Russ got expelled from high school when he was fifteen years old and eventually found employment at a local Walmart. For the past ten years he has gained a reputation as a conscientious and hard-working employee who infrequently calls off work due to sickness.
Nearly three months ago he started going out with a woman named Emma. They appeared to hit it off right away and looked as if they had a lot of fun with one another.
The Hazardous and Abusive Drinking Begins
When Russ met Emma, he hardly ever drank. This circumstance changed when Emma and Russ started dating on a fairly regular basis. As a matter of fact, their relationship was going fine until Emma called Russ one night nearly 2:30 AM and said that she had to call off their relationship and that she couldn’t tell him the reasons for her decision at that moment.
The next morning before he went to work, Russ went to Emma’s apartment and immediately discovered that she had already moved out. Russ took this exceptionally hard. In actual fact, he was surprised because they appeared to be getting along so well.
When Irresponsible and Hazardous Drinking Leads to Problems at Work
So what did Russ do about Emma’s departure? Rather than working through his misery and pain, he began getting inebriated nearly every night. It didn’t take long for his fellow employees or for his manager to notice that Russ was coming to work late at least twice per week and that he over and over again called off sick. Moreover, some of his co-workers made an appointment with staff in Human Resources Department and stated that Russ constantly came to work with a noticeable smell of alcohol on his breath or on his clothes.
Russ’s boss heard about all of this from Human Resources and also from Russ’s fellow employees. So one Tuesday afternoon he called Russ into his office. He told Russ that he had recently noticed a great change in his sick time, work performance, attendance, and in his behavior.
When a Manager Can Motivate an Employee to Get Help For His or Her Irresponsible and Heavy Drinking
Russ’s supervisor also mentioned that a number of his co-workers reported him to Human Resources because he had been coming to work with a noticeable smell of alcohol. His boss then stated the following: “Russ, your fellow employees are not reporting you to the HR Department to get you into trouble or because they don’t like you but rather because they care about you. And I am concerned too. I don’t want to pry into your business, but it is obvious that you are displaying some of the obvious symptoms and signs of problem drinking. As a result, I want you to go and see a counselor in the employee’s assistance program to discuss your drinking circumstance and your depression.”
“Russ, I’m no doctor or a counselor, but I have seen quite a few of my friends and relatives experience some very negative alcohol side effects. Not only this but I have also witnessed the signs of alcoholism first-hand in my own family. When individuals suffer from problems with drinking, these difficulties not only affect the drinker, but they also make an impact on his or her co-workers, relatives, friends, neighbors, and family.”
Russ admired his supervisor a lot and as a result followed through with his suggestion the next work day when he called and scheduled an appointment with a counselor in the employee’s assistance program.
Russ is Still Depressed But Experiences Some Hope That He Will Get His Life Back on Track
Even though Russ didn’t necessarily feel any better or less depressed about the sorrow he still has about Emma, he felt some comfort knowing that his supervisor and his fellow employees wanted what’s best for him and cared about him. This gave Russ some emotional relief for the first time in quite a few weeks and he frankly felt some hope that he would get his life back on track.