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Reaching Out to Troubled Employees

A Guide for Chairpersons and Supervisors
Counseling Services provides consultation and referral services for University faculty and staff. Chairpersons and supervisors may consult with us regarding issues such as conflict resolution, working with difficult people, improving communication skills, team building, and creative problem solving. We are also able to provide referrals for those faculty/staff interested in personal counseling for themselves.

Signs Suggesting Need for Counseling:

  • Frequent lateness or absence

  • Decline in work quality

  • Frequent emotional outbursts

  • Deterioration of job performance

  • Unusual behavior

  • Physical signs, such as reddened eyes, slurred speech, odor of alcohol

  • Reference to personal problems

You can be most helpful to your staff if...

  • You have established clear performance expectations for those you manage or supervise.

  • You can document specific examples of problems, when and where they occurred, and why you are concerned. Describe these and relate them to job expectations.

  • You can describe patterns of behavior rather than isolated incidents. There may be explanations for individual incidents, but describing a pattern is more effective when discussing a problem with an employee.

 

Families and Children
Counseling for families and children is available at Community Psychological Service, 232 Stadler Hall, (314) 516-5824.  

 

Other Ways We Can Be Of Help

Consultation
There are times when a chairperson or supervisor is concerned about an employee and would find it helpful to consult with an outside professional regarding whether to approach/ how to approach a troubled employee. It is often easier for an outside party to be more objective about a situation. Early consultation can often help to deter a major problem. We will be happy to consult with chairpersons and supervisors in these situations. All information is kept confidential.

Training
We will be happy to work with departments to provide training in areas such as communication skills, team building, stress management, conflict resolution or other needs you may have. We can also train managers, supervisors or department chairs on ways to recognize and refer the alcoholic employee.