It’s easy to see how alcohol or drug dependence causes problems on the factory floor, call centre, office, or with line workers: accidents, fatal injuries, loss of production, equipment damage, office property and more that adversely affects the organisation as a whole.
Those terrible moments when your heart leaps, your skin goes cold. The entire company gets thrown and takes ages to drag back to normality. But there are quieter, more insidious effects. The late nights of substance chasing leave addicts and alcoholics with only half a mind on the job.
Maybe it’s a hangover, or they’re tired.
Maybe they’re thinking ahead and planning the next hit. Decision-making is bad because the drug is much more important than anything else. The moods will swing from grandiose plans and over-promise to self-pity, fear, procrastination, and under-delivery. They’ll be ratty and short with co-workers, making snide remarks and bringing morale down.
Misunderstandings abound.
Other workers have to step in and cover-up.
- Absenteeism and turnover is high – with higher recruitment and training costs.
- They could be padding the expense account, or stealing more directly.
- You could have substances hidden on your premises: alcohol, marijuana, tik, cocaine, heroin, crystal-meth.
If you can feel a constant vibe of restlessness, irritability and discontent in the corridors, it’s likely you have some alcoholics or addicts. Research says that 1 in 10 people has a substance use problem – but that doesn’t necessarily mean only a 10th of your workforce.
It could be more.
Firing staff isn’t the only answer.
That can have worse effects on morale, as well as all the attendant costs like recruitment, training and possible unforeseen ones like CCMA and unfair dismissal rulings. (Indeed, Schedule 8 of the Labour Relations Acts says alcoholism and drug abuse are considered as forms of incapacity that fall outside of the company’s standard disciplinary code.)
Recovery Direct can help you identify whether you indeed have a problem, and then decide what to do about it. We provide specialised treatment, where workers maintain productive lives while in the process of recovery. We design tax-beneficial payment options. We make long-term plans that benefit everyone: the alcohol, the addict, their colleagues, the company, and everyone’s family.
Remarkably, you can turn the problem into a huge advantage.
Professional Addiction Recovery Services
