It is widely believed by new managers that the personal problems of the employee should not be relevant to their job performance. This notion has made most managers to ignore the problem faced by employees. We like to think or believe that employees, who walk through the gate to their office, should leave their personal problem before entering the gate. Nevertheless, for managers with this ideology, employees are not more than robots: they are treated like the same and must focus on the work instead. However, the employees cannot be likened to robots. Even as we try not to believe that the personal life of an employee doesn’t have much impact on the person’s work, the truth is it does. Image woman facing divorce or new parent exhausted due to lack of adequate sleep because of the cry of the infant. These people will not be as creative as those without any personal problem will. Most HR of companies will tell you that workers dealing with some sort of problems at home won’t concentrate on the job. Their mind will be wandering over many situations and how best to solve the problem at hand.
The Human Resource Departments can attest to this that no employee who is experiencing pain – either emotional, physical or spiritual – will operate at their highest level. Therefore, HR must not only get the best from workers but also contribute to keeping them happy and motivated since they are adding value to the company. Help them out with their personal issues so that it doesn’t interfere with their capability of performing at optimal level. The following tips will help HR in supporting employees having personal problems.
Listen: Listening to an employee at times is all they needed. Offer them words or encouragement and be sympathetic with them. You must understand that there is a big difference between listening to them and offering a solution to their problem. Remember it is the duty of the employee to solve his or her own problem. Your responsibility is listening to them. Do not try to make the mistake of being responsible for giving them the solution.
Direct employees to suitable resources: The choice of making a decision lies in their hands even if you decide on offering your personal advice. Rather than giving them advice, at times it is better to direct them to either a clergy or professional counselors. In the situation where their personal problem is similar to what you have gone through in life, you can describe your own story and explain the solution if it was solved. You can also tell them of your mistakes. Nevertheless, if you want to use this approach, it is better to focus always on the employee because it is not about you but them.
Put up short-term needs: In making provisional accommodations, be as flexible as possible to help them during such crises. Inform them that the changes are provisional.
Keep in touch:Once you have done all mentioned above, monitor the situation and ensure the steps to help in resolving such problem is followed by the employee. You can also speed up the recovery process by providing positive encouragement and reinforcement throughout the way.
