Uncharacteristic incident of unacceptable behaviour

Behaviour/Misconduct Issue - Uncharacteristic incident of unacceptable behaviour
Solution - Personal counselling

Personal counselling is appropriate for an uncharacteristic incident of unacceptable behaviour. In this situation, you then direct the employee to where he or she can receive specialist advice or assistance to resolve the problem.

Counselling does not involve well-meaning interference in employees’ personal lives. It is not the manager or team leader’s role to play amateur psychologist or social welfare officer.

This is an area best left to the experts. If you haven’t had training in this area, seek specialist advice. Immediately refer the employee to professional counselling or help through an Employee Assistance Program (EAP).

Always observe the following guidelines when adopting a counselling approach:

Before Counselling

Set up the interview by:

Recognising the need by noticing unexplained changes in an employee’s behaviour.
Organising an uninterrupted period of time (60 minutes maximum).

When Counselling

Encourage the employee to talk by:

Assuring them of confidentiality.
Offering reassurance.
Asking open-ended questions (what, when, why, how?).
Not confronting the employee across a desk.
Showing the employee they have your individual attention.
Opening with a non-threatening inquiry.
Listening hard.
Repeating back what you have heard.
Encouraging the employee to say more.

Help the employee to think through their problems by:

Admitting your own fallibility.
Offering relevant information without criticism or opinion.
Asking questions to prompt ideas.
Suggesting some ideas in the form of questions “How about trying EAP?”

Let the employee find their own solution by:

Supporting their solution.
Agreeing an action plan and review date.
Leaving the door open for their return.

After Counselling

Carry on as if it had never happened.
Keep confidences to yourself.
Continue watching for signs of personal problems that may be affecting the employee’s behaviour.

EAP is a confidential employee assistance programme. EAP is set up to assist employees to resolve personal problems which affect their work.

From an employer’s perspective, employees’ personal problems can often be very difficult to deal with.

By offering EAP to employees with personal problems, they are supported to:

Face the problems by focusing on work deficiencies.
Recognise the consequences if the work problems continue.
Avoid further consequences by accepting the assistance of the programme.

Where a formal referral has been offered, regardless of whether the employee elects to accept professional help or not, continued job security will depend on satisfactory work performance being achieved and maintained.

Key points about the use of EAP:

Use of EAP does not negate the employee’s responsibility for adhering to Company policies and procedures including the Code of Conduct.
EAP will provide assistance for personal problems affecting their behaviour but will not necessarily prevent disciplinary action for serious offences.
It is expected that an employee will make every effort to successfully complete counselling within a reasonable time period and that their behaviour will improve to the standard agreed with their manager.
Normal employment conditions will apply for all those participating in the programme.

Continued unacceptable behaviour should result in Disciplinary Action.

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