How healthy is your office? While most small business owners give very little thought to the physical health of themselves and their employees, keeping a healthy office or location can be a huge advantage for your company. Sick employees can mean lost productivity and time, and they may scare away customers as well. However, having a healthier office can be accomplished with very little time and expense. Here are a few tips for doing so.
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Keep your hands clean
. Hands are the biggest culprit when it comes to spreading germs. Post reminders about handwashing in bathrooms and throughout your office. Encourage employees to sneeze and cough into their elbows, which other people are less likely to touch. Further, keep a decent supply of instant hand sanitizer and disinfecting products for keyboards and other commonly touched objects.
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Be a healthy boss.
If you won’t take the day off when you are sick or get a flu shot, your employees will be less likely to do so as well. Caring for yourself will make employees feel better about taking time when they need it. This may result in one or two missed days of work, but it will prevent an office-wide epidemic that could slow down productivity immensely. Make sure your employees know that you are okay with them taking a sick day when they need it.
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Plan for illnesses.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that people get sick during flu season. However, you can keep this from taking a huge toll on productivity and profits by planning for it. Some employees can do their jobs just as well from home, so allow them to do so when they are ill; this gives them the freedom to sneeze and cough without filling your office with germs. If they truly aren’t feeling up to a normal workload, allow them to work a half day from home, or whatever their recovery will allow. Plan for replacements for employees who must be in the office in order to do their work, such as clerks and secretaries.
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Get vaccinated.
Encourage employees to get their flu shots and any other vaccinations available for seasonal illness—they really do work. You can post or email a list of vaccination clinics in your area and allow employees a longer than usual lunch break if they choose to go to one. Encourage them to get their kids vaccinated as well; parents catch most of their illnesses from schoolchildren who are exposed to germs all day in classrooms. Many of these illnesses are preventable with that one shot.
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Keep your distance during flu season
. This is one time of year when it is not unfriendly to stand several feet away from people and avoid shaking hands. While this is not a good idea with clients and customers, instituting a ‘touch free’ office for employees during the cold weather months will cut back immensely on illness. Most illnesses are spread by hand to hand contact from people who don’t even look sick yet, so cutting back on this can have a huge effect.
