- EAN staff is available when our office is closed to help you manage personal crisis or traumatic events in the workplace. Call our office at 828-252-5725 and press ‘0’ to reach our crisis management team member by phone.
This is an ongoing content series on the current EAN website. We have set it up again here so you can continue to use it (if you like.)
Q. Periodically, I see articles about empathy and supervisors. The dictionary defines empathy as the “ability to understand and share the feelings of another.” Why is this so important?
A. Empathy in the workplace has wide application for supervisors. A simple example would be recognizing an employee is experiencing grief and offering a supportive response. A complex example would be listening to an employee’s complaints but suspending your judgment and not labeling the worker as a malcontent, but instead focusing on understanding, discovering a solution, and implementing it to benefit others. When you spend time observing behaviors of employees and engaging with them, you begin to identify their feeling states. Over time, you develop a skill called “empathic reach” or “accurate empathy.” You’re not a mind reader, but you are able to detect with higher frequency and accuracy, issues and concerns affecting your employees. You are also perceived by employees as a safe person to approach with problems and concerns. For these reasons, empathic supervisors build strong loyalty among their employees.
Q. I don’t visually observe my employees since many of them are now working remotely. I would like to keep an eye open for signs of stress, but how is this done without seeing attendance, interpersonal behaviors, or attitude problems?
A. Several research studies that track employee mental health have shown that the pandemic has taken its toll. What’s tricky is helping managers support the mental health of employees without stepping into a diagnostic role. Increasing communication with workers is a good idea because this can naturally lead to more discovery about how your employees are doing generally. Another tip is to be appropriately open about, or at least acknowledge your own feelings of, stress during this COVID-19 era. This “disclosure begets disclosure” idea can prompt your employees to share their own stress issues. You can then mention or encourage use of the EAP. Note that when an employee shares something personal with you as a manager, the degree to which they demonstrate anxiety or concern is usually minimized. Understanding this can keep you from also minimizing the importance of an issue that could urgently need EAP help.
Find out more on the study here.
Q. I referred my employee to the EAP, and the employee was very cooperative. The next day, I discovered he checked into a depression, but did not go through the EAP. I am surprised, but happy he got help. Should I work with the hospital directly or get the EAP involved in some way?
A. You should contact the EAP and let the program know about the issues involved in the case. The EAP won’t be able to initiate contact with the employee directly, but you can do so in a number of ways that friends, family, and employers typically do. The hospital will be a gatekeeper for this communication. Informing the hospital about the existence of the EAP will likely lead to the staff approaching the employee to encourage use of the program upon discharge. Local hospitals usually maintain close relationships with EAPs in their geographical areas and are very familiar with the sort of issue you have described. Regardless, upon discharge and return to work, encourage your worker to use the confidential and valuable follow-up services the EAP can provide. Realize that communication with the EAP prior to a supervisor referral is the ideal approach to using the EAP because it helps ensure good communication that helps the employee follow through.
Q. I referred an employee to the EAP, and he phoned the next day to say he was taking a two-week vacation recommended by a therapist to whom he was referred. Would the EAP override our work rules to permit time off? I can’t afford to have him out.
A. Note that EAPs operate within a functional framework called the “EAP core technology,” and the application of this framework underscores noninterference with management policies and work rules. Your employee should follow guidelines established for managing time off. A community mental health professional’s recommendation to take a vacation does not equate to treatment for a serious medical condition. Additionally, you have only a phone call to account for this need. Start by consulting with your human resources advisor. Those individuals are the pros who can advise on responding to policy matters. Document carefully, in case attendance and communication issues continue. Phone the EAP to see if they can discuss with you what they know about a recommendation for time off. A signed consent for the release of confidential information at the EAP typically allows communication with management regarding recommendations from medical professionals that affect an employee’s work schedule.
Q. I heard from a friend that construction workers have a high rate of suicide. Is this true? What does the literature say? I work in this industry, but haven’t been aware of this before.
A. The construction and extraction industries (mining, excavation, etc.) have the second-highest rate of suicide according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The rate is about 54 workers per 100,000 employees. Several factors are associated with this statistic: the highest rate of heavy drinking of any group, unsteady employment, sleep disruption, chronic pain-driven opioid use and addiction, work pressures, a male-dominated occupation with stigma associated with mental health problems and asking for help, poor work conditions, low pay, stress, depression, and social isolation. As a supervisor in construction trades, have frequent contact with your workers so you can identify performance issues including conflicts and quality of work or attendance problems, discourage bullying, resolve conflicts, and keep the EAP well-promoted as a go-to resource for help. You may save a life and never know it. Always emphasize confidentiality when speaking about the EAP.
Q. I don’t believe I am a bullying supervisor, but several employees recently complained about my supervision style as being such. I think the whole idea of bullying is nearly “fad-like” and an opportunity for employees to escape responsibility for having subpar performance. Am I correct?
A. In the past, the same argument was used to minimize the impact of sexual harassment in the workplace. Today, sexual harassment is illegal. Research has now documented its true cost. Bullying in the workplace is rapidly receiving the same level of recognition, also supported by research. See the citation on abusive supervision at psycnet.apa.org/record/2006-11397-011. Do you ridicule employees? Have you put employees down in front of others? Have you accused them of incompetence, kept them away from “the good assignments,” not given them credit for their work, yelled at them, or invaded their privacy by asking probing personal questions? Many of these behaviors were once considered natural elements of the traditional workplace, but not today. Talk to the EAP about making changes. Most employees who complain to supervisors about bullying say they do not see substantive changes from their tormentors. This implies that changing these behaviors can be tough. Still, you could remain at risk for employment or legal claims if your tactics don’t shift.
Q. I have a new employee with whom I don’t get along. The chemistry or temperament between us isn’t right, and I’m afraid down the road that we are going to have conflicts. Can the EAP help?
A. Your description of “bad chemistry” is one to explore with someone in your EAP. As you might guess, bad chemistry is not a mysterious occurrence. You are describing characteristics of personality differences that influence communication, both verbal and nonverbal. The important aspect of this problem is any resistance to trusting your employee. Trust is crucial to your achievement or to your work unit goals. You may be inclined to micromanage this employee’s work. You may give less positive feedback about their work. You may be more naturally resistant to giving them attention, tending to ignore their contributions. Would you be inclined to avoid inviting this person to important meetings, have less empathy for their request for a raise, or criticize this person more? All of these issues can lead to turnover along with the other problems this sort of schism you are describing naturally creates. The EAP will help you examine the situation and arrive at a personal coping and change strategy that can guide you toward greater understanding and compatibility.
Q. My employee, an extremely bright computer scientist, is facing administrative actions related to a poor decision regarding ethical behavior. How can the EAP help, or can it?
A. The general guidance when it comes to almost any consideration of whether to use the EAP to help an employee is to simply make the referral. The EAP will then make the proper determination about what role it should play in helping your employee. Even if the EAP decides to refer your employee to another resource, follow-up is nearly always important, and therefore the EAP would play a part in this task. Employees with personal problems, especially those who over-use defense mechanisms like denial and rationalization, can be more prone to ethical lapses of judgment (lapses in their common sense). Your employee is smart, but is he or she level-headed and unaffected by personal problems that would make it more difficult to understand and assess a situation requiring a judgment-based decision? The specialized knowledge of being a computer scientist is important, but it is not a prerequisite for sound judgment. The EAP will likely discover the underlying issue and know the next step to take.
Q. Should I refer an employee to the EAP if he or she tests positive for COVID-19?
A. Yes, consider recommending self-referral to the EAP. The coronavirus has tremendous controversy associated with it, and misinformation abounds. Unfortunately, people who are diagnosed with the illness often suffer from anxieties in addition to their other symptoms, including an anxiety about whether the illness will be terminal for them. Victims of the disease may wonder how they got it, who they passed it on to, or whether anyone they know with medical problems or who is aged could contract the disease and die from it. This can obviously create feelings of guilt and concern. What are the long-term side effects? What information should I trust? Does this disease cause heart problems or other body organ damage? The EAP will offer help or obtain the support needed to help your worker overcome these dreads.
Q. Why are EAPs considered a means to help supervisors manage stress? Does this refer to our self-referral to the program to help ourselves or does this refer to the mechanics of EAPs and how they remove the burden of managing difficult or troubling employee behavior?
A. It is both. EAPs help managers with personal stress, and the EAP process helps remove the stress of managing the problematic behaviors of employees that may be linked to their personal problems. There is one part of the process that many managers forget, however. Any performance issue that is not improving is a potential referral to the EAP. This step is a de-stressor because the EAP can share the burden of helping an employee correct a performance problem. When supervisors refer employees to the EAP, they are, in fact, referring them to correct performance issues, not mental health issues or other personal problems. Frequently, it is determined that some personal issue impedes performance (but not always). In those cases, EAPs have been known to then refer employees to every sort of help imaginable, even language classes, pet sitters, retirement planners, public speaking courses, reading improvement programs, and local colleges to finish degrees or acquire courses to improve skills and abilities.
