When it comes to addiction in the workplace, prevention is better than cure. Prevention and early detection and getting the individual the help that they need before it’s too late can save businesses a lot of time, money and productivity. What companies don’t understand about addiction is that by the time it starts becoming a problem at work, every other aspect of that person’s life has already been affected.
Losing your job because of an active and out of control substance use disorder is the last stop for so many people. Usually, finances, family and relationships have all been affected. This said, there is a lot that can be done by simply investing in the right processes and procedures. Many market leaders have indicated that companies would be better off by implementing a directed mental health strategy than by disregarding the addiction cases and losing key and trained staff members.
The same applies to the way employers handle employees suffering from an addiction.
This is usually what life looks like for people in the grips of alcohol, drug or any addiction:
- Debts/bad credit/bankruptcy/can’t pay bills.
- Taxes unpaid, monthly rent a struggle, about to loose your home.
- About to get divorced, loosing custody of your children.
- Frequent visits to hospitals or emergency rooms.
- Driving while drunk cases.
And then you lose your job.
This emphasises the responsibility of the employer to make the necessary arrangements to help their employee or at lease provide a platform of understanding.
There is a major shift in the market.
Unemployment rates used to work in the employer’s favour giving them the upper hand and allowing them to neglect talent retention strategies. The gap between unemployment and scarcity of skill is closing rapidly. Any conversation about talent retention and attrition rates raises uncomfortable question, with addiction conversations taking it to a different level. Perhaps it’s time for employees to start recognising the term talent investment? This might be a very necessary mind shift. The term investment puts more onus of the employers.
Staff turnover is expensive.
The loss of productivity in the team, when team members need to cover for the alcoholic/addict is demoralising and further increases losses.Retraining is expensive. And resources in terms of Human Talent are reducing. Isn’t it time we paid attention to this problem in your workplace. Contact Recovery Direct if you suspect that someone in your company is struggling with addiction for expert advice on how to handle the problem.
