How to write polite, professional and friendly get-well messages


Wie Sie bei Erkrankungen von Geschäftspartnern oder Kollegen einfühlsame Genesungswünsche auf Englisch formulieren, lesen Sie in Secretary Today – Professionelles Business English für Sekretärinnen und Assistentinnen.

Are there many people off work at your company right now? Well, it’s the flu season, and one in five of us is going to catch it. So there are likely to be plenty of people "taking a sickie". Apart from covering their workload for them, there’s not much you can do. There are also likely to be the same number of people on sick leave in the companies you deal with – your suppliers, your customers or your subcontractors and so on. Again, there is not much you can do, except find out who is standing in for them and work with that person as best as you can.

If a co-worker or business associate is off sick for a few days, you don’t normally have to write a get-well message. But there are other illnesses and accidents that strike all the year round. It could be a colleague or business associate or a member of their family who is afflicted. If you hear about a more serious case than the common cold, you might want to send a get-well message.

In Secretary Today you’ll find some tips and some sample messages for you to use. Download them from our website and store them in a special file on your computer so you know what to say next time.

Secretary Today’s tips and sample messages for get-well messages

The kind of message you send – a letter or a card, signed individually or by the whole department, how humorous or serious – depends, of course, entirely on how well you know the person and how serious his or her condition is. Here are some ideas for what you can write to different people – whether to a close colleague, an important business associate you don’t know very well or the family of a co-worker or business partner. You like them? Just klick here for more ...

To a close colleague

  • We miss your smiling face here at work. But we know you need time to recover. So take your time, feel better – and know that you are missed! 

To a business associate with whom you work closely

  • Just to let you know we miss your friendly voice and that we are thinking of you and wishing you a speedy recovery! Hope to be talking to you again soon.