All employers take a different approach to dealing with employees who might be affected by personal problems. Some prefer to be as hands off as possible. If personal problems are affecting employee performance, they don’t want to go much further than a reminder that they need to do something about it. However, other employers want to be more personal and compassionate, and offer help if they can. Ultimately, you can’t fix your employees’ personal problems, but there are some things you might do if you want to help them. Here are some ways you could consider helping.
Financial Problems
Issues with money can be extremely worrying for anyone. When someone is struggling with debt or other money problems, it can consume their thoughts. If you think an employee is struggling with money, you could take a couple of steps. You could offer financial counseling services so that they can get advice about how to manage their debts or budget their money. You could also consider helping out a little more directly. Offer an advance in pay can sometimes be useful for people who are struggling with a short-term money issue. Even time off to sort out problems could be helpful.
Trouble with the Law
When an employee gets in trouble with the law, the question of whether to stand behind them or not can be a tricky one. But if you believe in them and want to support them, you might want to help them get out of a sticky situation. One option is to help by looking for criminal defense attorneys to defend them and help them get back to work as soon as possible. You might also be sympathetic about letting them have time off work if they need to sort things out. Of course, you need to think carefully about what to do if an employee is accused or even convicted of a crime.
Health and Emotional Problems
Lots of different problems with health, emotions and relationships can affect your employees. You can’t personally deal with them all, but you can offer some services that will help. A lot of employers choose to offer an employee assistance program, which can provide the resources for dealing with a range of personal issues. Employees can feel like they have someone to go to when they have a problem, but they don’t have to reveal their personal issues to their boss.
Care Commitments
Many employees can have care commitments, usually for children or elderly parents. While they can make arrangements for when they’re at work, these aren’t always reliable. If you have an employee who is struggling to balance their care commitments with work, you could help by providing flexible working. It could include things such as allowing them to come into work or leave at different times to everyone else so that they can manage their time a bit more easily.
You can’t fix all of your employees’ problems, and it’s often best not to get too involved. But you can offer help when it’s needed.