Supervisor Confusion about Substance Abuse

I understand that alcohol and drug problems are costly problems for business and industry, but why is it so difficult for managers to identify poor job performance and refer such employees?

A. Employees with chemical dependency problems are unable to consistently control the time, place, and amount of alcohol or drug use. Behavior will eventually interfere with job performance, attendance, or quality of work. It can occur quickly in the case of some drug problems, but could take 15 to 20 years to become apparent for some alcoholic employees. This is frustrating for employers and also for the chemically dependent worker, who may do whatever is necessary to make up for job performance shortcomings. This explains the up-and-down performance pattern, improved performance that follows a corrective interview, or extra assignments that might be gladly accepted or requested. In response supervisors tend to grade on a performance curve, real or imagined, that is higher than actually deserved. In effect, the troubled employee's coping strategy to avoid confrontation works. Combine this pattern with well-practiced defenses used to explain other performance discrepancies, and you can easily see how difficult it can be to manage this type of employee.


Due to inaccurate in formation and mistaken beliefs about alcoholism or addictive disease, people who are close to the addict (alcoholic) "enable." This behavior pattern occurs in personal relationships with addicts, both at home and at work. There are usually persons in relationships with addicts who are considered primary enablers.


Enabling at work is behavior exhibited by coworkers or supervisors that helps the addict not realize or face the consequences of his/or her problem behavior resulting directly or indirectly from the alcohol or drug use. Enabling typically appears as the "right" thing to do in response to the problem behavior but helps the alcoholic or addict escape responsibility for actions or problematic events. The ability of the addict to deny, rationalize, externalize, and minimize problems while having others accept excuses and explanations


Enabling may be so well accomplished that the alcoholic or addict may appear as a person with no problems. In the earliest stages of addictive disease, this person could be perceived as the most competent, well-liked, and socially accepted worker in the organization. As addictive disease grows worse, problems follow --- and enabling increases. The alcoholic's past history of job success without problems may span decades. This keeps managers unsuspecting of an alcohol or drug problem. They easily believe some other problem explains job performance issues. These problems are often symptoms of the primary addiction. Supervisors or coworkers are easily led or manipulated to excuse, help, make up for shortcomings, or in other ways support and protect the addicted worker. These enabling patterns can continue in the face of late-stage addiction, such as alcohol on the breath, erratic and disturbing mood swings, and obvious withdrawal symptoms.


Eventually the enabling behavior becomes so automatic and institutionalized in the company, that only a crisis will break the pattern. Often this crisis is one that causes extreme embarrassment, financial loss, or other cost to the organization. Unfortunately, the response to such crises is often termination or transfer at great expense to the organization. The loss of a potentially valuable employee is the real tragedy. Sometimes medical retirements are arranged for workers who have become too ill to function. When this happens, the life span of such employees is often shortened, due to uncontrolled drinking supported by a fixed income. An ensuing decrease in the alcoholic’s interest in treatment and an increase in medical and social dysfunction accompany this financial independence.

When You Need to Be "De-Slobbed"

Q. I am not an organized person. I forget things, lose things, and keep a sloppy desk. I am good at what I do, however, and I have climbed the organization ladder rapidly. Now I need to hire an assistant. How do I hire someone who I won’t drive crazy with my behavior?

A. It sounds like you are a creative spirit, but could use some skills and coaching in the how to organize yourself and delegate properly. After hiring your assistant, you at risk for leaping between the extremes of refusing to delegate tasks to delegating wildly, sloppily, and hastily. The employee you hire will be the most important person in your business life. Assuming you don’t make dramatic changes, he or she will have to be very good at running behind, scooping up the pieces, and making sure initiatives get implemented. This key person has to cheerfully accept all this responsibility and, often, may have to practically read your mind. This is okay if the employee you hire loves this role. Some do. Other’s love it, but become controlling and manipulative because the supervisor cedes too much authority without accountability. Making some key changes now will set the stage for a gratifying relationship with your new hire.

Supervisors: Job Strain versus Job Stress

Q. One of my employees has returned to work following a heart attack. Is there anything I can do to help him not have another one? This is a pretty high stress environment. Should I talk him into reducing his hours? I don’t want to him to collapse here.


A. Your employee should let you know if he needs any help from the organization to support his recovery, but you can also ask how best to support him. Almost all jobs include stress. Beyond stress, is something called "job strain." Job strain is high psychological demand from work pressure combined with little ability to control it. (Feeling trapped like a rat is a good way to describe it.) Some research has shown job strain as a factor in the recurrence of heart attacks. In Japan, the word "karoshi" means "death from work." It is a widely studied social concern. To reduce job strain on employees, try reducing psychological pressure of work demands. If possible, increase the employee's control and decision making over those work demands. What about the long hours? In some studies, long work hours alone were not associated with recurrent cardiovascular events, only job strain. (Journal of Occupational Health, No. 45, 2005.)

Be Careful What You Promise

Q. My employee came to me and I promised her confidentiality in exchange for her telling me about her troubles at home. I should have referred her to the EAP, but now I feel I have information about her life at home that I should not keep confidential. What should I do.

A. Talk to the EAP about your difficult situation. Depending on the type of information that has been shared, the EAP will advise you on what to do. Some things learned in discourse with others should not be kept secret. For example, you should not promise to keep secret information you have about an intended suicide or a child being abused. But there are other examples, as well. You are not a professional counselor, so you’re stuck with the problem of making a judgment call. Privileged information, information governed by privacy laws, and confidentiality laws that prohibit or require disclosure are linked to who we are and what we do. Your experience demonstrates the importance of remaining in the role of a supervisor versus counselor. The EAP is better equipped with its experience, skills, and the confidentiality laws that govern it, to manage confidential information, just as you are better equipped at correcting of performance.

Who's More Important--the Employer or Employee?

Q. I have discovered since being a supervisor that it’s sometimes difficult to meet my employee’s needs and my employer’s equally. I try to draw a balance, but it is clearly not always possible. How do I straddling the fence of loyalty between these two groups better?

A. Being a good supervisor should not an issue of straddling the fence between competing groups. Every great supervisor knows that their first responsibility is to develop a productive relationship with employees so they can get the work done. A productive relationship means fairness, clear and good communication, recognition, and reward. This is how the needs of the employer are put first. The workplace must not be a “them versus us” game. Some supervisors do not understand this point. Because their employees are directly in front of them all the time, and their need to please is great, it’s easy hear employee complaints, be sympathetic, feel as though they are the “main thing.” Some managers may view themselves as “champions for the people.” This is role fraught with stress. There is nothing wrong with looking out for your employees, but if the needs of the organization are pushed to secondary place in the process, you will not serve either.

Supervisors and Job Strain

Q. One of my employees has returned to work following a heart attack. Is there anything I can do to help him not have another one? This is a pretty high-stress environment. Should I talk him into reducing his hours?

A. Your employee should let you know if he needs any help from the organization to support his recovery, but you can also ask how best to support him. Almost all jobs include stress. Beyond stress, is something called "job strain." Job strain is high psychological demand from work pressure combined with little ability to control it. (Feeling trapped like a rat is a good way to describe it.) Some research as shown job strain as a factor in the recurrence of heart attacks. In Japan, the word "karoshi" means "death from work." And it is a widely studied social concern. To reduce job strain on employees, try reducing psychological pressure of work demands. If possible, increase the employee's control and decision making over those work demands. What about the long hours? In some studies, long work hours alone were not associated with recurrent cardiovascular events, only job strain. (Journal of Occupational Health, No. 45, 2005.)

Why Employees "Peter Out" After Hire

Q. I have hired many employees, and most are enthusiastic go-getters in the beginning, but after several months their energy diminishes and they become just so-so in their productivity. What causes this, and should I refer them to our company employee assistance program when I see this happen?

A. When someone is fresh and new on the job, energy abounds. It’s like starting a new weight-loss program—nothing could be more exciting. But then things change. To understand diminishing enthusiasm after hiring, look at what is happening between the employee and management at the time of hire. In the beginning, especially the first couple of months, new employees are treated like celebrities. They may receive higher compensation than they had at their previous job. They are made to feel excited about the future, with anticipated achievements. And they experience camaraderie. Along with just compensation, achievement and camaraderie have been identified in many studies as essential to maintaining employee enthusiasm. It appears that in the beginning, much of what drives enthusiasm is naturally in place. Learn how to keep this motivating atmosphere thriving and you will impact enthusiasm favorably. If your attempts to fire up enthusiasm are not successful and productivity standards are not satisfactory, a referral to your organization's employee assistance program is a good idea.

Disorganized Supervisor: What to Do? Try this!

Q. I am not an organized person. I forget things, lose things, and keep a sloppy desk. I admit it, already! However, I am good at what I do. I have climbed the organization’s ladder rapidly. Now I need to hire an assistant. How do I hire someone whom I won’t drive crazy? I need someone organized, but let's put it this way, I won't be a good model of OCD illness to put it lightly.

A. It sounds like you are a creative spirit but could use some skills and coaching in how to organize yourself and delegate properly. After hiring an assistant, you are at risk for leaping between the extremes of refusing to delegate tasks to delegating wildly, sloppily, and hastily. Plan now to talk to consider a coach who specializes in organizational skills. There are such people. In fact, there are OCD-inclined individuals who actually have adapted to this dysfunction and created businesses ouf of it. (I am certain, someday, that some television program will be produced about this topic.) Go to Craigslist.com. You will certainly find such a person there. They are awesome. Then you will be prepared to hire someone and perhaps will have more organizational skills when they arrive. Try taking a look at 14 Vital Skills for Supervisors at the web site EAPtools.com to see if may contain helpful information for you. The employee you hire will be the most important person in your business life. Assuming you don’t make dramatic changes, he or she will have to be very good at running behind, scooping up the pieces, and making sure initiatives get implemented. This key person has to cheerfully accept all this responsibility and, often, may have to practically read your mind. This is okay if the employee you hire loves this role. Some do. Others love it but become controlling and manipulative because the supervisor has ceded too much authority without accountability. Making some key changes now will set the stage for a gratifying relationship with your new hire.

When the Supervisor Is Holding the Hot Potato

Q. One of my employees came to me and I promised her confidentiality in exchange for her telling me about her troubles at home. I should have referred her to our organization's counseling office, but now I feel I have information about her life at home that I should not keep confidential. What should I do?

A. Talk to the EAP about your difficult situation. Depending on the type of information that has been shared, the EAP will advise you on what to do. Some things learned in discourse with others should not be kept secret. For example, you should not promise to keep secret information you have about an intended suicide or a child being abused. There are other examples as well. You are not a professional counselor, so you’re stuck with the problem of making a judgment call. Privileged information, and information governed by privacy laws or confidentiality laws that prohibit or require disclosure, are linked to who we are and what we do. Your experience demonstrates the importance of remaining in the role of supervisor versus counselor. The EAP is better equipped, with its experience and skills, and the confidentiality laws that govern it, to manage confidential information, just as you are better equipped to correct performance.

Which comes first, employees or the company?

Q. Dan, I have discovered since being a supervisor that it’s sometimes difficult to meet my employees’ and my employer’s needs equally. I try to draw a balance, but it is clearly not always possible. How do I straddle the fence of loyalty between these two groups better?

A. This is a question many managers ask. I will try to be short and sweat about it. Being a good supervisor should not be an issue of straddling the fence between competing groups. Every great supervisor knows that the first responsibility is to develop a productive relationship with employees so they can get the work done. A productive relationship means fairness, clear and good communication, recognition, and reward for productivity. This is how the needs of the employer are best met. The workplace must not be a "them versus us" game. Some supervisors do not understand this point. Because their employees are directly in front of them all the time, and their need to please is great, it's easy to hear employee complaints, be sympathetic, and feel as though they are the "main thing." Some managers may view themselves as "champions for the people." This is a role fraught with stress. There is nothing wrong with looking out for your employees, but if the needs of the organization are pushed to second place in the process, you will not serve either.

Welcome to Supervisor Skills and Tips

Q. Don't employees with alcoholism or drug problems have to want treatment before it will work?

A. Most troubled employees with alcoholism or a drug addiction avoid the awareness of their health problem by avoiding responsibility for the indirect or direct consequences of the drug's use. Therefore, few will want treatment before treatment actually begins. Willingness to enter treatment by whatever means is considered far more important than wanting treatment. Treatment, which includes intensive education, helps alcoholics or drug addicts self-diagnose their illness. This means they come to acknowledge the existence of the illness and can identify their symptoms. Motivation to maintain abstinence and achieve sobriety in recovery follows, never beforehand. This is why it is considered a myth to think that alcoholics and drug addicts have to "want" treatment before it can work. Most alcoholics or drug addicts enter treatment under some sort of duress. Family pressure, medical problems, and pressure from employers are the most common reasons for admissions.

Since 1994, we have written nearly 800 questions and answers on the supervisor’s role in managing people using the FrontLine Supervisor newsletter. My goal has been to help supervisors feel better about what they do and enjoy their jobs more by supporting a pro-people, pro-organization workplace. FrontLine Supervisor newsletter one of the most widely read monthly publications on supervision in history. Thousands of companies get it, and in turn re-distribute the newsletter internally. My guess is over 200,000 supervisors read it. You can get a free trial subscription at http://eaptools.com/fsorderpage.html