If you are responsible for the health and wellbeing of your employees, you might be starting to wonder how to keep them fit and well as Autumn turns to Winter and the bugs start to emerge.
Have a look at our top tips for fighting winter bugs at work and keeping your staff fit and productive.
1) Discourage Presenteeism
Actively discourage presenteeism by having a fair and reasonable absence policy that doesn’t penalise people for being off, through disciplinary proceedings or reducing wages, for example.
Ensure you and the other senior managers lead by example and don’t come in when you are sick or work all hours. Try not to send emails outside of office times and make sure that if you are off sick you aren’t ringing in or working from home.
As this blog on presenteeism vs absenteeism discusses, presenteeism is where staff come into work despite being ill, or persistently work over their contracted hours. You might think this sounds great, but it can lead to burnout and stress. Not only that, but it means germs are being passed around the office or workspace, instead of being contained to just one person.
2) Encourage Healthy Eating
If you can, provide kitchen facilities to enable your staff to make nourishing lunches. If you are short on space, a small fridge would let your colleagues bring their own salads and sandwiches in, rather than buying salt-laden sandwiches at the supermarket.
Almost every office in the country has a biscuit tin. Consider offering fruit to snack on instead of biscuits. Or, if you fear revolt if you take away the custard creams, bringing in fruit once or twice a week is a good compromise.
Proper nutrition is a vital factor in overall health. The body and immune system require healthy food in order to function properly. And fighting winter bugs at work relies on your staff having a strong immune system.
3) Support Great Sleep
Consistently living with a sleep deficit can have huge consequences on your overall physical and mental wellbeing.
Providing your colleagues with the Wellbeing application is a great way to encourage them to get more sleep.
The app allows your team to track the length and quality of their sleep. Not only that, but they can start to build a picture of the influences on their sleep, both positive and negative.
They can also record their mental wellbeing, which will help them start to see the impact their sleep routine is having on their mental health.
Read Next…Supporting Mental Health at Work Top 5 Tips
4) Provide A Hygienic Environment
Coughs and sneezes spread diseases. Door handles, pens, and computer mice all harbour germs.
Make sure the toilets are kept clean and hygienic and provide soap and paper towels or hand dryers for staff to wash their hands.
Keeping bottles of hand sanitiser and boxes of tissues dotted around the office is useful in tackling those periods when there is an abundance of germs.
It sounds simple but makes a huge difference in stopping bugs from flying round the office.
5) Keep The Temperature Ambient
If you have an air conditioner you might be familiar with the endless arguments that come along with is, as half the office freeze and half of them gently bake.
Having the room too warm allows germs to flourish, so try to discourage people letting it become too hot.
That being said, running the air conditioner all the time is a bad idea. It can dry the air and lead to respiratory problems and sore throats.
Making sure the windows are opened at least once a day for half an hour will allow fresh air to circulate and stop the room becoming too ‘breathy’, especially if it is a small space.
If you want to get in touch with us to discuss how we can help you fight winter bugs at work, get in touch with us here or email info@yourwellspace.com.
