Supervisors
Summary
Features:
- Available 24 hours / 7 days a week
- Off-site office
- Strictly confidential
- Employees and families served
- Free of charge
- Covers any problems
- By appointment
Services:
- Assessment
- Counseling
- Referral if needed
- Follow-up
- Consultation
1-800-342-4127
1-541-269-5077
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People. That's what it's all about. The supervision and management of people.
And people have problems. Personal problems. None of us is immune. More than 15 percent of your workforce, the people you supervise, have personal problems.
These troubled employees may suffer from stress, depression, alcohol or drug abuse, marital conflicts, financial problems - perhaps fear, anger, low self-esteem. And their problems affect their families, their friends, their work performance- and you, their supervisor.
You will learn about these problems in three ways: DIRECTLY - employees will tell you about their personal problems, hoping you can help them; INDIRECTLY - you will hear about problems or see behavior changes that do no yet affect job performance; and through substandard JOB PERFORMANCE - you see the symptoms or results of employees' problems in absenteeism, mistakes, accidents, conflicts, deteriorating productivity, and increased costs for doing business.
No matter how you learn about your employee's personal problems, the earlier the employee acts to resolve them, the less the likelihood that they will affect productivity - and YOU.
Your Employee Assistance Program (EAP) can help. By investing in an Employee Assistance Program, your employer has taken action to help troubled employees. The EAP can provide the professional services needed to assist employees with personal problems that may affect their job performance.
And when your employer's EAP helps employees under your supervision, it improves the productivity for which you are responsible.
Professional Help. As a good supervisor, you call for professional help whenever needed, whether it's programming computers, painting corridors, or maintaining equipment.
People need "maintenance" too. You're the one who must deal with employees whose personal problems are affecting job performance. You're the one who must make and carry out the decisions that can mean disciplinary action, or even termination of a once-valued employee. The professional help your EAP provides offers you a wider range of possibilities before those difficult decisions are required.
Your Employer's Position. It is your employer's position that many personal problems can be resolved if given professional assistance. And production can be improved, valued employees retained. That's what your EAP is all about.
What does an EAP do?
Your Employee Assistance Program helps employees and their immediate family members deal with their personal problems in a confidential manner. The EAP staff is dedicated to solving problems that affect personal well being, performance, and productivity.
These problems cover a wide range: from financial or legal difficulties, marital or family conflicts, to alcohol or drug abuse.
Professional Service. Your EAP has an experienced, professional staff available, once you keep an appointment, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The SOEAP staff of counseling professionals includes marriage and family therapists, psychologists, and social workers.
Assessment. These persons work with the employee or family members to assess the nature of the problem and to agree on a plan of action to best resolve it.
Counseling. Free counseling is provided by the SOEAP staff and affiliates. In many cases this free counseling is all that's needed to resolve the problem.
Referral Services. Sometimes it's necessary to refer an employee to another professional service. If the employee agrees, the EAP counselor helps select the service provider or treatment center best suited to assist with the problem.
Follow-up. The SOEAP counselor or affiliate may monitor this services to assure that the employees (or family members) receive the best possible assistance and care.
Help - When You Need It. As a supervisor, an important part of your work is dealing with an employee whose work performance is deteriorating, discussing the situation with the employee, assisting him or her in getting professional help when needed.
Now that help is here ...
Your Employee Assistance Program.
And what can I do?
Use your EAP. Experience shows that enthusiastic SUPPORT BY SUPERVISORS is the key ingredient to a successful EAP. Although employees will be notified and kept informed of the EAP's availability through posters, brochures, and mailings to home, NOTHING BEATS ENCOURAGEMENT BY THE SUPERVISOR for helping an employee decide to try the EAP, whether for him or herself, or for a family member.
The Employee Assistance Program is for your use with an employee who is experiencing personal problems, or whose work is in a pattern of deterioration. Your decision to recommend that an employee try the EAP for him or herself or a family member is both a caring act - helping the employee as you would a friend - and also an effective way either to prevent or remedy poor job performance.
As stated earlier, you will learn of employee personal problems in three ways: directly, indirectly, and/or through observing poor job performance. In most cases, job performance has not yet deteriorated to the point at which you feel you must intervene in order to do your job as a supervisor, but it will be apparent to you that your employee is in some kind of difficulty with the potential to affect job performance.
So, recommending the EAP to your employee is a simple matter in most cases. The employee and/or family member simply needs to pick up the phone and call 1-800-342-4127 or (541)269-5077 to make an appointment happen.
When job performance has deteriorated beyond acceptable limits, then a MANDATORY supervisorial referral of the employee to SOEAP can be made.
In such instances, it is crucial that the supervisor contact SOEAP directly by calling either of the two telephone numbers. The SOEAP operator needs to know that the referral is mandatory, so that an appropriate staff person can talk to the referring supervisor and clarify matters with the supervisor as well as with the provider of services.
How to refer to the EAP
FIRST, observe. Note the signs of problems. Take note of the signs, and share your observations with the employee in a concerned manner.
Some signs of possible personal problems, other than poor job performance, are:
- An increase in sick leave
- Irritability
- Accidents
- Change in work habits
- Change in appearance
- Lack of concentration
- Daydreaming
- Forgetfulness
- Fatigue
- Withdrawal
- Crying: hurt feelings
- Nervousness
- Anger outbursts
- Increased number of interpersonal conflicts
- Arguing
- Steady weight gain or loss
- Frequent headaches
When personal problems are becoming serious, you will usually see a change in the employee's patterns of behavior or attitude. It is the change in Patterson that you key in on, in determining the need to recommend the EAP to your employee.
SECOND, recommend the employee contact the EAP. To do this, the following may be helpful:
- Set aside a quiet time of day to have a private conversation with the employee. To be most helpful, both the employee and you need to be in an environment that allows you to focus on some potentially tender feelings. Be sure you are calm, and that your own focus is on helping.
- Reassure the employee of his or her worth to the organization and your concern for his or her well-being.
- Discuss the fact that everyone has difficulties and needs help from time to time.
- Be as specific as possible about the behaviors, attitudes, or conversations that lead you to believe the EAP might be helpful.
- Have the EAP number (1-800-342-4127 or 541-269-5077) available and encourage the employee to call.
- Assure the employee that the program is CONFIDENTIAL, FREE, VOLUNTARY, and FOR THE EMPLOYEE AND FAMILY MEMBERS, or clarify that a mandatory referral is being made.
- Emphasize the importance of dealing with problems before they cause more problems, and before they affect job performance.
- Remember, you can only suggest that the employee call SOEAP for help. The final responsibility rests with the employee. if the employee becomes defensive, remind him or her that the EAP is completely voluntary. Do not try to "sell" the EAP. Stay with your position that you are concerned. It's important that you talk about the EAP in such a way that neither you nor your employee will feel uncomfortable. And your words must be understood as being helpful, not judgmental.
Here's an example of a conversation:
Are you familiar with the company's Employee Assistance Program?" (Wait for a response.) "Then you already know that ..." ... or ... "Then let me explain that this program is a service to help employees. You told me about your [problems, worries, feelings, symptoms] the other day" ... or ... "I've noticed some signs that you may be having some personal problems, and I've been thinking that the EAP might help you.
"This program is free and strictly confidential. Here's the phone number: 1-800-342-4127 or 541-269-5077. It's completely voluntary. You only use it if you want to do so. It's a very good program and one of the benefits our company offers. And it's for you, for me, for anyone in a tough situation who needs help dealing with personal problems..."
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