Corporate culture at times can be be one that ignores the issue of addiction in the workplace. Countless stories abound of ‘they knew but as long as I did my job’ Within the workplace, problems like gambling, illicit drug taking, alcohol abuse and debt are seldom recognised until the issue is acute. By that time the wellbeing of the employee is well and truly damaged.
The problem may have been building long before the effects are obvious in the workplace. Your co-worker may have been battling their addiction or life-damaging behaviours for many years, also struggling to hide it from their line managers, peers, and family.
So, at what point do you intervene? When you are presented with indicators like increased absenteeism, tardiness, poorer quality of work, unseemly incidents or accidents in the workplace, rumours amongst colleagues, you may well become alert to the existence of an issue but as an employer you’re unlikely to know the true cause until a serious incident occurs. Even then it can be difficult. Whatever the negative behaviour or addiction might be – those living with it are compelled to be secretive about their condition.
That said, it is easy to mistakenly underestimate the desire of the individual to deal with their negative behaviour or addiction. They often make repeated, failed attempts on their own, in secret, without any form of support or guidance before they finally hit rock bottom and become involved in behaviour that affects their workplace relationships and performance.
The factors that prevent them from seeking more help are stigma, shame, embarrassment, fear of damaging their career, lack of access to effective & affordable support, time and commitment constraints, and fear of failure.
