1. SPECIAL GROUPS IN ORGANISATIONAL
COUNSELLING:
EMPOLYEES WITH FAMILY PROBLEMS,
EMPOLYEES WITH ALCOHOLISM&DRUG ABUSE
2. ORGANISATIONAL COUNSELLING
Workplace counselling is an employee support intervention that is usually
short term in nature and provides an independent, specialist resource for
people working across all sectors and in all working environments.
Giving all employees access to a free, confidential, workplace counselling
service can potentially be viewed as part of an employer’s duty of care.
3. EMPOLYEES WITH FAMILY PROBLEMS
Work life conflicts also damage personal relationships that the person
has with his family and friends.
By dedicating too much time to work as a result of personal ambition
or an increasing workload, the amount of time given to relationships is
reduced.
4. Work/family conflicts cause lower job satisfaction since the quality
of work environment is not seen as conducive by the employee.
When job satisfaction is low, the worker is more likely to have
reduced commitment to the organization.
. For married couples with children, the effect of work-family
imbalance is even worse.
5. The children will not enjoy a balanced upbringing since one or both
of their parents will be held up at work and when they are not, they
will be exhibiting stress.
The lack of time may also lead to divorce since the married couple
will grow out of touch.
Work-life conflicts give rise to significant negative effects and it is
therefore important to try reducing this conflicts.
6. One way through which we can reduce work-family conflict is by
setting boundaries.
Such a strategy will involve a person taking steps to reduce the
forces that interfere with their plans at home and at work
Approach for reducing work-family conflict is by talking about
family issues with fellow employees.
While it would seem that isolating home issues from work is the
best approach, the fact is that people spend significant amount of
their time at work and they form good relationships with their work
mates.
7. Discussing family situations with co-workers will therefore be
beneficial for a person since these colleagues will be able to
empathize and assist a person to achieve work goals especially when
the family responsibilities are great.
work-family conflicts are caused by rigid working hours, adopting
flexible working hours can lower the conflicts.
This is because flexible working hours give a person a sense of
control and they are able to schedule their lives such that balance is
achieved between family and work.
8. flexible working hours increase the level of job satisfaction and
reduce the amount of stress experienced by the worker therefore
reducing work-family conflict.
To reduce burnout, the worker should avoid putting in too many
hours at work especially when it is not mandatory.
Most people work overtime so that they can make more money or
in order to gain promotions.
9. Others put in more time since there is a common misconception that
the person who spends a lot of time in the workplace is more
committed to the organization.
The organization can assist in reducing burnout by providing
enough resources to the staff. Assigning work fairly and equitably to
the employees so that there is no work overload will fulfill this goal
and therefore prevent work-family problems.
10. Conflicts between work and family responsibilities have a number
of adverse consequences for the individual and the place he works.
To begin with, these conflicts result in an increase in stress and
burnout by the employee.
As organizations seek to get the most from their workers, they are
constantly expecting employees to put in more work hours.
11. This is normally at the expense of time which would be used for
non-work related issues.
This causes a work-life imbalance that leads to high stress levels as
the individual attempts to complete the increasing work load in time
all the while foregoing his out of work obligations.
12. ALCOHOLISM:
Alcoholism is the inability to control drinking due to both a physical and emotional
dependence on alcohol.
13. Symptoms include repeated alcohol consumption despite related legal
and health issues.
Those with alcoholism may begin each day with a drink, feel guilty
about their drinking and have the desire to cut down on the amount of
drinking.
14. DRUG ABUSE
Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, is a patterned use of
a drug in which the user consumes the substance in amounts or with
methods which are harmful to themselves or others, and is a form of
substance-related disorder
15. Alcohol and drug abuse by employees cause many expensive
problems for business and industry ranging from lost productivity,
injuries, and an increase in health insurance claims.
The loss to companies in the United States due to alcohol and drug-
related abuse by employees totals $100 billion a year, according to
The National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information
(NCADI).
16. Problems Caused in the Workplace
In addition to deaths and accidents, absenteeism and loss of
production, other problems that alcohol and drug abuse can cause on
the job include:
Tardiness/sleeping on the job
Hangover or withdrawal affecting job performance
Poor decision making
Loss of efficiency
17. Theft
Lower morale of co-workers
Increased likelihood of having trouble with co-workers/supervisors
or tasks
Preoccupation with obtaining and using substances while at work,
interfering with attention and concentration
Illegal activities at work including selling illicit drugs to other
employees
Higher turnover
Training of new employees
Disciplinary procedures
18. As per U.S. Drug Test Centers, which is supported by SAMSHA, of
the $81 billion dollars spent per year on drug abuse in the
workplace, researchers estimate that it is spent on:
Absenteeism
Healthcare costs
Lost productivity
19. Impact of Drug and Alcohol Abuse
According to NCADI statistics, alcohol and drug users:
Are far less productive.
Use three times as many sick days.
Are more likely to injure themselves or someone else.
Are five times more likely to file a worker's compensation claim.
20. Factors Contributing to Employee Substance Abuse
Research has shown that several factors can contribute to problem
drinking and drugging in the workplace include:
Workplace culture and acceptance of drinking/drugging
Workplace alienation
Availability of alcohol and drugs
Existence and enforcement of workplace substance abuse policies
21. Supervision
The level of supervision on the job can affect drinking and drugging
at work rates. A study of evening shift workers, when supervision
was reduced, found that employees were more likely to drink at
work than highly supervised shifts.
22. Casual Drinkers Are a Problem, Too
Remarkably, research shows it is the social drinkers, not the hard-
core alcoholics or problem drinkers, who are responsible for most of
the lost productivity, according to a Christian Science Monitor
article, specifically tying the hangover issue to production in the
workplace
23. Having to work overtime causes the employee to burnout since they
do may not have enough time to rest.
Stress and burnout are conditions that decrease the productivity of
the employee since they result in cognitive difficulties such as
decreased concentration, reduced alertness, and trouble staying
awake.
24. HOW MANAGE EMPOLYES WITH DRUG AND
ALCOHOL
Human Resources staff have a responsibility to protect the safety of
employees.
They are also responsible for communicating the policy and program in the
right ways at the right time
Implementing Employee Education ,substance misuse education and
prevention must be ongoing processes.
In many cases , alcohol and other drug problems adversely affect
employer's, employees and their families ,even when the problems never
come to the attention of employers.
25. THE ROLE OF SUPERVISORS
Supervisors have numerous responsibilities that are critical to success to the
success of a drug free workplace policy and program.
They are often first or among the first to notice and to be informed of a
possible problem
They must be fair and consistent in enacting the policy.
26. UNDERSTANDING DRUG –FREE POLICY AND
PROGRAM
To implement drug –free policy fairly and firmly ,supervisors must be
thoroughly knowledgeable about both the policy and the program.
27. DRUG TESTING AND EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS
While large business typically have assessment or drug testing programs in
action, many smaller businesses cannot afford to do so.
This is a critical error as drug users will generally apply only at places that
do not have mandated drug abuse.
28. Drug testing and educational programs have been proven to provide
benefits such as:
Increased morale
Decreased workplace accidents
Reduced employee theft
Increased productivity
Reduced employee turnover
Decreased cost of insurance ,such as workers compensation.
