In my last post, I discussed the growing problem of absenteeism in the workplace and the added importance of having a healthy workforce is this day of a slimmed workforce, less margin for error and a productivity balance that is very fragile. I quoted an estimate from Gallup that said  annual costs of absenteeism in the U.S. workplace is about $84 billion per year.

And with absenteeism in these thinner workforces, the risk of increased stress builds on the other employees, morale goes lower, and the risk increases of more absent workers either due to too much stress or illness or injury due to cutting corners on safety in the workplace. It can be a vicious cycle if it is not addressed. And with the demonstration in the previous post about how an absent $50,000-a-year salaried worker could cost a company $80,000 in replacement costs over a year, does your company have the margins to absorb that kind of cost, or would the company be better served to invest less than that now to have an absenteeism attack plan in place?

[Photo by Tony Cecala via Flickr and a Creative Commons license]Wellness programs can be an effective tool to combat absenteeism in the workplace. Stress can be especially hard on workplace attendance.

The are solutions and ways to control absenteeism before it becomes a problem in your work environment. And no, even if this disease has already started infecting your office, it is not too late to take some of these steps to curb the spread, so to speak. Maybe no single solution here will solve the problem, but a couple of these layered on top of each other may prove to be an effective deterrent, which would save the top-level productivity and morale that you currently have – which can be an asset worth more than your business.

Firt, make sure you have a clear and concise policy regarding absenteeism in your employee manual, and even go over this specifically in any new-hire orientation. Review the policy periodically with your longtime employees and emphasize the importance and value each team member brings to the table when they come to work every day.

Second, having a monitoring mechanism in place in human resources, when personnel there can keep track of worker records  and makes notes and recommendations to senior staff. Along with this, conducting “return to work” interviews with employees when they come back from an extended absence. I these scenarios, supervisors can de-brief the employee on the work that was done in their absence and get feedback from the employee about the absence and if there are steps that the company can take to ensure the same thing does not happen to others in the workplace. The more information supervisors gather, the better they will be at controlling absenteeism, and sometimes valuable insights can be gained from those who have been gone.

Third, instituting a wellness program in your place of work can be very beneficial. And this is not just about exercise; this ca be stress testing and stress management, vision and blood-pressure checks and even flu shots. A report in Canada OH&S magazine reported that a wellness program may reduce absenteeism in the workplace by as much as 40 percent.

Fourth, an incentive program could be implemented, where positive reinforcement for perfect attendance could be executed. Companies may tie raises or promotions to attendance, or come up with other “atta boys” that would encourage people to come to work instead of play “hooky.” Maybe added vacation time?

Keep in mind: these are some suggestions, and maybe you can find another solution that works best for you. But the bottom line is, no sugeestion that I or anyone else makes will matter without full buy-in from everyone in senior management on down. If the people in the C-suite don’t believe in it, then its effectiveness will be left wanting, even if the employees themselves are inspired.