May 2000

My employee has a habit of creating disturbances at large staff meetings by joking and talking with coworkers at inappropriate times.  Is it possible that my bringing attention to his behavior by confronting him will reinforce it?

You should confront the behavior, but do so in a private meeting. You will not make the behavior worse by correcting your employee. You mention a common behavior pattern among children who act out in undesirable ways to reap negative attention from parents. (Improperly reacting to the behavior validates its purpose and so it continues.) The principles that govern correcting employee behavior in the workplace are different. Your employee is either unaware of the negative effects of his behavior, or he does not care about these effects. Obviously, ignoring the problem is not making it go away and, in fact, sends a message that it is accepted. Take steps to increase your employee's awareness of its  undesirable effects, or motivate him to care about it by imposing some consequence. One of these approaches will cause it to stop.
 

I would like to speak in person with the EA professional about an employee I am planning to refer to the EAP.  Can the EA professional visit my office to discuss the matter instead of my visiting the EAP?

You should visit the EAP office rather than having the EA professional come to you.  Your consultation with the EA professional is treated as a confidential matter.  You risk diminishing confidentiality, or at least the perception of this confidentiality, if the EA professional visits your
office.  Other employees who are aware of the visit may discuss it or may wonder about its purpose.  Some may even guess its purpose correctly if there have been recent performance problems with the employee you intend to refer.  Erosion of the perception of confidentiality can harm the EAP and inhibit employees from using the program.  You might argue that the EAP could be visiting for another reason, such as discussing future training needs, but employees in the immediate work environment usually know the purpose of such a visit.
 

My employee has severe personal problems well known to coworkers. Unfortunately, performance problems are worse than ever.  I worry she could become depressed or suicidal if I confront her and refer her to the EAP.  I am uncertain as to whether to refer.

You should speak with the EA professional for guidance on what to say and how to say it before making the referral.  Indeed, some employees with severe personal problems and growing performance problems become increasingly fragile, but this cannot stand in the way of your responsibilities to the organization.  Being supportive is important, however, and so is your perception of how fragile the employee might be.  Although it is important not to diagnose your employee, your perception is useful in the consultative process with the EA professional.  The EA professional will help you discover a balanced and supportive approach to making the referral that does not minimize the importance of the performance issues.  It is likely that more supervisors regret not referring employees with the problems you describe than the other way around.
 

My performance is under scrutiny and it is increasing my anxiety.  This, in turn, is making my performance problems worse.  I can't stop having problems that seem to be brought on by the negative expectations of my supervisor.

It is not unusual for employees to complain about their inability to climb out of a performance rut that appears reinforced by the scrutiny of a supervisor who is too focused on what is not measuring up to standard.  Many management consultants agree this type of relationship can have a self-fulfilling effect, making it difficult to turn things around.  Try changing the context of your relationship so that positive expectations exist.  Hopefully, this will have a "reset switch" effect.  The most important, but seldom practiced, rule is: Don't avoid your supervisor.  Instead, meet regularly, perhaps once a week.  Get clarity on exactly what changes are desired.  Each week discuss what is working well and why.  Focus on what more can be done to get what is desired.  Discuss what happened differently from one week to the next.  This process produces controlled focus and makes desired changes more likely.  Ask for feedback as things improve.
 

I referred my employee to the EAP, but when she refused, I had her sign a memo to document the refusal.   Was this a good idea so I can prove later that I gave her an opportunity to visit the EAP before I took other action?

It is unnecessary and inappropriate to have your employee sign a document attesting to her refusal to accept a supervisor referral to the EAP.  A requirement to sign such a document puts undue pressure on an employee to visit the EAP, interfering with the voluntary nature of the program.  Under such circumstances, the likelihood increases that an employee will visit the EAP but be unmotivated to discuss personal problems.  Such documentation is also problematic because your employee could sign it and then later visit the EAP without you ever knowing it.  On the other hand, your employee could agree to go to the EAP, but later refuse to avoid signing such documentation.  The absence of a document refusing a supervisor referral does not prevent you from responding administratively to job performance problems that continue regardless of her participation in the program.

NOTES:

NOTES:

If you have questions you would like answered in FrontLine Supervisor, contact the EAP Office at (615) 741-1925.

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. Copyright ©2000 by The FrontLine Supervisor.

***ETSU NOTE: Referrals/concerns by supervisors should be made to the Office of Human Resources at ETSU, extension 5890.

Permission to post newsletter has been granted by Tennessee State Employee Assistance Program.

Mailing Address:  Office of Human Resources
ETSU Box 70564
Johnson City, TN  37614-1707
Telephone:  423-439-4457
Fax:  423-439-8354
TDD:  423-439-4710

Office Hours:  8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. E.S.T. Monday - Friday
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Updated on 11/11/05