a disclaimer stating that it is purely for
information purposes, you are not recommending or accepting liability for the
service. You are liable for staff if they are participating in a work related
event, even if it is outside work hours, so if you use an outside provider make
sure that they have insurance.
Another concern you might have
is that you won’t have sufficient time to do this and it will detract from running your business.
But you don’t have to do it all – get other people involved. You might just be
giving someone else the opportunity they need. You also don’t need to do lots
of big things, sometimes just a small effort on a regular basis might be enough
– and it shows your staff that you care about them
In closing, Tracy says "If your
business relies on healthy happy staff - then their health and well-being is integral
to your business, so view this as an investment rather than a cost"Related article "How to motivate staff"
About the author
Brian Carroll is the founder of a corporate training and leadership development company, Performance Development, based in Melbourne, Australia. He is a qualified psychologist, experienced management coach and an engaging presenter, with a passion for helping people achieve their full potential
