Managers' Consultation

The Employee Assistance Program (EAP) provides supervisors, managers and Human Resource professionals support when assessing and managing an employee's performance problem.  When partnering with the EAP a manager enhances decision making resources and gains an added perspective. 

Managers need support for an ever-increasing number of organizational and staff issues that arise virtually every day.  Management consultations are available to supervisors to resolve workgroup problems, including recognizing and referring troubled employees, dealing with behavioral issues and other concerns.  These consultations are related to three personnel situations faced by managers and supervisors: Job Performance, Crisis Intervention, and Employee Conflict. 

Job Performance

We recognize that the causes for declining job performance are numerous. When job performance becomes an issue it must be addressed. An EAP Consultation provides management with necessary tools to deal with impaired performance that has not been solved effectively through normal management intervention. Typically, these situations involve employees with negative changes in productivity, increased absenteeism, attitude changes, personality conflicts, concentration difficulties, or reporting to work in no condition perform their duties.

Counselors coach managers to have a performance discussion with the employee and decide whether or not to refer the employee to EAP. Managers are coached to focus on performance issues and avoid the temptation to diagnose the employee’s personal problem. It is often in the job performance discussion that the employee cites personal and family problems at the root of their poor job performance.

Crisis Intervention

A crisis intervention consultation is available to managers facing an acute incident in the workplace. These situations generally involve employees in psychological turmoil who are losing appropriate behavioral control or are engaged in violent conflict with other employees. EAP counselors coach the manager on resolving the immediate crisis and develop a follow-up plan to evaluate and improve the precipitating cause(s).

Employee Conflict

Managers facing issues such as employee resistance to supervision, chronic employee conflict, employees returning from medical leave, rumors/innuendo, role clarification between supervisor and friend, and dealing with difficult performance discussions are typical issues EAP staff counsel managers on.

Ultimately a managers responsibility is to provide an efficient and effective team achieving quality results. By assisting managers in mapping out a discussion on the employee's performance and assessing the appropriateness of an EAP referral a manager can feel supported and do what is expected. Managing their team.