Employee Assistance Network of North Carolina

Q.  I am sure some of my employees smoke marijuana after hours, off duty.  I have never suspected anyone of smoking it at work or of being impaired, but could our company’s higher-than-average accident rate be related to pot smoking, even if people are not coming to work high?

A.  Hundreds of studies have demonstrated marijuana’s adverse effect on behavior and performance.  As a result, marijuana is a prohibited substance in virtually all drug-free workplace policies.  What gets less discussion is the effect of marijuana withdrawal for heavy users.  These withdrawal effects—observed by medical doctors, counselors, and researchers—include trouble sleeping, sweating, fatigue, mood swings, cravings, anger, insomnia, depression, and restlessness.  Could these withdrawal effects contribute to an increased risk of accidents or lower productivity on the job?  Indeed they can.  For this reason, when conducting assessments with employees who are self-referred or referred by managers for performance issues, employee assistance professionals remain aware of signs and symptoms of substance abuse withdrawal.  This is why an employee referral for a performance issue can lead to treatment for a drug or alcohol problem, even though the supervisor never witnessed any obvious symptoms of a substance abuse problem.

Q.  Do supervisors have any responsibility for helping employees manage anger in the workplace?  Or is this a problem to address primarily by referring to the EAP?  I see angry employees, and sometimes I step in because I worry about where anger might lead—for example, to a fight.

A.  Witnessing displays of anger in the workplace is a common experience for supervisors.  Although your employee assistance program is a key avenue of help for employees, your ability to properly intervene or positively influence angry employees is crucial.  There is a financial and safety rationale for your role because it can prevent workplace altercations and conflicts that can lead to undesirable occurrences such as injuries, lawsuits, downtime, decline in morale, high turnover, and violence.  Although you have no counseling role, you can practice effective communication with employees, understand and address their frustrations, empathize with their angry feelings, keep promises you make to them, and, of course, know when to make a referral to the EAP.  As a person with authority, what you say can have a powerful effect.  Don’t minimize it.  For example, say, “I understand your frustration” rather than “I am tired of hearing your gripes.”  Your EAP can help you acquire or improve upon these empathic and relational skills.

Q.  It seems like bullies in the workplace have some type of power, even if only imagined.  Is this correct?  What’s the supervisor’s role in prevention?  Would training for employees help reduce risk?

A.  You’re correct.  Employees who bully often possess some degree of power—supervisory, tenure, delegated, indirect, or team leadership.  Some bullies may perceive that or mistakenly believe they have power or authority, and this alone is enough to prompt their aggressive behavior.  Obviously bullies can exist anywhere in the organization, so conducting general education and awareness is helpful.  This should include self assessment for the potential perpetrator or victim.  Throw in a zero-tolerance policy toward bullying and a significant reduction of the risk can be accomplished.  Supervisors should be aware that a bully is often a trusted employee who is relied upon by the immediate supervisor for knowledge, expertise, and skills.  He or she can be passionate and loyal to the organization.  Nevertheless, if a supervisor becomes overly dependent on this “right-hand man/gal” relationship, bullying behaviors may emerge, aided by the protection or special relationship the bully feels exists with the supervisor.

Q.  I once read that one of the most important jobs of a supervisor is helping every employee find his or her gift.  What does this mean?

 A.  Much leadership literature is not about technical skills leaders must possess—documenting properly, resolving conflicts, praising, inspiring others, etc.  Instead, it is about passion, values, self-awareness, having or developing a personal vision, integrity, wanting to teach others, and the desire to make a difference.  With the personal awareness and energy that flow from these values and attributes, great supervisors demonstrate enthusiasm in helping subordinates discover their potential.  This approach to supervision is positive and optimistic, and it is full of curiosity about what great things might lay hidden and undiscovered in the employees they supervise.  This desire to invest in people and to champion their uniqueness is what separates great leaders from other managers, and it is easily spotted by those who hire and promote in great companies.

 Q.  How can I hold employees accountable without making them feel that I am beating up on them or provoking them to get overly defensive?

 A.  Willingness to be personally accountable for one’s life is learned, and it supports accountability in the workplace.  However, you can have better success with holding employees to account if you have an effective relationship with them.  Your view of accountability is important, so help your employees anticipate being held accountable.  Always be sure there is no ambivalence about the results you expect.  Some supervisors see accountability as a measure of “blameworthiness” when things go wrong.  Do you approach your employees with this orientation?  If so, you may also communicate less effectively and less frequently.  Remember, you can make willingness to be accountable a performance measure.  Then if issues remain, make a supervisor referral to the EAP.

Q.  There is a common saying in management that employees don’t leave companies, they leave supervisors.  Obviously this means the quality of the supervisor-supervisee relationship is crucial.  Does the EAP have a role in helping managers keep good relationships with the employees?

A.  The phrase is oversimplified, but an employee’s relationship with the supervisor is the most important one.  Unless this relationship is constructive and positive, the risk of losing a worker to another employer or, worse, to a competitor will remain unacceptably high.  Kevin Sheridan, a business consultant specializing in talent management, reports in his new book, Building a Magnetic Culture (2012), that engaged employees are ten times more likely to feel their work is recognized, that their supervisors and top management care about them, and that they are getting useful regular feedback.  Such employees are four times less likely to leave.  Obviously the supervisor is a key influencer in helping employees get these needs met.  EAPS have a role to play because their skills and abilities can help supervisors enhance their relationships with employees.  The purview of EAP work is often the business of improving relationships; therefore the use of the EAP is an excellent strategy for increasing employee engagement and thus the improvement of business outcomes.

Q.  I believe everyone should contribute to and maintain a positive work culture.  How can I help my employees play this positive role?

A.  The first steps to building a positive work culture begin with the employer and flow down from the top where all levels of management practice behaviors that line staff below them model.  There are many components of a thriving positive work culture, but supervisory staff do have influence in helping their employees buy into positivity.  It’s been shown that positive work cultures tend to be easier to come by in flatter organizations where the up and down movement of information and ideas is not as slow or encumbered by bureaucracy.  This highlights a key strategy you can employ to influence your employees:  promote easier communication, faster communication, and the personal modeling of behaviors that support a positive work culture.

Q.  An employee died from a drug overdose.  Everyone was saddened and surprised.  The employee was one of our most loved.  I heard something about a drug problem years ago, but never since, and performance was excellent.  I am feeling guilty.  Did I miss symptoms?

A.  Your employee could have relapsed without any warning signs you could have spotted.  Drug addiction can be treated and abstinence achieved, and with a programmatic approach to maintaining abstinence, the illness is arrested.  Abstinent employees refer to themselves as “recovering” or in recovery.  Years of abstinence can pass, and achievements and performance may be outstanding, but the disease does not vanish.  Addiction is a chronic illness.  Experts in the addiction treatment field generally regard drug addiction as a progressive disease with no cure.  Every area of an addict’s life is affected and must be treated:  physical, emotional, and spiritual.  A recovering addict without an active and effective approach to recovery has a higher risk of relapse over those who have such an approach.  Consequences of any relapse are unpredictable, but death from a narcotic overdose for relapsed addicts is possible.  When addicts in recovery overdose and die, there may be great difficulty in comprehending why.  Treatment experts and members of the largest group of recovering people, Narcotics Anonymous, have observed that relapse usually occur in the absence of an adequate recovery program combined with a sudden or acute stressful life event or circumstance.

Q.  What am I supposed to do with an employee who is obviously smart but always showing off how much he “thinks” he knows about what’s legal for me to do as a supervisor, what the organization can’t do, etc.?  It is a bit intimidating.

A.  The employee you describe may have difficulty feeling responsible or subordinate to you, so controlling you by discussing or referencing legal matters to intimidate you is an effective way of feeling more in control.  A wide range of issues can contribute to this negative and problematic behavior, including anger, mental health issues, and more.  The behavior is inappropriate and disruptive to communication and building a working relationship, so it should be addressed.  Consult with the EAP for guidance on your approach.  Often, employee assistance professionals can spot tangential issues or consider underlying contributing factors to a problem like this one.  Let your supervisor or leadership staff be aware of the difficulty you are experiencing with this employee.  Doing so is prudent because issues of this nature are too important to ignore or manage in isolation.

Q.  How do EAPs save the organization money with regard to the use of employee mental health benefits?  Employees have to go to approved counselors associated with the benefit plans.  Where is the EAP role if the employee does not need referral?

A.  EAPs are usually aware of approved panel therapists in the community who have the expertise needed to treat a specific problem.  This knowledge can assist the employee in making an informed choice from a list of approved providers.  If a managed care referral is made to a therapist to treat a problem outside the therapist’s area of competence, the EAP may discover a problem in the client-therapist match during follow-up, and the EAP can consider how or whether to intervene to facilitate the employee’s finding a new treatment provider.  An EAP may also speak to the treating therapist with the employee’s permission to lend support or suggestions to the treatment plan.