DOT Training and Reasonable Suspicion Tip 10: “But we’re friends!”

Here is another tip for you to consider in your DOT Training for Supervisors.
If you are friends with your employee, you will face a challenge in recommending a drug test.

If you socialize and drink with your employee, this challenge is made even more difficult—something to think about if you currently engaged in this behavior.

Consider this: Most supervisors will put their own job security ahead of such friendships when drinking or drug use facilitates a crisis at work.

Don’t accept guilt trips or appeals to loyalty. Testing will not hurt a true friendship, and it may prevent a crisis that forces you to make a choice.

The next time someone makes this kind of appeal to you, ask yourself what kind of example it sets to other employees if word gets out.

At the very least, you’ll be viewed as an unscrupulous supervisor who plays favorites.

If your employee persists in demanding special treatment, explain the negative repercussions you face by breaking the rules. A true friend will understand the terrible spot this puts you in and should be unwilling to put you at risk.

You don’t have to wait until this happens to head off an uncomfortable situation. Be clear with all subordinates that you only wear the “boss hat” while at work and that no special favors should be expected.

DOT Training and Reasonable Suspicion Tip 9: “Let’s keep it between ourselves.”

Here is another tip for you to consider in your DOT Training for Supervisors.
Don’t become your employee’s confidant. It’s an inappropriate mixing of roles, and it comes back you haunt you. If you’re the type of supervisor who seeks approval, you’re vulnerable to this sort of manipulation.

This excuse trap may be particularly difficult for the supervisor who perceives being a confidant as a way to be liked by an employee with significant influence

Once you assume the role of confidant, you it may be difficult to extricate yourself from it. You may find yourself being asked to keep more secrets, bend additional rules, or find yourself further entwined with your employee’s personal life and problems.

The leverage gained by keeping an employee’s secrets is largely an illusion. In reality, you’ve elevated your employee’s ability to defy your wishes. After all, you broke the rules, too, by helping him keep his infraction a secret.

Don’t put yourself in a position to be harmed by aiding a cover up. Be empathetic, but stay neutral and play it by the book.

DOT Training and Reasonable Suspicion Tip 8: “Let’s wait and see.”

Here is another tip for you to consider in your DOT Training for Supervisors.
Asking for a “wait and see” approach is usually an employee’s way of asking for a 2nd chance. It basically promises that the offending behavior won’t occur again if only you’ll overlook it just this once.

It seems reasonable. Everyone deserves the benefit of the doubt, right? What if it was one isolated screw up? You wouldn’t want to mess with someone’s job over a simple mistake, would you?

Well, there’s a problem with that. If you decide to “wait and see if it happens again” before acting on your drug testing policy, chances are you’re simply procrastinating. You’re also enabling. If injury or death on the job—or off the job—occurs, you’ll be sick with regret over why you didn’t act when you had the chance. And that may be the least of your problems. You may have also exposed you and your employer to severe legal consequences.

There’s no upside here for you. You have no guarantee from your employee that this won’t happen again. All you have are the panicked reassurances of someone who is right now very afraid of being punished. Now is not the time to put yourself in a bad spot. Right now your job is to determine whether your employee is under the influence of drugs or alcohol. That’s it. The issue of 2nd chances is one that can be decided upon later.

DOT Training and Reasonable Suspicion Tip 7: “It’s okay, I’m back in treatment.”

Here is another tip for you to consider in your DOT Training for Supervisors .
Employees with unmanaged or untreated alcohol or drug problems frequently know more about their problem than others around them. They know exactly what they should be doing to treat their illness—but don’t.

Motivational presentations and demonstrations of sudden insight are usually manipulative in nature. They can sway unwitting supervisors from acting on the drug testing policy. Be aware that anyone who has an untreated alcohol or drug problem is desperate to avoid confronting the problem. The need to use and the short term pain of withdrawal are so overwhelming that the substance abuser will resort to actions that seem far out of character.

It doesn’t matter whether a substance abuser has never had treatment or is currently relapsing. The behavioral patterns are the same. One unfortunate side effect of treatment is that it sometimes teaches relapsed substance abusers how to “fake it” by saying the right things to convince others that there isn’t a problem.

Being in treatment doesn’t give anyone a free pass. Most drug and alcohol treatments emphasize the substance abuser’s responsibility in regaining lost trust and credibility. If you suspect an employee is under the influence of drugs and alcohol, then document and test to confirm whether or not your observations are correct. It’s the only way to be sure.

DOT Training and Reasonable Suspicion Tip 6: “Who me?! Do I look drunk to you?”

Here is another tip for you to consider in your DOT Training for Supervisors.
Maybe you can’t walk straight when you’re intoxicated, but plenty of other people can. And one of them might be your employee. An employee may be “plastered” but not show it. The only indication of intoxication may be alcohol on the breath.

Alcoholics and drug addicts who drink, characteristically has high tolerance—the ability to consume large quantities of alcohol or drugs and not appear intoxicated. An alcoholic employee with alcohol on his breath could be two to three times over the “legal” limit, but could appear unaffected.

By letting yourself be talked out of documenting and testing for intoxication, you’re being manipulated.

If you’re worried about insufficient documentation, don’t forget that if you smell alcohol, then you have sufficient reasonable suspicion to refer to testing. You’re organization’s drug testing policy is written to protect you and the organization, even if there is a false test later. So don’t back off. Even if you turn out to be wrong, you were right. You made the right call.

DOT Training and Reasonable Suspicion Tip 5: “You’ll ruin my career.”

Here is another tip for you to consider in your DOT Training for Supervisors.
Manipulation is at hand, and ploy is “fear of lawsuit” and “guilt”.

Your employee can’t see the future and neither can you. Second, even if you could know all possible outcomes of documenting your suspicions and scheduling an alcohol test, you do your employee no favors by giving into manipulation. An employee knows they are manipulating in the “you’ll ruin my career” threat.

Allowing an employee to convince you that a drug test will be harmful to his or her career and life is called enabling. Enabling is behavior that appears compassionate on its face, but ultimately harms the substance abuser by allowing destructive behaviors to continue without consequence. “If you remove the pain, you are buying the next drink.”

Remember this: Whatever negative consequences follow, they are a direct result of your employee’s alcohol or drug affected decisions and actions. You are not the cause of his/her problems. In fact, your intervention to help solve problems makes the underlying problem worse.

This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t be empathetic and compassionate. Most companies have policies that support employees getting treatment and remaining employed. Do everything in your power to make these policies work for your employee. Even if your company does not provide help with substance abuse and fires for one positive test, it still saves lives—the employee’s life and others.

DOT Training and Reasonable Suspicion Tip 4: “I have used.”

Here is another tip for you to consider in your DOT Training for Supervisors.
Occasionally employees will fully own up to their actions. Their honesty means “I need help” and frequently signals a substance abuse problem. Employees who admit to using drugs or alcohol should still be tested.

The goal of an employee who discloses use is sympathy. If you employee can garner sympathy from you, you might discuss the problem, and better yet accept the employee’s explanation, plans for treatment, and tale of whoa.

Manipulation is the goal. If your employee has a substance abuse problem, this may be the proverbial “rock bottom” moment. It is that incidental opportunity to get help. That starts with a drug test. Expect your employee to display distress, feelings of hopelessness, sadness, and remorse. But don’t feel guilty. Feel empowered.

Don’t make false promises out of sympathy. The main priority is getting the employee help through testing.”

After you’ve tested your employee, make sure that he has emotional support. If your organization provides employee assistance services, it is likely they are involved in the testing and assessment pathway. If not, encourage your employee to take advantage of services to which he or she may be referred.

DOT Training and Reasonable Suspicion Tip 3: “It’s medicine!”

Here is another tip for you to consider in your DOT Training for Supervisors.
This is a claim that requires you to be very careful about your approach. It might be medicine; it might be alcohol. Deal with your employee with the idea in mind that she might be telling you the truth. A false accusation can carry negative consequences for years. If an innocent employee believes you’ve impugned her integrity, your relationship may be permanently harmed.

This does NOT mean you should back off. Politely ask your employee for specifics about her medication—what it is, when it was prescribed, its side effects, and whether she can produce the medicine bottle or a prescription. You can also ask for contact information for the physician who prescribed the medicine. Carefully document each response.

Remember, if it smells like alcohol, then you can support your documentation even if you turn out to be wrong. What the employee claims that you smell is not part of the “screening out” process. This is about your observations, not someone else’s assertions.

Mixing alcohol with some medications can exaggerate their side effects. It’s possible that your employee is telling you the truth about her medication, but has also consumed alcohol. Or your employee may be abusing her medication by taking it in greater amounts than prescribed.

Don’t pressure yourself to figure everything out on the spot. Let your observations guide whether there’s reasonable suspicion and allow testing to make the final judgment.

DOT Training and Reasonable Suspicion Tip 2: “It’s mouthwash.”

Here is another tip for you to consider in your DOT Training for Supervisors.
This statement can put you in a tough spot because it seems plausible enough to introduce doubt. Don’t let this sway you from testing your employee.

If you can smell alcohol on your employee’s breath, then you can document it to support a test for reasonable suspicion. You’re also likely to have other supporting evidence like slurred speech, erratic behavior, trouble walking, etc. If your employee has been at work for awhile, you can ask him/her to show you the mouthwash, but don’t require it.

You’re focused on smell. It doesn’t make any difference whether the employee used mouthwash or not. Ethyl alcohol-based beverages and their metabolization have a common smell. The supervisor does not have to describe the smell of alcohol. “I smelled alcohol” is good enough. Document your observations and administer a test as quickly as reasonably possible.

Be careful not to accuse or rush to judgment. It might be mouthwash, or maybe not. Avoid getting into arguments with your employee. Your goal should be to keep your employee calm and allow your testing to determine whether there’s a significant amount of alcohol in his/her system. You don’t have to prove anything right now other than reasonable suspicion. Explain to your employee that the best way to clear up any confusion is take a required test.

Keep in mind that your employee may be telling you the truth and still be intoxicated. Some alcoholics in the later stages of the disease have consumed mouthwash in quantities large enough to induce intoxication—some mouthwashes are 50 proof or more. Alcohol rehabilitation facilities ban mouthwash based on their potential for abuse.

DOT Supervisor Training and Reasonable Suspicion Trap 1: “I haven’t had a drink since last night!”

Here is another tip for you to consider in your DOT Supervisor Training.
In the heat of the moment, this excuse can seem quite reasonable, especially for those of us who have had a few late nights ourselves. Here’s something you probably won’t consider in the heat of the moment—just how long ago was “last night”?

Depending on when your employee stopped drinking, it can be as few as 3-4 of hours. Knocking off at 4am and catching a couple hours of sleep before work may fool your employee into thinking it’s a new day, but he can’t fool his body. Sleeping doesn’t metabolize alcohol and sober you up any faster than if you were awake.

But isn’t even 4 hours long enough to sober up? Not necessarily. Don’t make the mistake of projecting your own consumption habits onto your employee. He may have consumed an amount that far exceeds your own capacity. If your employee has a substance abuse problem, it’s far more likely that he’s been engaging in binge drinking. Having 10 or more drinks in one sitting is not unheard of.

Employees who have a high tolerance to alcohol could have their last drink late at night and still be under the influence well after sunrise. They don’t have to drink just before coming to work or first thing in the morning to be under the influence. Don’t let this statement convince you that a test is unnecessary.

Let me offer a little brain teaser

An employee tests positive for marijuana is evaluated and referred to an addiction treatment program. Fine enough, but then this employee is in treatment getting more education about alcohol and marijuana. She calls you up and says, "get me out of here", they think I am an alcoholic.
What are you going to do?

I have seen supervisors fall prey to this game and give permission for their employee to leave! Assuming your employee is not alcoholic, several factors may explain her treatment. The most important is the nature of effective addiction treatment, which is founded on helping patients see the need to remain abstinent from all mood-altering substances, including alcohol. Because alcohol is legal and easily obtained, a strong emphasis on understanding alcoholism and on acquiring motivation for abstinence is needed. Your employee is being treated for addictive disease. Her drug of choice may be marijuana. The continued use of alcohol is a key predictor of eventual use of the primary drug of choice for any addict. Although understanding the harmful effects of marijuana is important, your employee will hear a lot about alcohol in any effective treatment program. The recovery principles are virtually the same no matter what the drug of choice.

Conduct Unbecoming is Powerful Leverage

Last week your assistant manager got in a bar brawl and then was arrested, only to be in the local newspaper the next day, which clearly embarassed your company. Then a couple days later, one of your truck drivers lost his license due to a drunk driving conviction that occurred while he was not on duty. Yep, the public found out about that one too.

Your employees have behaved in a way that represents conduct unbecoming an employee of your organization. This doctrine -- conduct unbecoming -- was originally developed by the military to address problem behavior among military officers. So, it is a military term originally, but don't think for a minute that this is only a military term.

Many companies are now beginning to adopt this behavior standard to deal problems similiar to the ones with these two employees. Talk to your company attorney. See if you can get a policy concerning "conduct unbecoming an employee", but not necessarily to fire employees. Instead use it as a lever to motivate acceptance of help from the company employee assistance program. Frequently conduct unbecoming is related things like alcoholism, gambling, anger management issues, domestic violence issues, drug use and many more.

If so with violations of conduct unbecoming, you have a lot of leverage, not to fire your best and brightest, but to motivate them to accept help for personal problems that have brought disrepute. With this leverage, you can get the employee to the EAP by using job security as a proactive lever to gain compliance.

Be careful. Always coordinate discipline decisions with your human resource advisor. One issue that requires attorney opinion is how to act on such a policy and avoid being accused by the employee of defaming his or her character. If an employee can point to the employer and say it imputed incompetence, stupidity, unworthiness of continued employment, or dishonesty to the employee, then their is a case for a defamatory claim.

Conduct unbecoming -- is it in your employee handbook?

Supervisors with No Authority to Conduct Evaluation

Have you experienced this problem: You supervise your employee’s work, but do not conduct her performance evaluations? This dynamic invites enormous and frequently conflicts that will prompt your employee to run to the next level supervisor for every one --the supervisor who conducts performance evaluations. Although most employees naturally accept delegated authority in supervision relationships, if you do not conduct your employee’s performance evaluation or have no role in its final outcome, your employee will not feel accountable to you. This dynamic contributes to conflicts. A troubled employee may take advantage of this situation, making it difficult to correct performance. Conflicts can increase if the manager at the next level (who does conduct performance evaluations) acts as an accessible arbitrator. This can cause the troubled employee to feel a safe harbor exists, reduce motivation for correcting performance, and reinforce the perception of non-accountability to the immediate supervisor. The interventions for this problem include reinforcing proper communication channels by requiring the employee to go through the supervisor first, making the immediate supervisor's contributions to the performance evaluation weigh heavily. Never ask your "assistant supervisor" to supervise an employee, but refuse to give this person evaluation authority in some small respect. A little is all it takes to completely change this destructive dynamic.

Reasonable Suspicion Excuse Trap #2: "Hey, It's Mouth Wash

Tip 2: “It’s mouthwash.”

This statement can put you in a tough spot because it seems plausible enough to introduce doubt. Don’t let this sway you from testing your employee.

If you can smell alcohol on your employee’s breath, then you can document it to support a test for reasonable suspicion. You’re also likely to have other supporting evidence like slurred speech, erratic behavior, trouble walking, etc. If your employee has been at work for awhile, you can ask him/her to show you the mouthwash, but don’t require it.

You’re focused on smell. It doesn’t make any difference whether the employee used mouthwash or not. Ethyl alcohol-based beverages and their metabolization have a common smell. The supervisor does not have to describe the smell of alcohol. “I smelled alcohol” is good enough. Document your observations and administer a test as quickly as reasonably possible.

Be careful not to accuse or rush to judgment. It might be mouthwash, or maybe not. Avoid getting into arguments with your employee. Your goal should be to keep your employee calm and allow your testing to determine whether there’s a significant amount of alcohol in his/her system. You don’t have to prove anything right now other than reasonable suspicion. Explain to your employee that the best way to clear up any confusion is take a required test.

Keep in mind that your employee may be telling you the truth and still be intoxicated. Some alcoholics in the later stages of the disease have consumed mouthwash in quantities large enough to induce intoxication—some mouthwashes are 50 proof or more. Alcohol rehabilitation facilities ban mouthwash based on their potential for abuse. Alcohol and Drug Training Certification for Supervisors

Reasonable Suspicion Trap #1: "I haven't had a drink since last night!"

In the heat of the moment, this excuse can seem quite reasonable, especially for those of us who have had a few late nights ourselves. Here's something you probably won't consider in the heat of the moment--just how long ago was "last night"? And, quite frankly, its irrelevant. Is the smell there? But, let's play along for a minute.

Depending on when your employee stopped drinking, it can be as few as 3-4 of hours.

Knocking off at 4am and catching a couple hours of sleep before work may fool your employee into thinking it's a new day, but he can't fool his body. Sleeping doesn't metabolize alcohol and sober you up any faster than if you were awake.

But isn't even 4 hours long enough to sober up? Not necessarily. Don't make the mistake of projecting your own consumption habits onto your employee. He may have consumed an amount that far exceeds your own capacity. An alcoholic with a high tolerance who drinks 12 beers, and then quits at midnight will still be drunk the next day at 8 a.m., and especially if there are any sort liver problems. And they're probably are.

Employees who have a high tolerance to alcohol could have their last drink late at night and still be under the influence well after sunrise. They don't have to drink just before coming to work or first thing in the morning to be under the influence. Don't let this statement convince you that a test is unnecessary.

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Hey, what a great group of cool people we have in our office

Okay so you have nice informal work environment, no ties, everybody "high-fiving", no problems--even a softball team! So you make frequent "crude" and embarrassing sexual remarks to both men and women in your work group. Not one has ever complained, plus you're not talking and much less not targeting anyone. Hey, it like TV! You know, "that's what she said". You're pretty "rowdy" group and some of us even respond with approval at times. It can't be sexual harassment if no one person is the "target" of this behavior, right.

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That would be great, and just like TV, but unfortunately, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals (one that many don't particularly enjoy hearing from) recently ruled that harassing, abusive, and crude remarks can constitute sexual harassment, even though a supervisor directed the comments to all employees. The important question to ask in all sexual harassment cases is this: Is the supervisor's conduct sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the conditions of employment and create a hostile or abusive working environment. If so, the issue turns to whether the employer, when informed of the abusive behavior, took prompt action to remedy the situation. If supervisors remember this description, much of the gray area of questionable behavior will become clear. Also, even if a supervisor's conduct is equally degrading to both men and women, it does not make the conduct immune from liability for sexual harassment.

Do Investigations Correctly So You Don't Investigated Later!

Are there commonly used guidelines for investigating incidents in the workplace associated with disturbing employee conduct?

Well, Rule #1--talk to your human resource manager or other adviser to you don't blow this one. That being said, investigations follow a logical path to gather information about an event so that a reliable conclusion about what happened can be drawn. You must start of thinking that you are on a hopscotch. You're going to take it one square at a time.

Many organizations have specific procedures to follow concerning things like sexual harassment and other severe events, so inquire about how to conduct these types of investigations.

Generally speaking, consider these steps when investigating other conduct-related incidents: First, notify your supervisor about any incident you think needs investigating. Next, interview parties separately, and in private (ask for all details, and ask for the names of any witnesses). Create a written list of your questions so things stay consistent. Third, keep the information you collect confidential from others you interview - persons involved in an investigation are not entitled to the results of your interviews. Fourth, do not form opinions as you investigate - just write down exactly what is said and move quickly in your investigation; and fifth, arrive at a conclusion - do not disclose the nature of administrative or disciplinary actions, if any, to complainants or witnesses. With this information, discuss your findings with a confidentially approved party. That could be an attorney, but do not forget your employee assistance program professional. Lots of confidentiality there. This might be your final stop before a decision or taking the results to the next level of management.

Employee Complaints about Supervisors

After are finished reading this post, see the 14 Vital Skills Program at
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Certainly you've wondered from time to time what the biggest complaints are about supervisors. There is an answer to this question that I will share. However, what you really should be asking is whether you have the guts to resolve personal issues you possess that contribute to one or more of these complaints if you perpetrate any of them.

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The following are the most common complaints employees have about their supervisors. A personal inventory of whether any of these issues come between you and those you supervise may help you determine whether your relationships with subordinates are functional.

1. My boss plays favorites with subordinates.

2. My boss doesn't listen to my problems.

3. I don't know what my boss thinks of my performance.

4. My boss doesn't possess the interpersonal skills needed to handle
people properly.

5. My boss lacks trust and confidence in me.

Nuff said!

The Employee Straightened Up, So Why Do I Not Want to Treat Him Like It

Okay, so you confronted your long-term, problematic poor performer. You put the fear of God in him, and he went for some sort of help. What ever it was, it worked. Now he wants a different relationship with you, but you're still not over your anger about his irresponsibility for the past several years. You need to get over this attitude and fast.

This is not your spouse who suddenly decided to get sober. I have seen relapses happen over this sort of thing. The problem: You have a mindset and a well-honed "neurologic" pathway in your brain of seeing your employee as a loser. Now, you need the help. Not him.

This is the same syndrome that is experienced by family members when an alcohol or drug addict finally recovers--seriously recovers. Do you realize that you can, by your attitude, create a situation where your employee relapses into poor performance again. If this happens, you will of course blame the employee, but what you did was PROVOKE IT.

So, it is normal and natural to get mad at your employee for wasting years of time and along with it lost productivity. You won however. You salvaged your employee.

Often, supervisors feel that a troubled employee put the workplace through a long period of disruption before he or she finally sought help. Consider the following in order to acquire a more positive attitude and lessen the likelihood that you could act provocatively and jeopardize your employee’s progress: 1) Assume employees want to do a good job and feel good about their work. 2) Believe that some personal problems do not easily permit self-diagnosis or self-motivated decisions to seek help. Instead, some personal problems and diseases are naturally fought with denial until consequences nearly overwhelm the victim or others. 3) With this understanding, focus on the present and reinforce the changes made by your employee. This will increase productivity and help you develop a more supportive attitude.

Reduce Supervisor Stress: Max Out on Using Your Organization's EAP

Many of you looking to improve your supervisory skills have employee assistance programs available to you for consultation through your company. The problem is that I am the first one to tell you this.

It is likely that you have therefore not had an orientation with a representative from the managed care company that runs you organization's employee assistance program, correct? This is par for the course these days, but it did not used be this way. Decades ago, supervisor training was a must, and it paid off. If you had one of these orientations, the professional counselor would give you instructions about how to refer an employee who was having job problems. So, let me give you a few helpful hints righ now. Although there are many different styles of confronting employees and recommending use of the employee assistance program, some methods work better than others. One technique that reportedly works very well is reserving a prearranged appointment time for your employee when you initially consult with the EAP about the pending referral. If your company's employee assistance program does not have a provision that includes consulting with supervisors, it is flat out, a bogus program not worth a dang. Continuing on, when you meet with your employee and conduct your corrective interview, offer the prearranged appointment to the employee if he or she is willing to visit the EAP. Do not, however, require or strong-arm your employee into accepting the appointment time. Accept your employee's desire to make his or her own appointment if the prearranged appointment is refused. Your offer of the prearranged appointment should only be a convenience to facilitate follow-through in visiting the EAP upon your recommendation. (The sooner the appointment follows your corrective interview, the better.) Definitely always ask your employee to sign a release so you can verify attendance. Don't say that signing one is required unless you have "held in abeyance" the employee's termination in lieu of his or her choice to completely cooperate with the EAP. Most employees will sign a release. Then you will be able to communicate with the EAP, but not about details. Only verification of attendance and cooperation with the program's recommendation.

Supervisors: Tense and Nervous in Corrective Interviews

When you meet with an employee to conduct a corrective interview, are you sometimes tense, nervous and forgetful, or feel a little overwhelmed by the process? Well you are not alone. Very few people in supervisory positions would say they look forward to such meetings, but nevertheless, these meetings go with the territory. Here is how to make the supervisor's role a little easier to swallow. First, plan your meeting with the employee ahead of time. Don't make the meetings off the cuff. Be sure to write a list of your concerns and use it as outline in your discussion. There is nothing wrong with this approach. Review these points however before your meeting. They way you will be staring at notes less. Get your supervisor's support and input prior to your meeting in writing this increases your feelings of security and gives more authority to quell a belligerent or non-receptive response from your employee. Meet with the employee in your office (on your turf). Discuss the listed concerns and allow the employee to respond. Do not argue with your employee. Try to remain emotionally detached by seeing the goal of your meeting as helping the employee understand the relationship between unacceptable behavior and its possible consequences. This the right attitude and keeps the feeling of "character attack" out of the interview. Good luck. Here is a super-awesome set of supervisor handouts, and if you happened to be a human resources manager, this "kit of materials" will help your supervisor improve their relationships with employees and boost their productivity. See the "Deluxe Supervisor Reproducible Fact Sheet Kit"
If the employee remains argumentative or will not listen, end your meeting with plans to meet again soon. For specific help on constructive confrontation or how to confront an employee, the 14 Vital Skills for Supervisors.

"Leave the Poor Attitude at Home" Folks

As a supervisor, you have a job to do. So how much patience can you show toward employees who are struggle with personal issues, stress, or distress in their lives. Everybody has problems, but how should you respond so you don't fuel an Egyptian riot in your office?

First, lets get this straight. There is nothing wrong with expecting employees to have positive attitudes at work. Indeed, negative attitudes can be contagious, so your philosophy has merit. It’s possible that an employee with a negative attitude may be depressed, but you can't diagnose such a problem. You can, however, refer the employee to their doctor, an employee assistance professional, or ask them to contact a professional counselor if a negative attitude does not abate. Don’t dismiss it as a personality flaw or just the way your employees is. We are talking about risk management here. You want to act, not wait an see if the employee becomes violent someday. Consider whether the negative attitude of an employee points to needed changes or indicates a need to provide negative feedback to management. A negative attitude is different from whining, a behavior that grates on supervisors and generally has no problem-solving focus. Poor attitudes are valid performance concerns because they can be described in measurable terms based upon what is seen and heard. Their effect on others and their negative impact on morale can also be documented. Dealing with negative attitudes is part of a packet of workplace wellness tip sheets--all just for supervisors. Download these supervisor training skills handouts here.

Supervisor skills online training to help your management leadership team.

Methamphetamine and Drug Abuse in the Workplace

Don't be fooled with all the talk about Methamphetamine like it is something new. It's not. This nightmare substance that will enslave a user after one hit and turn them into something akin to a rotting corpse within a year is not new. I wrote an article in 1997 when law enforcement and federal government control agencies first started really focusing on this illicit drug. It has only gotten worse. "Ice" is a drug that has received a lot of attention in the media and become a major problem in our area of the country in recent years. What is it? "Ice" (you don't hear the term ICE used much, but it is still used) is the street name for a crystallized form of an illicit drug call methamphetamine hydrochloride. This drug is part of a class of drugs collectively known as amphetamines, which became highly regulated in 1965 to inhibit a black market that emerged from their abuse. There are several different types of amphetamines, and their effects are similar. Just as "Crack" is smokeable cocaine, "Ice" is smoke-able methamphetamine. The chemical properties of this drug are similar to cocaine, but the onset of its effects are slower and the duration is longer. Like cocaine, it is highly toxic and addictive. In general, chronic abuse of "Ice" produces a psychosis that resembles schizophrenia and is characterized by paranoia, picking at one's skin, severe dental problems, anger and rage-focused behavior. preoccupation with one's own thoughts, and auditory and visual hallucinations. Violent and erratic behavior is frequently seen among chronic abusers of amphetamines.

Supervisory Training and New Supervisor Training Tips for Managers and Leadership: Work-Life Balance -- Boulogne & Attendance Problems

Supervisory Training and New Supervisor Training Tips for Managers and Leadership: Work-Life Balance -- Boulogne & Attendance Problems

Work-Life Balance -- Boulogne & Attendance Problems

Is your employee late to work a lot? What about every day? So you don't want to fire the guy because he is a hard worker? Hmm. What to do, especially since he has told you his problem that he is having a hard time with work-family balance. So, what should you do? Believe him and refer him to the work-life coordinator over there in Building C, Room 0U812?

Absolutely not! That would be tantamount to accepting your employee diagnosis and signing off on the treatment plan. Here's the point. Encouraging use of the work-life program may be helpful, but it should not be an alternative or a substitute for a supervisor referral to the EAP which will be able to discover if the Work-Life program is appropriate. The expertise of the clinical professional associated with the EAP supercedes and takes priority over the skills of the work-life counselors. You are dealing with the attendance problem. Only a supervisor referral to the EAP is appropriate as an intervention for the attendance issue. From there, the EAP may suggest that the employee participate in the organization’s work-life program. It is possible that something beyond work-life balance issues contributes to your employee’s tardiness. Your employee may or may not be aware of these problems, their impact, or their cause. And it is likely that other problems would not be shared with you. It is therefore not good practice to accept on face value an employee’s personal explanation for performance problems by suggesting a source of help. Instead, let the EAP take this responsibility after completing an assessment. This will help ensure that the employee is referred to the best avenues of help.