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Thursday, July 18, 1991, p. 4H.
"Health & Fitness" section.

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In the workplace: mental health and happiness

By THOMAS RUE
Things said or done in the workplace -- as anywhere -- are not always interpreted in the way they were meant.

A genuinely felt expression of loneliness or desire for human contact by one person to another may be perceived as forward or inappropriate by the recipient. In a work setting, unwanted expressions like this can lead to diminished morale and performance or job satisfaction by both subject and object, especially if the outreaches are perceived as sexual harassment.

Interpersonal conflicts are almost always less simple than they appear. Complex interactions are driven and influenced by a variety of cultural and other factors not always considered in the midst of a daily routine. Transactional lines get crossed. Racism, sexism, homophobia and other discrimination occur every day, with too few of us troubling to consider the human effects of these injustices. We respond to such wrongs, and to one another, in unique and sometimes unexpected ways. Unpleasant responses or feelings can ensue and get in the way of other important concerns.

Individual counseling or group consultations can lead employees to be more understanding and tolerant of each other's and customers' needs and perspectives, helping them be more effective at their jobs. These processes can take a variety of forms, ranging from ongoing availability of clinical services, to a brief series of communication or human relations seminars which all employees attend.
Getting along together
Intertwined with communication skills is the ability to get along with coworkers. Anyone who has ever held a job has probably experienced how stressful it can be to work in close proximity to someone who is seen as obnoxious, nosey, egotistical or overly ambitious. Being perceived in these ways can probably be at least as stressful. Such stress may lead to further dysfunction at work or in other settings.

Priorities or values which coworkers assign to various facets of their lives will not always agree. For example, workers in an office may resent the amount of worktime a colleague spends on personal or family matters. Or coworkers may have trouble reaching consensus about even relatively minor procedures. These problems are relatively easy to resolve. Many issues can be handled informally by a supervisor or manager, but others are better met with intervention by an uninvolved, neutral counselor or mediator.

Another example of a behavior related to values that many employees find offensive, and which can lead to trouble in a workplace, is the drive some deeply religious people feel to share unsolicited information about personal beliefs, often exhorting others to follow the spiritual path they have found. While evangelizing to those who may not have yet had the opportunity to be enlightened by one particular brand of "Eternal Truth" may be exhilarating to some, it is often advisable to find another forum than one's place of worldly employment.

Coworkers will differ insensitivities and persuasions. A good way to breed tolerance is to respect others' privacy. Like sexuality, religion can be a highly personal area. Some people feel personally violated or become defensive when such lines are crossed without invitation.
Starting a new job
All societies consist of sets of clear and sometimes not-so-clear rules and expectations for personal conduct. It is often hard to discern what these rules are when entering a new situation. This can especially be true when the setting is already stressful, such as when starting a new job.

New employees can benefit from having someone to talk with confidentially about adjustment difficulties. An employee assistance counselor can help instill confidence and facilitate into workplace interpersonal problems.

A rational approach to counseling can help employees see the effects their behavior is having on their work life. Example: an idealistic young person, fresh out of college gets a new sales job. She starts her first day casually chatting with coworkers about intimate details of her love life. Reactions may be mixed, including bored disinterest, prurient voyeurism, or scorn.

Even after trust is established, it may be important for workers to keep clear boundaries between personal life and work concerns. As in any relationship, it is important to listen to the messages colleagues send, and to be responsive. Be alert to invisible walls that seem to go up at certain times, or other nonverbal reactive signals.

The salesperson in the above example was perhaps naive and may eventually wind up being the victim of hurtful gossip or judgements. In some contexts, spontaneity and openness generate positive, desirable responses in people. But when starting a new job, it is often wise to get to know people before letting it all hang out. An experienced counselor may be able to provide helpful feedback or other assistance in such situations.

Likewise, even long-time employees can benefit from having a safe place to ventilate confidentially about the job or other life stresses. Verbalizing complaints directly to bosses or coworkers also might or might not be helpful, since some do not welcome unsolicited personal feedback, or might not take it the right way. An employee assistance counselor can serve as a sounding board, facilitating positive interaction and enhancing workers' job satisfaction.

Once a person feels understood, he or she can begin to be more at ease and functional, and hopefully begin to pay more attention to others' statements and feelings, perpetuating a healthy and productive interfactional cycle.
Employee assistance counseling
Problems such as absenteeism, tardiness, or decline in work performance are sometimes related to abuse of alcohol or other drugs. In such cases, an employer may prevent tragic consequences by giving an ultimatum: get help or lose the job. This is difficult for some supervisors to do. But employees benefit because they are forced to accept help (which they otherwise might refuse), and they often keep their jobs. Companies are also helped when the progression of a potentially debilitating condition like alcoholism is arrested, rather than have the worker perhaps go on disability, or permanently leave the position.

Healthy, sober and cohesive staffs that feel comfortable and at ease working with one another are more likely to produce better quality goods or services than dysfunctional systems. Availability of professional counseling services can help reduce unnecessary personnel losses due to such causes as job dissatisfaction or burnout.

People who feel their employment is productive or meaningful are often more happy or satisfied in other facets of their lives as well. And people who are happy with their home or family lives are more often content with their work life.

Employers who understand the importance of social and mental health in the workplace often provide comprehensive employee assistance programs including an array of confidential professional counseling services. With enhanced productivity, such as a fringe benefit package works to the advantage of the company as well as the employee. Typically, a referral is made to a program coordinator, who assesses the nature of the employee's problem and makes a referral to an appropriate counseling agency or therapist.

Job performance can be severely hurt by personal problems in the lives of employees. Not only addictions, but also such issues as chronic illness or death in a family, spouse abuse or marital discord, behavior problems of children or other family problems, can effect work quality.

Even from a purely mercenary perspective, when making decisions about personnel benefits for a company, a clear-sighted business person will acknowledge that helping employees recover from personal difficulties saves money in such measurable areas as lost time, product quality and the necessity of training high turnovers of new people.

Aside from the intrinsic, humanitarian or moral value in helping people to feel happier, more productive and competent, or satisfied in their family lives -- employee assistance counseling programs make good business sense.

[A contributing editor to The River Reporter, Thomas Rue is a national certified counselor who lives in Monticello.]