How does a trades business handle sick days?
Some jobs make the choice between being at work or being at home an easy one. Not because they're horrible and you can't wait to be away from them, but some jobs can still get done if the rest of your team picks up the slack, or can be done from home - helping you avoid the strain of driving or public transport when ill. Some people can do their job from anywhere - coffee shops, pub, or bedroom.
But our trades businesses must find it much more difficult. Not only can your jobs not be done from home, but also often your business has only you in it (or even a few employees) which makes it hard for a team member to pick up the slack. Also, it's sometimes hard enough to make one call to your boss to let him/her know you're dying and you won't be coming in - do our trades have to call all their customers to make new appointments? That can't be pleasant.
We also know that customers, like managers, don't always believe that the claims to be sick are true. Luckily, as managers, we get to build relationships with our staff and get to know and trust them. But your customers often don't have that opportunity - how many times do you have to make an appointment before your customer doesn't think twice about whether you're making up an excuse?
So, given that sick days are a challenge to your business - what kinds of strategies can you employ to reduce the impact of downtime on your business?
Our idea: Spread the risk around
You'll all know how insurance works. Lots of people contributing to a risk pool, few people claiming. It might be a good idea to get together with another business (or a couple) and set up a 'sick day agreement'. Let's say you (Company A) get sick on Monday. Instead of calling all your customers, cancelling your appointments and dealing with a backlog of unhappy customers, you could give you schedule to Company B to complete. They'll obviously have their own work on, but they'll know that packing their day tightly and putting in a few extra hours will pay off when they're sick and you return the favour. A good customer service idea, and sure makes being sick less stressful, but unless you have a strong relationship with your partner you could run into problems with follow ups later. Plus you'll need to have appointments and contact details written down or typed up to give them to Company B easily.
Your ideas
We had one idea, but what else can you do? Leave your tips and tricks for other businesses as a comment here.
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I don't have any ideas but I do have to say I hear a lot of tradies using the 'sick' excuse. It happens too frequently for it to be the trusth all the time...
over a year ago by Susan -
If you hear this off a few tradies as to why they cant be at your job maybe it you...... All the tradies I know will work on deaths door, if they LIKE the client.
over a year ago by ant
