Did you know nearly 60% of Americans are diagnosed with chronic diseases? These include but are not limited to Hypertension, Diabetes, Cancer, Heart Stroke, and Arthritis. Any of these conditions are likely to impact the patient’s quality of life significantly- including their work.
Businesses need healthy employees to boost the company’s productivity and accomplish the set objectives. However, when employees are sick, even temporarily, it causes a hitch in the workflow and management. Perhaps, it won’t be wrong to say that poor employee health threatens company success.
Despite that, most businesses (60%) are unprepared to support their employees struggling with serious medical conditions. Moreover, 90% of the employees are also worried about their employer’s ability to support them.
The reason behind this shortcoming is due to a lack of awareness about chronic conditions, their potential causes, and measures. The good news is entrepreneurs and managers can take the following steps to assist their employees. So, let’s cut to the chase!
-
Managing Emotional Response
Learning about an employee’s illness is likely to stir up negative emotions in managers. Questions such as “Why did it happen? What will they do now? How will they manage their life from this point onwards?” will cloud your employers’ and coworkers’ minds. Moreover, feelings of sadness, pity, fear, and even stress will affect everyone.
However, managers need to support sick employees instead of dwelling on these emotions. During such scenarios, the morale of every employee will be low, which will impact the corporation. Thus, you need to manage your emotions and help others feel encouraged.
If the sick employee is attending the office, even if it’s for a short while, show empathy and not sympathy. Keeping your emotions under control will allow you to think of the best possible solution for the prevailing situation. It will ensure that you and other staff work wisely and help the ill employee feel better.
-
Improve The Medical Policy
According to the U.S. Census Bureau reports, nearly 85% of Americans have health insurance. And nearly half of these are provided by their employers. So, if your company is not providing medical coverage, it is high time.
There are numerous benefits that businesses can avail of with this, including tax benefits, high employee morale, low insurance costs, and low operating costs. Providing insurance to your employees will further lower their financial burden, ensuring quick treatment and recovery.
In addition, you must also make a few changes in the existing company policies to address the sick employee’s needs.
For instance, you can provide an option of working from home and paid leaves so they can manage their doctor appointments and work. Likewise, for the time being, you can reduce their workload, so they can focus on boosting their health. And once they are healthy, you can take on additional responsibilities to aid the company’s growth.
-
Be Open To Learning
To provide assistance to your sick employees, it is crucial that you learn about their health concerns. You can read about it online, talk to them in person or consult a doctor. Agree or not, attaining this knowledge will come in quite handy. It will help you identify whether the reason behind this chronic condition is associated with the company’s working style.
As a matter of fact, recently, numerous lawsuits were filed against manufacturers of Aqueous Film-Forming Foam. Firefighters often use this foam to suppress fire quickly and effectively. However, the chemicals contained in this foam are reported to be hazardous to health. They build up in the body over time, leading to severe health conditions, including cancer.
Moreover, these chemicals are exposed to water sources, contaminating the water and leading to health hazards. That’s why affected individuals, including employees, seek legal help for AFFF claims and avail their rightful financial compensation. So, if your business is also associated with firefighting or using contaminated water resources, it might affect the health of your employees.
Hence, learning about the potential causes of your employee’s poor health will help you make appropriate organizational changes and raise awareness. Maybe your employee does not know they can claim monetary compensation for all the damages. Your knowledge will assist them in making the right decision and fighting for their legal rights.
-
Educate Your Employees
In addition to enhancing your knowledge about chronic health issues, you must disclose them to other employees. It is imperative if the cause of sickness is associated with the company’s working style.
You can send emails to share the information among all employees. Or, you can create formal policies regarding changes in the working styles.
Apart from this, you can create supportive programs to empower sick employees and create a plan to navigate their challenges. Such programs should be held at least four times a year. These will give your employees strength and make them feel respected by the company. However, these programs should provide valuable information to their employees and not be mundane. You can include different activities or plan to raise awareness about the sickness as well as its leading causes.
Interestingly, studies have shown that such training and coaching to employees help bring positive changes to their life. It encourages them to follow healthy lifestyle practices and build a feeling of belongingness.
-
Enhance Company Culture
Last but not least, when your employees are ill, it affects the company environment, especially the team members. While some may show sympathy towards the sick individual, others try to avoid them to protect themselves. Either way, it is likely to affect the confidence of employees.
Therefore, you must enhance the company culture. If you sense a tense environment, arrange team activities to release the tension and make everyone feel appreciated. Likewise, you can pay attention to the behavior change of every employee and address them individually.
A positive and comfortable working culture will aid in the quick recovery of employees and ensure they feel connected to the organization.
Conclusion
Supporting your employees diagnosed with chronic illnesses is not merely your responsibility but also indicates how much the organization cares about its employees. Every step you will take, regardless of how minor or significant it is, for the well-being of your employees will contribute to employee trust and retention. Moreover, it will build the brand name and push your organization’s growth.
