Therapist, consultant, and disaster response expert William Maloney, MSW, LICSW, CTS knows what people do when they’re under stress, and it usually doesn’t include performing better in the workplace.
Positive employer/manager responses to on-the-job problems caused by personal stressors can benefit both the workplace and the employee, Maloney told a group of professionals at the February Business Networking Luncheon sponsored by Cook County Higher Education and the Northeast Service Cooperative at the Pie Place.
Maloney gave a PowerPoint presentation that stated, “Just one serious accident or one troubled employee can create major risks to a company’s survival. The cost of one employee’s [drug] habit can destroy a business.
“…Troubled employees are people experiencing a variety of family/personal problems which limit their ability to perform their job in an acceptable manner. Anyone can experience a personal problem or crisis that could ultimately affect job performance.”
Personal problems that can lead to a decline in job performance include depression, anxiety, chemical dependency, divorce, illness or death of a family member, parenting challenges, gambling addiction, financial stressors, legal issues, and relationship difficulties.
According to Maloney, studies show that 90 percent of all job performance problems are directly related to personal problems. An estimated 10 percent of an organization’s workforce will have personal or family problems at some point that will adversely affect job performance. One in 10 employees will experience problems with alcohol, and one in 12 full-time employees admit to being current drug abusers.
Employees with mental health or chemical dependency problems are 25-50 percent less productive, are absent three to six times more than other employees, are significantly more accident and error prone, make more worker’s comp claims, and use health insurance benefits two to five times more than non-troubled workers, according to Maloney.
Addressing mental health issues on the job
“Managers spend a majority of their supervisory time with only a small percentage of employees who are troubled,” according to Maloney. “It is more expensive to terminate [an employee], then hire and train a new employee, than it is to rehabilitate an experienced employee.”
Not ignoring a problem but confronting it in an appropriate way can be difficult, however, Maloney said. “Stay within your role,” he advised managers.
Maloney asked the audience what they would do if they read in the paper that an employee had been convicted of a DWI or if they suspected personal problems were affecting job performance. “If it’s compromising the work they do for you, that’s when it becomes your business,” one program director said.
Another administrator said she would offer employee assistance services and watch the employee more closely “because we would have concerns about possible impairment.”
Another professional considered speaking up about a DWI “a slippery slope,” but someone else thought it might be helpful to “open the door to the employee if you notice something.”
“Probably the No. 1 concern is confidentiality and privacy,” Maloney said, although most privacy breaches are committed by the employees themselves. Having a “delicate” conversation in which you let the employee know that you know – talking about “the elephant in the room” – can be a good idea, he said. Offering support without trying to become a confidante can be “a fine line,” he said.
The value of employee assistance programs
Maloney supported workplaces having employee assistance programs in which employees could confidentially access mental health services. One person suggested that a fear of getting an employee into trouble might keep some managers from suggesting that they get help. This wouldn’t be an issue, someone else said, if there wasn’t still such a stigma about needing mental health services.
While face-to-face services should be an option for employees, Maloney said, accessing help via telephone or email can also be useful. Some employees might worry about having their car parked in front of a therapy office or being gone for half a day each week to seek services outside Cook County. Locating mental health services in buildings with a lot of other professional offices can be helpful, Maloney said.
Dealing with stress
Anxiety is the No. 1 most diagnosed mental health disorder in the U.S., and anxiety and depression go together “like salt and pepper,” Maloney said. He ended his talk with some advice about how to deal with them, saying, “I don’t think we spend enough time talking about coping strategies.”
What is his No. 1 recommendation for coping with stressors for the benefit of both physical and mental health? Exercise. Sweating four times a week, he said, “will put Prozac out of business.”
According to mental health consultant William Maloney, who recently spoke to a group of Cook County professionals:
• About 29 percent of the population has either a mental disorder or addictive disorder.
• Mental illness is more common than diabetes, cancer, or heart disease and is the cause of four out of 10 cases of disability.
• Fifteen to 18 percent of any workforce has personal problems that affect job performance.
• Employee assistance programs (EAPs) save employers $5-16 for every dollar employers spend on them.
• EAPs reduce use of medical benefits by 33-66 percent, on-the-job accidents by 50-65 percent, worker’s compensation claims by 39 percent, and lost productivity time by 49 percent.
William Maloney is director of psychological support for the 148th Air National Guard in Duluth, the disaster preparedness coordinator for northeastern Minnesota under contract with the Minnesota Department of Health and Human Services, and a consultant and clinician in private practice.
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