Q.  I don’t deny that stress is a significant issue for most workers, but I have never seen a report from our company or any company that links stress to direct costs for anything. So is stress overblown as a problem for business and industry? Where are the costs of stress?

A.  Although it is not possible to say “employee stress caused the loss of X dollars to our company,” medical and social science research abounds with evidence that stress directly contributes to financial loss for employers. These costs tend to occur in four key areas: absenteeism, lost productivity, medical expenses, and turnover. Financial managers typically follow these financial costs closely, especially in larger companies. For example, stressed employees are more likely to stay home and take “mental health days” as a way to cope. Stress can cause health problems, of course, but it can also make existing health problems worse, especially preexisting autoimmune disorders. Did you know that stressed employees feel more powerless and are more likely to complain, file grievances, file lawsuits, have more accidents, make more errors, and experience more conflicts? The list goes on. When you see evidence of employees under stress, think “How can the EAP help?”

Q.  How can I get more support from my boss?

A. Does getting support from your boss mean improving communication, having your boss take time to listen to your concerns and then assist you in solving problems or back you up on key decisions? Lack of support is a common complaint among supervisors, but the starting point is to understand your responsibility in the quality of the relationship that you have with your supervisor. Examine your communication style and habits. Do you regularly exchange information? Do you solicit your boss’s perspective on issues you must resolve? Do you ask for the benefit of his or her experience as you manage tougher problems? Finally, do you directly ask for support? Many supervisors are reluctant to participate in an active relationship with their manager because it demands vulnerability, trust, authenticity, and other engagement skills. They want support, but they have not laid a foundation for easily obtaining it. Talk with the EAP. The EA professional will help you discover the steps you have not yet taken to a better relationship.

Q. I had to initiate a disciplinary action, and my employee now gives me the cold shoulder. How do I address this passive anger that has suddenly appeared? Prior to the job action, an EAP referral was refused. I do not want to lose this employee.

A. It is not unusual for an employee who has been disciplined to feel anger for receiving a disciplinary action, especially if he or she believes it was unwarranted or excessive. That may well be a majority of disciplined employees. How your employee responds to a disciplinary action is a performance issue, not simply a personal matter. You want effective communication and acceptable levels of productivity from your employee, but you won’t attain these without complementary behaviors that make them possible. Meet with your employee and discuss his or her response to the disciplinary action. Define the response as a separate issue of concern. The objective is helping your employee deal constructively with the disciplinary action. Recommend the EAP again as a way to help him or her cope. Later, demonstrate your expectations for a positive and productive relationship going forward.

Q.  Is immaturity a performance issue that the EAP can address? My employee exhibits adolescent-like behaviors such as interrupting, inappropriate laughing, joking, and creating minor annoyances that disrupt the quiet of the workplace. I don’t see how that’s “treatable.”

A.  Document the behavior and the time and place of these occurrences, and meet with your employee to insist that they end. Go through your list. Don’t label the employee and be careful about deciding these behaviors simply point to “immaturity”. The commonalities of these behaviors appear to be impulsivity and lack of self-control. Inability to exercise self-control points to other issues. Regardless, the EAP can help. It is sometimes easy to label a set of behaviors or a pattern of behaviors in order to understand them better from your framework. This helps you decide what to do next in the way of a management or administrative decision. But labeling the employee as immature can unwittingly lead you to dismiss the usefulness of an EAP solution outright. That would be the wrong decision.

Q.  My employee was injured on the job with use of the wrong tool. The truth is that it crossed my mind to stop him, but I dismissed the thought because I was so busy. Rather than blame myself, how do I reduce my stressful workload so I avoid a second occurrence?

A.  When we are busy and under stress, it is easy to ignore warning signs or dismiss decisions we should make that would preempt problems. The problem for you to tackle is not necessarily the stressful workload. Your goal should be to increase self-awareness. This will empower you to stop, think, and act when needed and to avoid using denial as a coping “tool” to reduce stress and remain uninvolved in critical decisions. When you are more self-aware, you can make intuitive decisions more easily in the middle of fast-moving, complex situations, where little structure exists and things appear ambiguous. You are able to pay closer attention to “gut feelings” that are less likely to be overshadowed by all the activity and hustle-bustle around you. There are many exercises for increasing self-awareness. You can search for them or talk to your EAP to learn more.

Q.  I know supervisors can’t get involved in employees’ personal problems, but if this is the EAP’s expertise, what else can they discuss with supervisors? I don’t tend to think about the EAP in any other way. Am I missing something?

A.  Although employee assistance programs are primarily known for helping employees resolve personal problems, they were originally fashioned to be equally available to supervisors for consulting on conduct and behavioral issues of employees. Strategies for managing and arranging a supervisor referral, as well as post-referral guidance, are also valuable services. These services are often under-promoted because many employees mistakenly view them as being aligned with management. Of course, this EAP role does help employees and is complementary to an EAP’s direct service functions. Nevertheless, many supervisors don’t recall the availability of these services when they could be most helpful. Every employee referred by a supervisor has his or her own unique set of circumstances, so a supervisory consultation with the EAP prior to referral can help ensure follow-through. This concern with helping both employees and supervisors is what gives EAPs the reputation of being “pro-people, pro-organization.”

Q.  My employee said he is drinking after many years of being sober. Work performance is outstanding. Is there anything I should be doing about this situation?

A.  There is no issue within the scope of your supervisory responsibilities that requires your intervention. You are not privy to information related to this employee’s medical history or the circumstances, so you can’t evaluate or guess what might be of concern in this situation. Even if you did have complete understanding of the medical background, the issue of having no performance issues dictates your response to the situation. Relapses typically lead to job performance, attendance, and/or conduct issues, but there is no way to predict if or when these might occur. Because your employee shared with you a brief history and his current situation with regard to alcohol use, you may wish to remind him that the EAP exists as a source of help should he decide he needs it in the future.

 Q.  I am a new supervisor. I tend to avoid conflict. Perhaps it is my lack of experience that explains my avoidance issues. But I wonder whether my avoidance is explained by something more deeply personal than a simple lack of experience. What should I do?

 A.  Being a new supervisor and not having prior experience in leadership positions can be intimidating and difficult. Generally, supervisors and managers improve as they participate in various forms of continuing education and reach out to experienced supervisors willing to coach and advise them. Experience is the best teacher, of course. None of these steps guarantee the acquisition of effective leadership skills. Indeed, many supervisors acquire attitudes about styles of supervision that undermine their leadership abilities. Self-awareness and interest in your personal growth are essential to becoming a good manager. These will lead you to challenge and overcome personal weaknesses, quirks, and other foibles that get in the way of your goal. The EAP can help you discover and overcome these personal challenges. This includes helping you develop an education and/or counseling plan.

Q.  We are all doing more with less. Helping employees cope with this reality is the supervisor’s job. I don’t see this “more with less” trend changing. What guidance exists for supervisors on how to meet this modern challenge?

 A.  The answer to this question varies among employers. It is an important one to consider because employees will gravitate toward burnout, and it will affect the bottom line if there are no creative solutions. Turnover and low morale are two examples. Part of the answer lies in helping employees help each other. This idea of developing a “high nurture” workforce focuses on employees improving communication, sharing skills, getting intra- and inter-organizational training, cooperating with each other more, solving problems together, inspiring and praising one another, recognizing and rewarding one another, processing stress together, and generally building cohesiveness. These “intangible efficiencies” are already proven ways of building and maintaining high morale and lowering the risk of burnout. Look for more attention in the literature to the harnessing of these intrinsic resources in order to keep a workforce happy, healthy, and productive.