Intervention in the Workplace: 4 Approaches

When an employee's productivity declines, the workplace has a right to intervene. With basic training and references on correct intervention, supervisors can often get  good results. When an employee wants to save his job, the supervisor may actually be in a better position to help than anyone else in the employee's life.

There are four approaches to intervention: informal, structured, executive, and peer.

1.  The informal intervention is just a discussion between a supervisor and the employee. Despite its informal nature, it is critical to have well-documented evidence of the problem. Examples  include lateness, absenteeism,  poor quality work , complaints from coworkers, missed deadlines, lying, and other unprofessional behavior. The supervisor may ask the employee to seek treatment on his own or ask an employee assistance professional (EAP) for a referral. Sometimes a supervisor may participate in a family intervention.

2.  A structured intervention is similar to a family intervention. An intervention team is assembled from coworkers, supervisors, and other management. Family members may also be included. The addict is not forewarned about the intervention. This is especially important when the addict may choose to leave the job rather than confront the addiction.

3.  Executive interventions are specifically for executive officers, senior partners in law firms, doctors, and other professionals. These interventions are more delicate for two reasons: Money and power can insulate the executive from the effects of addiction and make it more difficult to convince them to accept treatment. Any publicity about the addiction problem can create panic among employees and clients and create difficulty for the entire company. There are professional interventionists who specialize in handling executives, and they can help smooth out this difficult handling.

4   Peer intervention usually happens when coworkers are seriously affected by the addicts work performance. This kind of intervention frequently occurs among doctors, airline pilots, psychologists, and musicians. In this case, the coworkers usually make it clear that continuing employment may be dependent on recovery and may involve licensing boards, superiors, or even family.

When the workplace gets involved in intervention, the employee has a greater sense of accountability. Knowing his job is on the line, he is more likely to finish treatment, follow recovery guidelines from his counselor, and attend 12-step meetings. Because of this greater accountability, addicts who must answer to their employers generally have a greater success rate.

Families may be reluctant to involve work associates for fear of jeopardizing the addict's job, but this back-off is frequently unfounded.  Employers are often already aware of the problem and the addict may well be close to getting fired anyway.   Any intervention for an addict who is employed should take into account the possibility of including the supervisor or a co-worker.