It’s probably no coincidence that employees start missing more work right around the start of summer. Check out these five key tips to use so you don’t have to sweat being understaffed this summer.
If winter is usually the cold and flu season, why do so many employees seem to get “sick” once summer rolls around? With schools out and warm weather tempting grown-ups to play hooky, it’s no shock that absenteeism nudges upward along with the thermometer.
That doesn’t mean you can’t do anything about it. Just like using SPF 50 sun block before heading outside, the key is smart preparation. Here are some smart tips for minimizing summertime no-shows.
- Spread the news. Make sure your employees know the time-off policies and how much time that includes. Give them a way to check just how much sick, vacation or other time-off they’ve used and have left.
- Keep track. If you don’t have a system for tracking attendance, get one. If you have one, use it. Instead of trusting scribbles on a sticky note, let your software tally up working hours, sick days and vacation time.
- Stay flexible. Stuff happens: daycare falls through, field trips get cancelled, family comes to town without notice. Leave your employees some wiggle room with flexible arrangements that let them deal with any summertime parental burdens.
- Share the load. When your employees are out, spread the workload as fairly as possible. That will prevent burnout for people still in the office and keep the vacationer from feeling stressed by the idea of coming back to piled up work.
- Dangle a carrot. Sure, people get sick that doesn’t mean you can’t offer a little reward for folks with perfect summer attendance. Consider giving retail gift cards or maybe even a bonus day off — later in the year of course.
Using a little communication and planning can help your company reduce summer absences and keep things at your workplace relatively cool.
