To stop absenteeism before it gets rampant, here are some suggestions:

• Be a good example. Show up for work on a regular basis. When you’re out of the office, let employees know how they can reach you by phone or pager.

• Practice common courtesy. Make the workplace a pleasant place to be. Practice common courtesy by greeting all your employees every morning and letting them know you appreciate their work and dedication. Every now and then, provide breakfast for everyone—doughnuts, bagels, or coffee cake, for instance—to show you appreciate their coming to work every day.

• Reward people for good or perfect attendance. Keep track of attendance. Think about rewarding perfect-attendance employees to show you value their productivity. Just be careful. You don’t want to make the reward so tempting that employees push themselves to come to work while they’re sick—spreading germs and making the illness worse.

• Adapt to each person you oversee. Look at employees as individuals. Get to know their strengths and weaknesses and deal with them accordingly.

• Don’t be a know-it-all. Ac­knowledge your own humanness. Turn to employees for advice on how you can be a better supervi­sor to them.

• Learn to let go. Don’t micromanage. Trust employees to do their jobs. Cultivate their growth by giving them a little more than they think they’re capable of doing.

• Stay available. Keep your door open, and let employees know they can come to you at any time to discuss any issue that affects them positively or negatively.

• Work for employees’ goals. That means first knowing what an employee’s goals are. Then, serve as a mentor, and strive to do what you can to advance a person’s professional goals.