Q.  How can the EAP help me as a supervisor cope with significant organizational change that is causing great stress among employees right now? We may be losing staff, and the change we are experiencing is taking everyone by surprise.

A.  Change isn’t easy, especially if it takes you by surprise, but the EAP can help you take change in stride, stay positive, see the benefits of change, and preserve a sense of teamwork among your staff. Change typically involves stages of resolution similar to those of grief. These include denial, resistance, acceptance, and finally, commitment. Anticipate the EAP helping you answer the question “How do I keep a positive outlook in the face of change?” This can be tough, but your organization relies on you to accomplish this. In this regard, never condemn organizational change outright to your staff. Avoid being labeled a malcontent. Do solicit your staff’s input and feelings, and make time for venting. Most organizational change is about cost savings and efficiency. This comes with pain for some, but the upside is security in the long run for the organization and positives that flow to employees generally.

Q.  If my employee exhibits persistent attendance and conduct issues at work, should I document my observations and then attempt a formal referral, or is it better to speak with the EAP to prep myself a little better? 

A.  Although employee assistance programs educate supervisors to make formal referrals, phoning the EAP to consult prior to the constructive confrontation is a good idea. EAPs welcome phone calls or meetings to discuss management and referral of troubled employees. This can help ensure a more successful outcome. The EAP can consult with you on effective language for your documentation, role-play the meeting with your employee, help you avoid overlooking less-obvious but important performance issues, and assist the EAP in preparing for a more effective motivational interview when the employee arrives at the EAP. Remember, such meetings with you are confidential, just as they are with employees. Effective communication is always the key to EAP success and the increased likelihood of helping employees and reestablishing the value they original held in their position prior to their performance difficulties.

Q.  Why does focusing on persistent performance issues as the criteria for formal EAP referrals result in more employees with behavioral or medical problems being seen by the EAP versus supervisors focusing on the symptoms of personal problems? This seems backward.

A.   Consider the axiom “What causes a problem is one.” Typically, employees strive to keep personal problems invisible from employers. They do this in a variety of ways, including showing a positive disposition, covering for their symptoms, controlling the severity of those symptoms, blaming or externalizing, and denial. Although all of us have personal problems, many types of personal problems are chronic –­ they get worse over time. As they get worse, the employer may not notice obvious symptoms such as frequent hangovers; however, tardiness may be easily visible and frequent. Although the employee may blame traffic or weather for tardiness, referral for frequent tardiness will be readily spotted by the EAP as a symptom of addictive disease if it exists. This example is the classic one for explaining the focus on performance rather than on hangovers as a criterion for referral.

Q.  Which is the proper way to view an EAP from the supervisor’s perspective: (a) as a counseling program to help employees resolve personal problems or (b) as a performance improvement program? 

A.   If you chose “b,” you are correct. Because supervisors do not, cannot, and should not diagnose personal problems, they remain focused on performance, attendance, work quality, and workplace behavior. Likewise, this view of the EAP will result in more employees being identified as having some personal problem needing care, counseling, support, or treatment in order to resolve a performance issue. This answer may seem counterintuitive or ironic; however, it is important to remember that EAPs are not designed as counseling or therapy programs in the generally accepted definition of these terms. Likewise, employee assistance professionals (properly written as “EA professionals”) are not “counselors” or “therapists” as these terms are generally defined, although the EA professional’s skills and abilities may be similar. From the employee’s perspective, of course, EAPs are usually viewed as programs to help resolve personal problems.

Q.  I am excited about my employee’s upbeat attitude, positive outlook, and engaging communication style since being referred to the EAP for addiction treatment. How will I know whether he or she has relapsed? 

A.  Depending on the drug of abuse, relapse profiles can vary a great deal. For example, a heroin user may simply not show up to work or perhaps disappear for days at a time because of a relapse. An alcoholic employee may participate in behavior that leads to eventual relapse, which includes experimenting with controlled drinking for weeks or months. A sudden, out-of-control drinking bout then may precede phoning in sick. You may have no indication whatsoever that alcohol use is the cause of the absence. These behavioral patterns can be confusing to supervisors. To gain clarity, establish good communication with the EAP and expect regular reports on proper follow-through and EAP participation. This communication may not prevent relapse, but it typically prolongs the period of time after last use. This stretch increases the likelihood that relapse will not occur or, if it does, that it is brief and easily reestablished.

^{Information contained in “The Frontline Supervisor” is for general information purposes only and is not intended to be specific guidance for any particular supervisor or human resource management concern. For specific guidance on handling individual employee problems, consult with your Employee Assistance Professional.   ©2019 DFA Publishing & Consulting, LLC.}

Q. I think I am a good role model for my employees because I am dedicated to the company, a good listener, a team-builder, and a problem solver. Does this cover the bases or is there more to being a good role model? Is there a checklist for self-evaluation?

A.  Being a role model is leading by example. If you adopt this view of your role, it encompasses nearly everything employees can see you do or hear you say. There’s no perfection or checklist. Employees reflect on nearly everything you do, and all the implications for them. This is a natural process. If you don’t take vacations, employees will be self-conscious taking vacations. Some may even model this behavior. If you come in late, employees notice it. Some may feel more freedom to come in late, too, or not worry so much about it. This dynamic can be applied to hundreds of matters. Regarding your role in leading by example, most behaviors fall under these headings: 1) How you prioritize your work and where you put your focus; 2) your attitude and demeanor, and communication style; 3) taking care of yourself, work-life balance, dress, exercise, use of leave, and work hours; 4) dedication to the employer and loyalty to the organization; 5) How you treat and interact with others, vulnerability and openness, and how you show appreciation.

Q.  My employee works overtime almost every day. This is an outstanding worker with high productivity. However, I think help from the EAP is needed because the work effort is too obsessive. This isn’t your typical employee with personal problems and poor performance. It’s the opposite. How do I proceed? 

A.   It’s indisputable that employees who work too much are not performing at their best, nor in the best interest of the organization. Although their productivity may be high, their well-being is in jeopardy, and this does not bode well for the organization’s most valuable resource, which is employees. For the same reason, one would not abuse a piece of machinery to get more productivity out of it, thereby shortening its lifespan and potential. Your employee’s performance is not outstanding in the true sense of this term, so do not label it as such. Instead, define what you mean by appropriate work on the job and how an employee can earn the top rating. Then expect it. Overworked employees cost too much in burnout, teamwork deterioration, and decline in effective relationships on the job. Something has to fall short, and it is likely found among these factors. Counsel your employee to make the changes, and refer the employee to the EAP based on his or her inability to follow through. There is something going on that explains the overwork. The EAP will discover what it is, and help the employee resolve it.

Q.  I encouraged my employee to visit the EAP, strictly as a self-referral because of job problems and some personal problems. Can I ask him or her to sign a release so I can hear back from the EA professional to confirm things are getting “handled properly”? 

A.  If you have concerns about your employee’s performance and must have communication to feel assured about follow through in obtaining some sort of help, don’t push for a “self-referral” and a signed release. Instead, make a formal referral. The benefit of a formal referral is it helps you manage a troubled worker in his or her performance improvement. Some supervisors are hesitant about making formal referrals. They mistakenly believe that a formal referral to the EAP is categorically serious or punitive, or will create a record to negatively impact the employee’s job situation. EAP policies preclude these possibilities. An EAP formal referral is not disciplinary action and creates no special personnel record by itself, and its confidentiality provisions are no different than a self-referral.

Q.  The wife of one of my employees phoned to say he was threatening suicide in an argument over the weekend. But looking at him now, he appears perfectly fine to me. This sounds like a domestic dispute, and not my business. It also appears the crisis has passed. Should I refer her to the EAP and forget it?

A.  Recommend the EAP to the spouse, but inform your boss or HR advisor about the call. Together decide how to proceed with regard to discussing the matter with your employee. This sort of phone call is rare, but it’s serious. Many employers have received similar phone calls from family members reporting domestic incidents. Be calm, but proceed as if the report is true. In other words, you’re responding responsibly out of an abundance of caution, because domestic disputes that become violent can spill into the workplace, placing employees at risk. Call the EAP and consult on this matter. Always team with your boss and advisors to determine next steps with incidents of this nature. Don’t go it alone.

Q.  Every supervisor wants to know more about how to excite employees and show appreciation without having to rely on a budget to do it. What are some of the most overlooked ways of showing appreciation, beyond saying “thank you”?

A.  There are many resources and dozens of books on how to show appreciation to employees without financial support to do it. Saying “thank you” periodically is one way, but nothing beats a handwritten note for doing so. The three parts to the ideal thank-you are 1) writing the words “thank you” in the first sentence (e.g., Susan, I want to thank you for…), 2) saying you appreciate the action/work/effort and why, and 3) explaining the positive impact of the employee’s action on the organization. Of course, no technique should be overused, because its impact will lessen with repetition. However in this digital age of texting and emailing, the psychological impact of a written thank-you from a boss is important. Few employees will not retain it or will fail to tell others.

^{Information contained in “The Frontline Supervisor” is for general information purposes only and is not intended to be specific guidance for any particular supervisor or human resource management concern. For specific guidance on handling individual employee problems, consult with your Employee Assistance Professional.   ©2019 DFA Publishing & Consulting, LLC.}