Powerful Strategy for Traditional EAP Impact and Relevance: ONBOARDING

Have you heard of the term "onboarding"? If you are not familiar with this term, which is part of the human resources lexicon, chances are you are NOT maximizing your ability to become a more highly integrated, relevant, and indispensable part of your work organization. And, your EAP may be at risk as a result.

Onboarding is a way to socialize employees who are new to the organization. It is a recognized procedure and purposely designed system to help new employees become knowledgeable about the organization and understand the many cultural nuances and important behaviors to practice that will help the new employee be successful. Part of the onboarding process is always to meeting effective and important employees or managers within the organization--the inside players, who can point the way toward the employee's success.

If you think that this post is about making sure you conduct EAP orientations for new employees, it's not. Onboarding is much more. It is about employees meeting YOU--the EAP personally--where you can engage them individually and COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY DESTROY myths and misconceptions about the EAP that are certain to permeate the employee's awareness about what you do and who you are. You get first crack at establishing a relationship with the employee and immunize them against counterproductive beliefs concerning the program, particularly, lack of confidentiality.

You can make an impact on this problem without a one-on-one interview with each new employee. To the degree possible, you need to figure out how to make this happen. I am working on a powerpoint video, web course called 25 Ways the EAP Can Help. When it is done, you should get it. And you should make it a part of your "onboarding" requirement for every employee. Then, watch the impact of its use.

I think you need to use this product IF you can't personally meet with every employee. In the future, I will make a web course out of it with 25 questions and a Certificate of Completion. It will powerfully and very simply, drive home the value of EAP in ways employees have not typically considered. It will improve top-of-mind visibility and EAP utilization, probably overnight.

You will be able to directly email the link to this movie to any new employee or hundreds of new employees and the exact same time if you have an email list for your use. 

Okay, enough preaching. Go to this link below on Wikipedia and read about "ONBOARDING". When you do, I want you to keep this thought in your mind: How is this process of onboarding relevant to EAPs and is there a role for the EAP in being closely associated with it? What is the value to the EAP for being included beyond employee orientation sessions, that may or may not be attended by every employee? What might employees learn from the EAP during an "onboarding" meeting that may cause them to return to the EAP in the future. How could onboarding help dispel myths about the EAP that would increase its utilization? How could onboarding keep our EAP from closing down, being farmed out to managed care, or severely cut? How could onboarding make the EAP a more inclusive part of the work organization's culture? OK, now ready all about Onboarding

^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onboarding}

Teaching and Understanding Childhood Stress Management Skills

Are children more stressed today than in years past? Tougher academics, more competition, social challenges, health risks, and rapid-fire audiovisual hype from media certainly appear greater. The uncertainty of a secure financial future is felt by 30% of children, says one research study. Coping isn’t about eliminating stress. It’s about learning resistance and adaptation skills. Exercises abound for teaching kids stress management, but cover these bases: Learn sleep skills, relaxation skills, detachment-from-worry skills, how to understand positive thinking, the benefits of proper diet and regular exercise, and how to pursue balance. Improved self-esteem, increased self-confidence, improved creativity, and healthier relationships with peers and family will result. Consider downloading and saving a copy of this government report on child stress, and then give it to your clients and other could benefit.
http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/pub-res/pdf/Childhood_Stress.pdf

Inhalant Abuse: NIDA Report Update Sept 2012

I almost missed it (actually I did, but found it soon enough). The National Institute on Drug Abuse has updated its report on inhalant abuse. You can it here along with recent research on the subject.

Provides scientific research on the nature and extent of inhalant abuse, its potential health consequences, and hazards of chemicals found in commonly abused inhalants.

NIH Pub Number: 10-3818
Published: May 1999
Revised: Sept 2012
Author: National Institute on Drug Abuse

All materials appearing in the ​Research Reports series are in the public domain and may be reproduced without permission from NIDA. Citation of the source is appreciated.

Table of Contents
       What are inhalants?
    What is the scope of inhalant abuse?
    How are inhalants used?
    How do inhalants produce their effects?
    How can inhalant abuse be recognized?
    What are the short- and long-term effects of inhalant use?
    What are the other medical consequences of inhalant abuse?
    What are the unique risks associated with nitrite abuse?
    Where can I get more scientific information on inhalant abuse?
    Glossary
    References 

Group #9 EAP Fact Sheets Released

EAP Tip Sheets for EAPs
Group #9 is now available.

Reproducible and Editable Tip Sheets, Group #9 is now available. You can print the brochure from this link.
The titles include:

1. What to Do about Compassion Fatigue
2. Protecting Your Kids from Stealth Marketing
3. Stopping Intimate Partner Violence
4. Using Email Appropriately at Work
5. Distracted Driving and You
6. The Sleepy Employee
7. When You Are Facing Personal Change
8. Creating a Welcoming Workplace for Disabled Workers
9. Understanding Workplace Survivor Syndrome
10. Holiday Eating Tips
11. Using Emotional Intelligence to Boost Customer Satisfaction
12. Do You Know about Your Teenager's Friends?
13. Saying "No" to Your Child
14. Teaching Kids to Save Money
15. Commonsense Communication at Work

You can print the brochure from this link.

To see all available reproducible workplace wellness and productivity tip sheets, visit the following page at WorkExcel.com: 

EAPs and The Sleepy Employee

Does your employee assistance program address sleep problems. From insomnia to midnight panic attacks, dozens of issues associated with sleep and productivity are fertile ground for Employee Assistance Programs. Dig into the monographs and materials available from EAPA. I believe the Tampa, Florida national conference hand great material on this topic. Sleep matters. Studies show that a poor night’s rest negatively affects job performance in a number of ways including:

• Poor judgment
• Decreased productivity
• Difficulty learning and retaining information
• Difficulty processing complex information
• Delayed reaction time
• Irritability
• Impatience
• Negativity
• Fatigue
• Decreased concentration
• Diminished self control
• Poor reflexes
• Tardiness
• Falling asleep on the job

Sleeplessness can also be a serious safety issue. Those who work with heavy equipment have a significantly increased risk of workplace accidents when they arrive at work tired. Commuters are also at risk. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that drowsy driving is responsible for 1,550 deaths and 71,000 injuries per year.

Let employers know what program efforts you're making to address organizational sleep problems. Attempt to put a price tag on productivity and attendance losses. Then, make an impact, claim the high ground and educate employers in the area. Try getting some media publicity. It's not hard to do.

Having a Hangover is Not a Performance Problem

That's right. It's not a performance issue to have a hangover at work. If I told you, "I have a hangover," you could not use that statement for effective documentation concerning my job performance. It wouldn't fly. However, if I had my head down on my desk and you said, "What's wrong?", and I said, "I have a hangover", then nope, that still would be a performance issue. So what's the problem? 

 The performance issue is my head on the desk and not working.

Some EAP programs are still not training supervisors effectively enough to get this across. Listen, this is crucial. Don't risk getting human resource professionals upset that you do not know how to properly teach supervisors how to document.

Documentation is not useful to HR when language is subjective, not measurable, open to broad interpretation by others, or contains emotional language that demonstrates the writer's emotionality and personal distress.

The focus will shift from the employee to the supervisor by officials (typically HR) who must examine your documentation or in other ways act on it. If they can't act, they are going to get very upset. That's not good for you, your EAP, your organization, or the employee.

Second-hand reports by others are almost always problematic as well, unless specific in their account with evidence to back them up.

Using a term like “hung over” has no common interpretation, (especially if you have never had a hang-over.) It is not a “job performance” problem to be hung over. The behaviors associated with being hung over, of course, could be problematic. These are the behaviors that should be documented. Use this example in your supervisor training and you score big points, having convinced your supervisors what is at stake in constructing proper documentation.






You may want to visit the supervisor training solutions page.

Drug Testing: When Supervisors Are Friends with Employees

Do you have supervisors who are friends with their employees? Do you have any supervisors who socialize with employees? Do any of these supervisors drink alcohol with employees (or worse use drugs) they supervise? These questions are closely associated with dual relationships, conflict of interest, and risk to the organization that comes with denial, procrastination, and avoidance of the need to confront a personal relationship. • If you are training supervisors, here's language to incorporate into your presentation on substance abuse. I believe you will find it quite effective. Be sure to raise this issue, and expect some "discussion" after you do.

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

•Testing will not hurt a true friendship, and it may prevent a crisis that forces you to make a choice."  

Related: Alcohol and Drug Abuse Awareness Training Center.