- 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. Should it be part of a supervisor’s responsibilities to help employees pursue work-life balance? This is something that extends beyond the workplace and is personal for employees.
A. Technology can turn a job into a 24/7 experience, so a lack of work-life balance can be a challenge. This strain contributes to lower productivity and burnout. It’s up to employees to “hit the off switch,” but some are better at doing it than others. This makes awareness and education about work-life balance a worthy pursuit. Practice establishing traditions that facilitate work-life balance. One tradition might be having everyone agree to not respond to emails and work-related texts after business hours, except in specific circumstances. (This could influence employees to get more done during regular business hours.) Brainstorm other work-life balance ideas. Celebrate and reward participation in these practices. A Web search of “ways to achieve work-life balance” will lead you to many ideas. Consider input from your human resources advisor, too. Suggest the EAP to employees who demonstrate struggles with work-life balance. Note that motivating employees to practice work-life balance won’t be effective unless you are doing it yourself.
Q. I have known supervisors who were great listeners and advice givers. But what if the supervisor actually has professional counseling experience? Does this create an exception to the rule of avoiding delving into an employee’s problems and taking on the counseling role?
A. Employees who raise concerns about personal problems with supervisors often have more than one reason for doing so. One, of course, may be a sincere desire to find a solution. But consider the high likelihood that similar discussions have taken place many times before with others outside the workplace, particularly with family and friends. It follows that an employee’s desire to focus on solving a personal problem is in part motivated by a need to shift attention away from any performance issue and its consequences. A discussion about the nature of a personal problem and its resolution would certainly be more satisfying. Even if the supervisor has the skills to help the employee, engaging in the problem-solving process ultimately requires follow-up, motivational counseling, relapse prevention, and detection by the counselor as to whether treatment is being accomplished, or whether it is being resisted or applied in only half measures, both of which interfere with solving the problem and lead to the potential loss of a valuable worker.
Q. If my employee is experiencing frequent absences from work and I make a supervisor referral to the EAP, is it to let the EAP know the employee is being referred and the reason? What other information would be helpful for the EAP to know?
A. EAPs have extensive experience helping employees with problems, many of which are associated with different absenteeism patterns. The more information you provide about the history of the employee’s attendance issue and your attempts to resolve it, the more effective the EAP interview will be. This means a faster resolution to the problem. Problematic employee absenteeism may be ongoing and consistent, cyclical, or sudden and unexpected. Each includes different degrees and forms of communication (or lack of it) with the employer concerning the absences. This history gives the EAP clues about the nature of any personal problem that may be associated with the absences, even when an employee is not completely forthcoming in an interview. For example, an employee who suddenly does not show up for work and does not phone in, and whom you can’t reach, will have a personal problem far different than that of an employee who phoned you the night before with notice that they were taking unapproved leave without pay.
Q. At times, I don’t think employees truly understand the purpose of an EAP. Sure, they know it is a professional source of counseling and referral, but when supervisors refer, some employees become defensive. What’s missing, and how can supervisors make formal referrals go a little smoother?
A. When a supervisor suggests the EAP or makes a referral, it can be helpful to explain early on that the basis for your recommendation is job performance, not your belief that a personal problem exists, and that all EAPs work this way. This issue, perhaps more than any other, is what prompts defensiveness. Also, do not mention the EAP for the first time late in the process of an attempt to correct performance. If weeks and months of difficulty, arguing, or tension have existed, your employee may believe that your motivation for referring now is to “cover your bases” as you prepare for termination of the worker.
Q. I strive to know my employees well so I can assess their needs and develop their talents. When employees don’t perform well or keep commitments, or come to work late, I feel taken advantage of and angry. This causes me stress. How can I react differently?
A. Perhaps you have heard the expression, “Employees are our organization’s most valuable resource.” It offers a clue to help you understand how best to work with employees when they disappoint you. Wanting your employees to be happy and productive is a good thing, and the EAP plays a key role in helping you do this, but you will use the EAP less when you are emotional and feel personally hurt in response to employees not living up to your expectations. When you use the “employees are a resource” paradigm, you respond differently. You become more strategic, and this means a possible referral to the EAP sooner. Viewing your employees as ungrateful invites you to take their shortcomings personally, experience more stress, delay referral to the EAP, and be angry with them. You feel taken advantage of, and the risk is that you will experience a desire to retaliate, terminate, or “teach them a lesson.”
Q. I was discussing my employee’s attendance problem when she mentioned that family issues were causing her lateness. She added that she would be contacting the EAP. I look forward to positive changes, but should I have done anything more?
A. Beyond following up later and affirming the positive changes in her attendance, the situation with this employee seems to have been handled well. This is a self-referral and a great example of how EAP’s perform, but there area couple of tips worth considering. Depending on the seriousness of this attendance issue, offering the employee the opportunity to use your phone or to call the EAP “now” from your office might be effective in helping ensure she does in fact use the EAP. It’s the employee’s choice, of course. The second is to be firm and supportive but clear that if the attendance problem does not change, then you will be considering the next steps in correcting the problem. This will also facilitate follow-through because a disciplinary step is implied without it being committed to it yet.
Q. Is a “constructive confrontation” with an employee an interview that always includes mention of some potential disciplinary action to help motivate the worker to feel more urgency about making changes in performance?
A. The term “constructive confrontation” has many definitions and applications in human interaction, but in the work setting it typically refers to a purposeful and planned meeting with an employee experiencing performance or conduct issues to motivate the worker to make improvements or desired changes. Although a constructive confrontation may utilize mention of disciplinary action, this is not a required element. Most employees perceive the supervisor to be a legitimate authority figure who has control or influence over the disciplinary processes. This is a dynamic of authority, and it is not overlooked by employees when confronted by supervisors. This dynamic is also helpful to instill motivation. Supervisors who socialize frequently with subordinates or are viewed by them as a friend may experience more difficulty in succeeding with constructive confrontations. This is because the dynamic of authority has eroded. Reasserting this authority can be tough because it requires choices that stress the friendship.
Q. I have been a department head over-seeing dozens of other super-visors for many years. I think many don’t see all the benefits that come with managing a more complete relationship with a worker beyond simple concerns about work output. What benefits accrue from more engaged relationships with employees?
A. As you point out, a more complete supervisory relationship with employees has many payoffs. Beyond focusing on quality or quantity of work, these payoffs include improved communication and a closer, more trusting relationship between the supervisor and employee. This reduces supervisor stress and negative emotions that create unwanted, unnecessary distraction when problems arise. Employees become more interested in their work, improve self-awareness, accomplish more goals, and experience improved job satisfaction, which can reduce turnover and loss of a valuable worker. Ultimately, proper employee management reduces supervisor stress and negative emotions that create unwanted, unnecessary distraction when problems arise. Employees become more interested in their work, improve self-awareness, accomplish more goals, and experience improved job satisfaction, which can reduce turnover and loss of a valuable worker. Ultimately, proper employee management reduces conflict, too. Trust and respect between the worker and manager grow, and a collaboration develops that benefits the work unit. EAPs can help supervisors develop more engaged relationships with employees by helping analyze personnel problems, conflicts, and communication issues, as well as assist in finding creative approaches to help workers make changes that the supervisor can consider.
Q. My department manager just informed me that one of my employees went over my head to complain. It made me look bad, and, frankly, I am upset. How should I intervene? The concern is related to a disagreement we are having about her job description. My boss hasn’t said anything about the end-run.
A. End-running can be a problem among troubled workers, but it can also be a naïve decision by a new or younger employee without experience in understanding how hierarchical organizations function. End-runs are usually managed with two issues of concern: addressing the importance of the complaint(i.e. a harassment complaint, etc.) and the organizational problem of the end-run itself. Referring the employee back to the subordinate supervisor is a common response by the upper-level manager for issues that are not serious. Most end-runs are an irritation, but not calamitous. They are teaching moments for employees, and they can help the supervisor examine areas of improvement in conflict and communication management. Discuss with your employee the complications that result from an end-run. If your employee has more serious conduct issues making behavior difficult, then work with the EAP to help the worker improve conduct, attitude, and performance.
Q. What can supervisors do to help their employees correct performance more efficiently? I have often met with employees to discuss problems that need fixing, but I have later been surprised by what’s been forgotten or not understood despite what appeared to be a well-communicated meeting!
A. If you have been a supervisor for any length of time, you have likely noticed how an employee may be very attentive in a corrective interview as you explain a problem, but later it is as though they were daydreaming the entire time they were looking you straight in the eye. You may have asked to have key points in the meeting repeated, but later the details are surprisingly overlooked. There are many reasons for this phenomenon, including attention deficit issues due to stress, fear, or even possibly depression or medical issues. It is common for such employees not to return later for clarification, fearful of the manager’s response to their apparent lack of attention. For these reasons, practice putting problems in writing along with the key points needing attention. Doing so early when problems arise may eliminate the need for a meeting entirely. If a pattern of inattention remains, refer the employee to the EAP based on performance shortcomings.
