Russ got suspended from high school when he was sixteen years old and eventually found employment at a local aluminum processing plant. For the last three years he has gained a reputation as a hard-working individual who hardly ever calls off work due to sickness.
Nearly six-and-a-half months ago he started going out with a young woman named Emma. They appeared to get along real well right away and looked as if they had a lot of good times together.
The Abusive and Heavy Drinking Begins
When Russ met Emma, he almost never drank. This situation changed when they started seeing each other on a fairly constant basis. In truth, their relationship was going great until Emma called Russ one night approximately 4:30 AM and said that she had to stop dating him and that she couldn’t tell him what was going on at that time.
The next morning before he went to work, Russ went to Emma’s apartment and found out almost immediately that Emma had already moved out. Russ took this exceedingly hard. As a matter of fact, he was surprised because they appeared to be getting along so well.
When Irresponsible Drinking Leads to Problems at Work
So what did Russ do about Emma? Rather than working through his misery and pain, he began getting drunk just about every night. It didn’t take long for his fellow employees or for his boss to notice that Russ was coming to work late at least once per week and that he frequently called off sick. Furthermore, some of his co-workers made an appointment with staff in Human Resources and mentioned that Russ frequently came to work with a noticeable smell of alcohol on his clothes or on his breath.
Russ’s supervisor heard about all of this from Human Resources and also from Russ’s co-workers. So one Thursday morning he called Russ into his office. He told Russ that he had recently noticed a clear-cut change in his work performance, sick time, attendance, and in his behavior.
When a Supervison Can Motivate an Employee to Get Help For His or Her Irresponsible Drinking
Russ’s boss also mentioned that a number of his fellow employees reported him to Human Resources because he had been coming to work with the strong smell of alcohol. His manager then stated the following: “Russ, your co-workers are not reporting you to Human Resources to get you into any trouble or because they don’t like you but rather because they are concerned about you. And I am concerned too. I don’t want to intrude into your personal life, but it is apparent that you are exhibiting some of the basic symptoms and signs of problem drinking. As a consequence, I want you to go and see someone in the employee’s assistance program to discuss your drinking.”
“Russ, I’m no doctor or a therapist, but I have seen more than a few of my relatives and friends suffer through some really negative alcohol side effects. Furthermore, I have also seen the signs of alcoholism first-hand in my own family. When people experience problems with drinking, these difficulties not only affect the drinker, but they also make an impact on his or her neighbors, co-workers, family, friends, and relatives.”
Russ admired his boss quite a lot and consequently followed through with his suggestion the next morning when he called and scheduled an appointment with a counselor in the employee’s assistance program.
Russ is Still Depressed But Feels Some Hope That He Will Get His Life Back on Track
Even though Russ didn’t automatically feel any better or less depressed about the loss of Emma, he felt some reassurance knowing that his supervisor and his fellow employees cared about him and wanted what’s best for him. This gave him some psychological relief for the first time in a number of weeks and he truthfully felt some hope that he would get back on track with his life.