Counseling in the place of work is a procedure that is viewed differently by various organizations. Those that have a clear understanding of it, have gone ahead to implement it and consequently receiving results. Others who do not clearly understand it view it as a waste of time and resources. It is a technical issue that requires the support of a professional. Issues and conflicts in the workplace are a trend that can not be stopped. This is because of the fact that a work environment comprises different people that have unique ways of handling issues. Ignoring the issues of employees at the expense of saving resources of the company may lead to low production.
A workplace, just like any other interactive institution is a place where different kinds of people merge to fulfill certain goals and objectives. When these individuals from different backgrounds meet, there will always be issues that the administration has to deal with. One of the most important issues that the management has to integrate into its operations is counseling (Palmer, 2001). The employees need to be frequently monitored and their issues solved for the organization to be productive. Some of the issues that are faced by the employees may be work-based or personal. Both these issues can affect an individual and make him not achieve the required goals. The personal issues may be marital misunderstandings, sicknesses, broken relationships, financial and many more. Work-based issues may include; being overworked, low payments, being undermined by colleagues and higher bosses, mistreatment, and many more.
Even though some employees may be sincere about what they feel and share it with the management, others may find it difficult to open up their hearts. It is therefore up to the management to ensure that the environment is conducive enough for the workers to openly tell them what they feel or are going through (Maureen, 2001). The management should however not wait for the employees to approach them with their issues. It may be easy for them to tell that things are not working out well for a certain worker through some behaviors which may include; change in the mood of the worker, low production, being absent from work, reporting late, lack of concentration, and making obvious errors on the job.
Once such issues are observed in an employee, the biggest issue is how to approach him and offer an appropriate solution. In most cases, the administration may show a harsh attitude towards the employee without first getting to understand what may be contributing to a certain behavior (McNorton, 2004). Some employers may use threats to get the employee to perform and if they see no change in them they fire them. Such an attitude is not required in the workplace. The employer should be in a position to understand that the employees are not machines that need to be controlled accordingly to make them work.
It may also not be easy for them to offer the employees the necessary help because the managers and supervisors don’t have an appropriate approach skills. Some employees may choose not to share their issues for security purposes (Einarsen, 2003). They consider their problems too personal to be shared. However, with a skillful approach, even the most reserved employee can be made to speak out. This is the reason why the management needs to employ psychiatrists in their organization to help them deal with such issues.
However, the role of monitoring the psychological well-being of an employee can not be wholly left to the psychiatrist or the management. This is because an organization may have a large number of employees that a small group of people can not manage to intensively look into their issues. It is, therefore, necessary to encourage colleagues to be each other’s keepers and report any such case to the concerned authority for appropriate action. In dealing with such cases, whether it is the psychiatrist, the management, or supervisors, a proper procedure needs to be followed to enable the victim to clearly state their problem. The following procedure should be followed for an assured result.
Display trust and confidence
Before an employee opens up his or her heart to a counselor, they want to be assured that the concerned person can be trusted with their issues (Robert, 2005). This can be done by assuring them that all that is going to be shared is absolutely between them and that the counselor is not going to impose a certain solution on them. The client needs the assurance that the suggestions offered are up to them to decide whether to follow them or not. With such assurance, the employee may feel free to share.
Listen compassionately
When the counselor has gained the confidence and trust of the employee, they should show their desire to help them by attentively listening to them (Welfel, 2004). The counselor should avoid talking as much as possible to allow the client time to speak exhaustively. Change may be noticed in the mood of the client once he has been given the chance to speak. By simply sharing their burdens some people feel a great relief.
Ask questions
Asking the client some questions about the issues they have shared makes them open up even more. It will also prove to the client that the counselor is concerned about him and reveal to him his willingness to help (Christine, 2003). By asking such questions, they may be offering them solutions indirectly; they will be able to reason together with the counselor and be helped to open up their minds to alternatives that they may have overlooked.
Enumerate to them the job expectation
Some of the employees may feel frustrated at work simply because they don’t understand what is expected of them. The employer should therefore sit down with them and clearly explain to them what their job is all about and how they can effectively do it (Parsons, 2007). The employees need to feel part and parcel of the organization and keeping them out of the important obligations the organization may make them feel worthless and frustrated.
Empower them through guidance and suggestions
Employees may feel frustrated at their workplace if they realize that there is no progress. It is usually hoped that after some time at their places of work, they make progress both at their workplace and in-person (Evans, 2004). After some years of work with stagnation, they may feel that their labor is nothing. In such instances, they need to be empowered to be more productive. This can be done by giving them suggestions and ideas that they can employ for maximum production. They also need the assurance that their contribution is highly regarded by the management and that they can always make it. Specific problems require different approaches for the solution. Different employees may be having varying issues that require a different approach. To be able to know the kind of problem that is facing an employee, the counselor should have reliable information about the employee. This is also important in designing the kind of approach to be applied to help him out.
It is necessary that the management creates a strong bond with the employees to effectively deal with their issues when they crop up. There are some issues that are jointly faced by the workers that may necessarily not require a personal approach. These issues can be dealt with corporately by having frequent sessions with the staff members (Sanyal, 2005). Through these sessions, they should be allowed to contribute to what they feel should be changed and implemented for their maximum production.
Any decision made by the organization should be communicated to the employees. As much as the management may see it not important to inform them, them being aware of what is happening where they work will play a great role in motivating them. When the management shows such concern, the employees will feel part and parcel of the organization (McLeod, 2008). Apart from being informed of the decisions, they also need to be updated on the general progress of the organization; they need to feel that they share in the successes and failures of the organization. Once they are aware of this, they will know where to put more effort.
The availability of counseling sessions and services may not always guarantee their maximum utilization; they may either be misused or simply ignored by the employee. To ensure quality use of these services, the management has to ensure that a correct criterion is observed before an employee is referred to them for counseling. For an employee to be found eligible for such services, the following must be observed; the employee’s performance must be documented, the counselor has to know what is expected of the employee before he offers the necessary counsel, the other staff members should be consulted to verify on the changed behavior of the employee and if it is to do with a personal issue, then deeper research is required.
After the counselor has this information at hand and feels that it is necessary for a certain employee to be counseled, they need to be given the full mandate by the management to perform their duties (Sheila, 2005). If the problems are related to the leadership, the counselor will take appropriate steps to find out how true the allegations are. If they are found to be true, the concerned leader will be approached for the issue to be resolved.
Not all counseling procedures require empathizing with the employee. There are some employees who may not be productive due to their own negligence and irresponsibility (Feltham, 2002). Some may also take advantage of some situations to gain sympathy. It is, therefore, necessary for the concerned counselor to differentiate between the cases that require sympathy and those that require confrontation. Despite the fact that some employees will prefer to work when there is no pressure around them. Some will work well when they are pressurized. There are some employees who will realize the necessity of them to work harder when such pressure is mounted on them.
It may however not be easy to confront an employee on his or her work performance. If appropriate skill is applied to this, there may arise conflicts that may not be easy to solve (Gary, 2006). Confrontation must not be harsh, it can be done in a friendly manner yet go a long way in delivering the required message. One challenge that may be faced by the employer if he does not effectively deal with the issues of the employees is that there will be frequent strife that may completely affect the relationships in the organization. It may hinder the progress of the company as communication can never be effective between conflicting parties.
One important thing to note is that through counseling, relationships are restored. With the various interactions during the counseling sessions, the management is able to know and understand the employees better which will help him know how to approach them in case of anything (Brown, 2004). However, there are issues that may make the employers not offer counseling services to the employees, most of them are afraid of the consequences they may subject themselves to by carrying out this exercise. Some of these fears are: the employee may get violent and react in the process, the employee may not understand the aim of the session and react unexpectedly, i.e. resigning from work, some employees may show resistance towards it, thus wasting time, the employee may share the same to other employees with the aim of inciting them against the management and thus causing chaos, the fear of being hated by the employee and that the concerned manager may realize through the session that he is the one with the problem, a situation that may completely demoralize him.
It is also important to note that initiating a counseling program at the workplace is not a cheap exercise. It requires the management to employ a specialized psychiatrist to handle the issues which may not be cheap (Coles, 2003). Monitoring the progress and conduct of the employees in order to offer them counseling is not an easy business. It requires the employer to involve other staff members which may not be deemed right by some of them. With all these issues around and the other unpredictable consequences, the management will choose not to invest its resources in this service.
As much as the management may look at the negatives they are likely to experience when they introduce counseling services in the organization, they also need to realize how much they are missing out by ignoring them (David, 2008). They may not want to risk a procedure that they are not sure of the results because they don’t want to spend time and money in vain. However, they should realize that such interactions will help them understand their employees which assist them in making future decisions for the organization.
When an employer shows a negative attitude towards counsel and advice, the manager will know that he is a kind of rigid person that can not be relied on by the management (Tehran, 2004). The manager will therefore know how to handle him and know the responsibilities to assign him. Another issue is the fear of the weaknesses of the management being exposed. Some organization managers usually feel that they are right in administering their responsibilities, they thus fear that the truth of their skills will be exposed thus demoralizing them. Unless they are willing to be challenged in their leadership, they may not make any progress and this will affect their development.
Counseling sessions will also give the management some ideas on what they should do and not do if they want to experience results. Neglecting these sessions may be denying them some important ideas that would otherwise boost their operations. Some managers may also fear deeply interacting with their employees to avoid familiarity with them. They fail to realize that when such a bond is enhanced communication will be easier thus boosting decision sharing.
There are various reasons that may render a canceling session ineffective. By being ineffective it means that the required result is not fulfilled or the situation worsened instead of improving (Hook, 2005). The biggest reason for this is the lack of skill by the counselor in approaching the issue. At times the manager may call in an employee to correct an issue and instead of making a clear statement on what the issue is, he uses a language that the employee is not able to decode. He finishes the session believing that he has solved the issue yet instead the employee has been made to feel more confused and disturbed.
To avoid such scenarios, the counselors should observe these procedures to ensure that the information is effectively delivered; start the session stating clearly why the employee has been called in, address the negative issues that require attention first, avoid many stories that may divert the attention, firmly state the facts, make sure the issue under address has been adequately monitored and approved, avoid the sources of a third party, deal with the issue at hand and avoid referring to past mistakes.
During these sessions, the counselor should be ready to handle any kind of reaction from the employee. Assuming that things will go as he is expecting is risky. If any emotional reaction is displayed by the employee, the counselor needs to give him time to relax before proceeding on (Langan, 2007). Talking or reacting in any way in between may intensify the reaction rather than cooling it. The reactions of the employee may include undesirable verbal statements; this should be clearly understood by the counselor who should not personalize them. The counselor should avoid rushing through the issue by all means especially when the reaction of the employee is uncontrollable. He must give him time to cool down even if it means adjourning the meeting for some time or even days.
At the end of the session, the counselor should not leave the employee in suspense. He needs to suggest to him the way forward and some other practical ideas that will boost his performance (Blustein, 2006). Negative remarks should be avoided towards the end of the session and instead, the employee should be complemented. When these procedures are followed by the concerned counselor, a serous yet friendly environment will be cultivated and expected results achieved (Füredi, 2004). The counselor should realize that he is the one who initiated the session and should therefore try as much as he can to always be in control. The employee may be excused for any reaction that he may display because he was not prepared for it. The counselor on the other hand is fully aware of what the session entails and should thus be prepared.
It is usually expected by the prospective managers that after the counseling session, results will be seen immediately. This may however not be the case, the adjustments may require the employee to first come to terms with the new direction that he is to take and implement it (McLeod, 2001). The manager, therefore, needs to give him time to adjust and avoid the pressure that may demoralize him.
During the counseling session, the employee may realize that he was wrong and display the willingness to change. In such a situation, the manager should display his concern by not only declaring that he has actually forgiven him but give him the assurance that such shall not be counted against him again. This however is not a verbal process, the manager is supposed to destroy any such written statement that may future display the misconduct of the employee (Tony, 2002). Filing such records may raise questions in the mind of the employee on whether he has been completely forgiven or the same shall be used to deny him any future privileges such as promotions and increments.
The issues discussed by the employee during the counseling session should remain a secret between the employee and the counselor. The same should not be leaked to any of the staff members as this may disorganize him. When it comes to sorting out the personal issues of the employee a lot of precaution has to be taken. If counseling of such an issue is not possible within the management, the case should be confidently referred to a more professional counselor (Thomas, 2007). If the employee needs some time to resolve the issues, the manager should consider how weighty it is and give him the time.
From the above insight on handling the issues of employees through guidance and counseling, it is clear that the service is worth implementation in the organization. Despite the negative consequences that may be experienced, the positives are more thus rendering it productive. With the implementation of the procedures mentioned, the negative results that are usually experienced during and after the counseling session can be minimized. The workplace should not be merely a place where people only work and go back to their homes, it should also provide them with an environment that they feel appreciated and recognized. (Thomas, 2007)
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