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Effective Handling of Employee Personal Problems is Critical to Maintaining Workforce Efficiency

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As a leader and manager, it is quite likely at some point during your career that you will encounter employees with personal problems. Employers must be concerned about the stress levels of their work force as it can have a damaging impact on employee productivity. Personal problems can hinder the job performance of employees who are traditionally productive causing them to under-perform. In addition, it can also have a negative impact on co-workers who become distracted or influenced by the personal issues introduced into the workforce. But with empathy and careful planning, successful managers and leaders can minimize the impact of personal problems in the workplace to ensure that your work force remains efficient and that normal productivity is restored as quickly as possible.

[wcm_restrict]It is a commonly held belief that personal problems of employees must remain out of the work place. But that would be in a perfect world. New managers often carry a naive belief that the personal issues of employees are irrelevant to their performance on the job and something that can be ignored. Managers who believe that employee problems can be kept outside of the workplace also tend to believe that employees are robots and that they can all be treated exactly the same with the pure focus on getting the job done. Ideally, all personal problems would be left behind before heading through the office door but experienced managers know that this is simply not the case. According to the U.S. Labor Department, between ten to twenty percent of employees possess personal problems that reduce productivity by as much as twenty five percent. The fact is people are not robots or machines and while we might like to believe that personal life has no influence on a person’s work, it actually does.

Get the Best from Employees by Addressing Personal Problems

It could be as simple as new parents that are sleep deprived due to the crying of their newly born infant. When problems are present, minds wander and employees don’t give their best work. This is particularly evident if an employee is suffering from emotional or physical pain which can prevent them from functioning at peak performance. As managers, our primary function is to get the best from our employees. It is also a function of managers to ensure that employees are happy and motivated so that they contribute positively on a long term basis to the organization. But in order to do that effectively, managers will sometimes have to get to know their employees as individuals in order to assist them through some of life’s obstacles that are impairing their ability to do their best at work.

When an employee is consumed by a personal problem and they are spending more time dealing with the problem than performing their job, it can often be appropriate to offer time off work. The key is to understand the nature of the problem and to ensure that the employee realizes how their personal issues are having a negative impact on their relationships and performance at work.

Here are some recommendations for assisting your employees through their personal problems:

  • Listen: In addition to this being key to you understanding the nature of the problem, it can also make all the difference to the employee by lending a sympathetic ear combined with some words of encouragement.
  • Recommend Resources: While it may be tempting to give personal advice and to take charge of the problem, this is seldom an effective course of action. Depending on the nature of the problem, it is always wise to direct employees to professional counselors, friends, or family. If you have experienced a similar problem, you can also share your own story but always ensure that the focus remains on the employee.
  • Accommodate Short-Term Needs: You may need to be flexible in order to make temporary accommodations to help the employee through a time of need. But it is important to ensure that the employee is aware that such changes are only temporary. Work together to select a time frame that is fair to reassess the situation.
  • Be Flexible: One of the easiest accommodations depending on the nature of the work place might be a leave of absence or an adjustment to working hours, scheduling, or location. Try to offer alternatives that can help to meet the needs of the employee until the problem is resolved.
  • Consider Reassignments When Possible: This is a much larger accommodation but it may be necessary under certain circumstances. The key is to find a role or job that is better suited for the present state of mind of the employee. For example, if an employee is constantly travelling, you might consider assigning them to a desk job until life stabilizes.
  • Define Short-Term Accommodation: It is absolutely critical that the employee is clear that any flexibility or accommodation that is extended is on a short term basis only until the problem can be resolved. However, if it seems that the accommodations are to continue on a long term basis, the employee should be made aware that it may result in a change of job title or reduction in pay. It should not be communicated as a threat but simply that the company needs the employee to perform at the same level as previously provided for the long term.
  • Keep Communication Open: Be sure to check in with your employee on an on-going basis to ensure that steps are being taken to resolve the problem. Be sure to check on their well-being and to provide positive encouragement and reinforcement as the process continues.
  • Refocus Employee Upon Resolution: When the employee has successfully worked through their problem, be sure to congratulate them and then assist them to get back on track in their previous role. You want to ensure they are on the right path to success and advancement.

Warning Signs an Employee is Struggling

As a manager, you should be aware of the warning signs that indicate one of your employees may be facing a personal problem. These can include tardiness, absenteeism, emotional outbursts, or outward stress and anxiety among many others. The signs observed can also offer insight into the depth and severity of the problem. One personal issue that is becoming increasingly prevalent in the workplace is substance abuse. Substance dependency often appears initially in the workplace as performance or attendance issues. Supporting an employee who is struggling with substance abuse can be a huge challenge for any employer. While substance abuse is not a new phenomenon in society, employers still face challenges when it comes to determining how best to support an employee with this issue particularly with regard to locating assistance and providing accommodation. Carefully recommending accessing the employee assistance program to receive any available benefits through group health plans is a good way to assist employees dealing with deeper problems like substance abuse, depression, or family crises. It will be up to the employee to contact the employee assistance program counselors who can help them locate the professional resources that are best suited to their problem.

Managers must view employees as individuals each with their own personal strengths and challenges. It would be naïve to think that a company could enjoy an employee’s strengths without encountering any challenges or weaknesses on occasion. In general, the personal life of your employees is none of your business. However, it is impossible to keep work and personal lives completely independent of one another. Therefore, you will need to be able to effectively assist employees through personal problems in order to ensure that team productivity does not decrease and that human resources remain focused in order to achieve business objectives. Being tuned in and caring about your employees will always make you a more effective manager and help to increase productivity.[/wcm_restrict][wcm_nonmember]

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About the Author

Julie Bowen is a freelance writer and full-time mom. After graduating college, she put a lot of effort into her career as a businesswoman with several successful enterprises, but when motherhood came along, she decided it was time to pull back and take up her other passion, writing. Now she writes about business and finance and finds her work-life balance far more enjoyable. When not working and caring for her children, she likes to go for long walks with her dogs, though she is considering using Rollerblades so they can pull her.

Why Your Employees Count as Much as Your Clients

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Success in business begins with your people. The model is actually quite simplistic although not always easy to execute. What effective managers and leaders must recognize is that it begins with caring about the people who drive your business. But what distinguishes success is the recognition that businesses are driven not just by customers but by employees as well. Developing a culture of caring within your organization to engage your employees is vital to the strategy to drive success to your business.

Building a Customer Focused Environment

As customer expectations are constantly changing, it is ever more critical that businesses are in tune with those trends. It seems that every day expectations are rising rapidly with every transaction and interaction. In order to leverage the power of customer care in your business, it must be integrated into all aspects of your business by recognising your internal and external customers. Superior customer care can become a powerful business driver that is not centered on major investments but simply an awareness of how you do business. Ultimately, the more that you increase engagement with your customers and focus on taking a routine interaction and making it something memorable, the better chance you will have of creating an improved customer experience. But the process must begin with your employees, also known as your internal customers.

[wcm_restrict]Poor Management Leads to Poor Employees

Nothing will drive an employee away or decrease their performance and motivation faster than poor management practices. Examples include shouting, leaving problems unresolved, and offering harsh reprimands or critical feedback resulting in a climate of fear. Managers can have a pervasive impact on the daily work environment of an employee. Job satisfaction and productivity is directly related to relationships with superiors. Even if an employee likes the company, a negative relationship with a manager will impact the quality of the employee’s work life ultimately leading to a loss in productivity or complete loss of the employee.

That is where building a culture of caring can have a significant impact on your business. Managers and leaders are not made equal. While management focuses on control, organization, and supervision, leadership is the ability to inspire, motivate, and influence to empower others to create organizational success. But what separates managers from leaders is not power or control. It’s the ability to influence and inspire because while both types possess subordinates, managers focus on creating a circle of power while leaders design circles of influence. Leading by example is a key success factor and employees will reflect how they are treated upon your customers. In other words, if you would like your employees to care enough to reach above and beyond for your customers, leaders and managers must reach above and beyond when caring for their employees just like a good servant leader.

Empowering Employees Empowers Leaders

Great leaders like to be redundant. It’s not because they want to lose their jobs but simply because good leaders know that empowering employees to assume responsibility and make decisions will result in an environment where they are needed less so that they may have the time to think strategically and discover how to take the organization to the next level. Bad managers like to be indispensable typically believing that they are critical to the success of the business. But what they don’t realize is that they are damaging the business by failing to develop staff. Great leaders like to build capacity within a company to encourage others to reach their potential and be creative.

Building a culture of caring will transform the way your employees view their jobs and your customers. For example, in a climate of fear and micromanagement, a sales person might focus on the projected revenue of a prospective client, the anticipated results and closing date that were promised to the boss. But in a culture of caring, the sales person is customer focused concentrating on the environment, goals, challenges, and what defines or destroys success for the customer. The culture of caring creates a culture of empowerment with greater potential and more rewards.

The Culture of Caring Comes from the Top

If you would like your employees to demonstrate excellence in customer interactions, respect the business, and practice stewardship as a representative of the company, leaders must role model such behavior towards the employees. It’s as simple as treating your employees just like you would treat your customers.

Here are some best practices:

  • Interact: Understanding the needs of your customer begins with curiosity. Building rapport with your client will build a loyal relationship. The same applies to employees. Get to know them!
  • Positive Attitude: The opposite of leader is not follower. It’s pessimism. If you want your employees to go the extra length for your guests, you must do so for them. Maintain a positive attitude to show that you can help your employees rise above any personal or professional problems or conflicts at work by offering constructive feedback and avoiding harsh or critical reprimands.
  • Ask Questions: While you may believe you know everything about your employees, like customers, expectations can change. Ask questions to ensure they are enjoying their job and don’t discount the little questions like asking how their day is going or how they enjoyed their weekend. These all add up to showing how much you care.
  • Resolve Problems: Most managers know exactly what will happen if they do not resolve a problem for a customer. The same applies to employees. Like customers, if problems go unresolved, they can grow beyond control and intoxicate the work environment spreading to other employees. This will affect morale and productivity.
  • Express Gratitude: Managers shouldn’t behave like know-it-alls. Building capacity for empowerment is also about recognizing strength. Thanking employees for feedback whether negative or positive is as important as thanking them for when they do a great job. It builds confidence and fosters a positive environment for healthy communication.

Many companies like to offer special gifts, a raise, or even paid time off. The best way to continue building the culture of caring is to offer performance incentives and gestures of gratitude for employees who demonstrate the culture in every aspect of their job from the way they treat the business to co-workers and customers. The leaders set the vision and the standards but it is your employees that make it grow. It can be as simple as recognizing a birthday. If caring is practiced in all aspects of your business, by the time a customer arrives, such behavior will become second nature to employees. In the same way a business would reward a loyal or important customer, businesses should also reward their most loyal and promising employees. As you get to know your employees, you will discover in what ways you can offer recognition that will be meaningful to them. The more that a leader demonstrates commitment to their employees and the culture of caring, the more that the employees will embrace it. This begins with leadership, not management.

If you focus on your employees as much as you focus on your clients, customers, and guests, you will rapidly see significant improvements in employee performance that will drive greater customer satisfaction and improved financial results. If work is considered a routine to most of your employees, find a way to make it a memorable day for them. You might be surprised just how far your business can grow when you allow your employees to build it![/wcm_restrict][wcm_nonmember]

Hi there! This article is available for free. Login or register as a StrategyDriven Personal Business Advisor Self-Guided Client by:

[reveal_quick_checkout id=”25489″ checkout_text=”Subscribing to the Self Guided Program – It’s Free!”]
 
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About the Author

Julie Bowen is a freelance writer and full-time mom. After graduating college, she put a lot of effort into her career as a businesswoman with several successful enterprises, but when motherhood came along, she decided it was time to pull back and take up her other passion, writing. Now she writes about business and finance and finds her work-life balance far more enjoyable. When not working and caring for her children, she likes to go for long walks with her dogs, though she is considering using Rollerblades so they can pull her.