Stop Sickies and Make People Happy At Work

If you're an employer or a manager then work place absenceis costing you money, inconvenience, and upsetting yourcustomers. And as we all know, not all days taken off workare due to genuine sickness. Many employees "take a sickie"because their morale is low and they just don't like orcan't do their work.

The challenge for employers and managers is to make peoplehappier at work. And if people are happy at work then theyare less likely to take a day off every time they wake upwith a stuffy nose. Some bosses think that paying moremoney, improving job security or working conditions is theanswer. It isn't and it's also something that can be veryhard to achieve.

People who employ or supervise other people need to becomemore tuned to their employees' emotional needs and find outwhat really motivates them. This is also much easier toachieve than paying more money or improving job security,however there is no quick fix. Some years ago I inherited atele-sales operation with low staff morale and poor salesresults. It took nearly a year to fix. The long-termbenefits were of course worth it in terms of fewer days lostdue to sickness and an increase in business.

To reduce the number of sickies there are four steps youneed to consider. Firstly, pick the right person for thejob. There's a television advertisement running at presentfor a recruitment company. It highlights the fact that manypeople are in the wrong job for their skills and attributes.The daft thing is that it was an employer or manager whoputthem in the job in the first place. We need to get better atinterviewing and selecting people. Take more time over it;pay more attention to the applicant's human side rather thantheir qualifications or experience. Get to know thembetter.

Find out what makes them happy, how well they get on withother people and how much energy and enthusiasm they have.Make sure they know what they're getting into and be surethe job suits them.

A manager in the telecom industry was telling me about anengineer who was taking too many sickies. He was beingblamed for a poor attitude to his work. His job involvedworking in tunnels under the city repairing and installingequipment. Eventually it was discovered that the poor guywas claustrophobic and was trying to deal with it on hisown. He still works for the same team but in a job thatdoesn't involve small spaces. It's not always easy to movepeople, which emphasises the importance of getting it rightin the first place.

Secondly, you need to believe in your people. If you'veinterviewed well and picked the right person for the jobthen you need to trust them to do that job. You need toconstantly demonstrate to your people that you trust andbelieve in them by what you say, your tone of voice and yourbody language. If you believe that your people are not tobetrusted, that they're unable to make a decision withoutchecking with you. That they'll turn up late and go homeearly, then that's exactly what they'll do. If on the otherhand you believe that they'll do their job well, that theycan be trusted to make decisions and they will give you afair day's work, then it is more likely this is what you'llget. As with all theories there is no guarantee that it willwork every time, however the majority of employees arereasonable people and if you treat them as such then theyare more likely to behave in a positive manner.

The third and probably the most important thing you can doto motivate your people is to give them feedback and coachthem. This is where so many employers and managers fall downin dealing with their people; we are hopeless at givingfeedback. Many managers are uncomfortable telling staff howthey feel about their work performance.

Most employees want to know how they are performing in theirjob; they want to know if they are doing it right or howthey could do it better. If you really want to motivate yourpeople then you need to give them feedback on what they'redoing well and what needs improvement.

When you notice an employee doing something you do like,tell them about it. When you notice something you don'tlike, tell them about it. Do it as soon as possible. Acknowledging a job well done isnot much good six months later. Also, if you don'timmediately call someone's attention to something you're nothappy about, then they'll assume its okay. Either that orthey'll think you didn't notice or you don't care. Do it inprivate. Why is it some managers still feel its okay toreprimand someone in front of their colleagues? Even themildest rebuke can have a negative effect on morale.

When you do speak to the person use "I" messages. Say thingslike "I liked the way you did that" or "I'm unhappy withtheway your reports are always late and I'd like your views onwhy this is". Avoid "You" messages such as "You're doinggreat". That can come across as patronising or insincere."You're doing that all wrong" may cause conflict, lowermorale and may not sort the problem.

Focus on one or two things. Don't run off a whole list ofattributes or misdemeanours. Also be specific about jobbehaviour, focus on what the person did or didn't do, don't make a personal attack.

Employees will feel happier if they perceive theiremployer or manager as a reasonable and fair individual -someone who is quick to praise but also says when they'renot happy about something.

When we start to look at what motivates people at work, it'simportant to realise that we all have different needs. It'seasy to fall into the trap of believing that all our staffare motivated by money. However, research conducted over theyears into what motivates people at work suggests someother factors.

Money is important however people are more likely to bemotivated firstly, by the work itself. Secondly, by beingappreciated for what they do and thirdly by a feeling ofbeing in on things.

The message is - if you want motivated staff then make theirwork interesting, give them feedback and give them thefeeling that they're involved in the business.

We can make the job more interesting by giving people moreresponsibility, assigning projects and by training anddeveloping them. We need to regularly give people feedbackon how they're doing; focussing on what they're doing wellrather than on what is not so good. To meet their need tofeel involved we should regularly communicate both formallyand informally. We could also involve staff in meetings theymight not normally attend.

These steps will take time and thought however they'll makea huge difference as to how employees feel about their work.If they feel good and gain satisfaction from their workthen they're less likely to find a reason to "take asickie".

Alan Fairweather is the author of four ebooks in the "Howto get More Sales" series. Lots of practical actions youcan take to build your business and motivate your team.-http://www.howtogetmoresales.com

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