Employee assistance programs : supervisors' and managers' interventions with impaired employees and colleagues

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Authors
Jankowski, Jon
Advisor
Gerstein, Lawrence H.
Issue Date
1996
Keyword
Degree
Thesis (Ph. D.)
Department
Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services
Other Identifiers
Abstract

In efforts to facilitate the utilization of EAPs and access to EAP services, traditional supervisory referral processes have trailed behind increased worker needs. EAP purchasers (e.g., employers), therefore, have demanded improving penetration rates of impaired employees in their workplaces. More specifically, there is a need for increased access to EAP services and resources for workers throughout organizations. Given this pragmatic marketplace objective and a gap in EAP research concerning supervisory interventions, this study examined various aspects of the supervisor-troubled employee identification and intervention process. It was thought that there are a variety of alternative helping strategies that supervisors' enact, along with initiating an EAP referral. It was also assumed that these helping strategies might be more appropriate and/or effective for different members of the workplace.Because most previous EAP research investigated front-line supervisors and staff, there has been limited data on other workplace populations. In Part One of this project, therefore, actual supervisors (N = 34) from various positions in the organizational hierarchy were recruited to systematically identify a range of potential actions that managers might employ with troubled workers. After establishing content validity and reliability for five identified actions (Modify Relationships, Contact Professionals, Informal Discipline, Formal Discipline, & Support), these supervisory strategies were used as dependent measures in Part Two of this study.More specifically, in Part Two of this project, supervisors' beliefs about and potential actions taken with impaired employees were investigated. Supervisors (N = 91) from all levels of the organizational hierarchy of a large Midwestern hospital served as participants. Supervisors were asked to rate their likelihood of utilizing the five specific strategies in response to hypothetical troubled workers or colleagues. Unlike many previous studies that typically focused on substance abuse problems, the current project presented participants with hypothetical employees who displayed a variety of personal difficulties.Hypotheses for this study were based on Bayer and Gerstein's Bystander-Equity Model of Workplace Helping Behavior (1988a). MANOVA results, in general, supported this Model and suggested that supervisors varied in their potential actions with impaired employees as a function of their position in their organization's hierarchy. Managers also differed, in part, in their responses to troubled workers and colleagues. No significant differences were found, however, with respect to supervisors' beliefs about behaviors indicative of problem staff members.Organizational, clinical, and research implications are offered. Finally, along with discussing corporation's expectations for cost-efficient and effective EAP services, proactive roles for EAP professionals and consultants are described.