Drug-Free Workplace: 5 Tips for Implementing New Policies June 22, 2010
Posted by Primary HR Outsourcing in Business Management, Outsourcing, Payroll, PEO, Staffing, workers compensation.Tags: Benefits, Business Management, Human Resources, Outsourcing, Payroll, PEO, Start-ups, workers compensation
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One of the biggest challenges in human resources management is keeping a drug and alcohol-free workforce. For a small, growing businessperson, it is the last thing they want to worry about, but it is so essential. Employees with alcohol and drug problems are a huge liability and a disaster for your revenues.
Lost work time, decreased work productivity, injuries, worker’s comp, common errors, and sheer unpredictably make for an expensive recipe. Here are 5 tips for implementing a new drug policy in your business.
1. Use Progressive Policies
Some employers make the mistake of implementing a rigid, authoritative drug policy in which an employee with an addiction will be immediately terminated. This is not as effective as one might think, and it will make employees much less likely to seek help when it is needed.
A more progressive option is to allow flexibility in your response so you can base it on the given circumstances. It has been proven time and time again that treated employees can become a more valuable employee and result in more productivity for the company.
2. Communicate With Employees
The rehashed drug prevention programs we sat through in elementary school aren’t going to cut it with this crowd. All employees first off need to have a solid understanding of your drug-free workplace policy—not just that you have one but all the specifics. In addition, drug and alcohol education should go into the deep, psychological causes of addiction and relapses. They need to truly understand the condition in order to prevent or solve a problem.
3. Offer Treatment
Treatment should always be made available. There are programs out there that can provide the option for treatment at all times on a confidential basis, so the employee can just show up without you or anyone else knowing.
When someone gets that chance to better themselves and their life, they emerge a motivated and highly productive individual that may in many cases be a top-performing version of the employee you once hired. They will appreciate you being there for them even if you never knew that you were.
4. Don’t Make Accusations
Never come right out and ask an employee if they are on drugs or are an alcoholic. In the vast majority of cases, this is going to provoke a hostile, defensive response, and in some cases it can even lead to a lawsuit. It should always be approached in a roundabout way—possibly alluding to a change in their work habits. If they admit having some kind of personal problem, they can be referred to a counselor who knows how to get the employee to admit dependency on their own.
5. Implement Manager Training
If anyone is going to recognize the signs of alcohol and drug abuse in your employees it will be the managers who work with them on a daily basis. Education should always start with them.
Teach them what to look for, when it is time to refer an employee for alcohol or drug counseling, and how to recognize the signs and step in to intervene before it has gone too far. Of course, your managers are people too, and they can also make mistakes, so teach them to watch out for each other and give them options for seeking help for themselves when needed.
This is a big project, and you might not feel ready to implement an alcohol and drug policy, let alone train your entire staff to prepare. Like most issues of human resource management, however, this can be outsourced to a firm that is experienced with these issues. They can come in, train your staff, and help you write your policy. Sometimes it takes that kind of outside help to move forward and evolve, and in this modern society, this is a step in evolution you cannot afford to wait out.
Drugs and Alcohol in the Workplace: Is Your Company Sick with Addiction? June 17, 2010
Posted by Primary HR Outsourcing in Business Management, Human Resources, Insurance, Outsourcing, Payroll, PEO, Start ups, workers compensation.Tags: Business Management, Human Resources, Payroll, PEO, Staffing, Start-ups, workers compensation
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Many small businesses think themselves somewhat immune to the problems of drug and alcohol abuse, but believe it or not, it is the companies with less than twenty-five employees that are far more likely to be drug abusers than those of larger firms. America is rampant with alcohol and drug use—it is natural that these people will be employed someplace, and it is also natural that those employees will purposely get a job where it is difficult to sustain their habit.
This means that if you are not implementing strategies to keep your workforce drug-free, you are seriously putting yourself at risk. Not only can drug and alcohol cause missed days and lower productivity but impaired abilities from using both on and off the job can lead to accidents and workers comp claims.
It’s time to get serous, and the first step is learning to recognize what is going on before the biggest problems occur. Unfortunately, the symptoms of addiction are not always the same. It’s impossible to list or detect all the possible symptoms, but an awareness of changes in behavior or something being awry is something that you can and should do.
Pay attention to big changes in behavior especially, including frequent changes in temporary behavior or a bigger long-term change like sudden frequent occurrences of mishaps on the job or missed days of work. Some people may act out, get irritated easily, or talk faster. Others may lose energy, slur their words, or lose coordination.
Of course, someone who smokes marijuana or is addicted to alcohol may give themselves away just by the way they smell, but it is not always so clear-cut. I highly recommend implementing a drug testing program to protect your company.
First, you will need to develop a clear and concise policy. Having a strong policy in the first place will discourage many users from even applying for a job and will save money over time with decreased costs on treatment, compensation claims, and productivity.
The policy should be as clear as possible. It should go into detail about why the measures are taken and what is expected of employees as well as what will absolutely not be tolerated. Also outline actions that will be taken whenever someone is found to be in violation.
After your policy is instituted, you need to develop a drug testing program, which can be put together with the help of an outside human resources management firm if you do not have the experience for this in-house. In many ways, the program will act merely as a deterrent, and in cases where the policy is breached, it can serve as evidence.
Testing can occur before new candidates are brought on to the team, after an accident occurs, randomly after an employee with a prior violation is back to work, or on regular basis for everyone. You can also retain the right in your policy to test any time you see reason for suspicion. Make sure you check with local laws to find out what is allowed in your area as far as testing procedures go.
Do not get too discouraged if you get a lot of positive tests when the program first launches. This is natural and, unfortunately, to be expected. Over time this will change as future candidates catch word about your policy, and within a couple years you will have a consistent work environment and a very low rate of positive tests.
It is a winning battle as well as one worth ensuing, and by taking on experts who have done it all before you can get all the guidance you need.
Until next time
I am always at your service,
Rick Matthews
We help business owners increase profits, solve employment problems, reduce employer liabilities and protect valuable assets thru outsourcing. www.primaryhroutsourcing.com
Outsourcing Human Resources Management: 6 Benefits to Just Letting Go June 2, 2010
Posted by Primary HR Outsourcing in Business Management, Human Resources, Insurance, Outsourcing, Payroll, PEO, Start ups, Uncategorized, workers compensation.Tags: Business Management, Human Resources, Outsourcing, Payroll, PEO, Start-ups, workers compensation
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Outsourcing has become a major part of business these days, on all levels, and a lot of companies are finding one of the most valuable areas to focus their outsourcing leverage is on human resources. For other companies, putting this complex business paradigm into the hands of an outside entity is a nightmare waiting to happen. But is it really? Here are 6 benefits you can get from letting go of a little responsibility and handing the torch to a PEO.
1. Expertise
People often look first at cost savings when outsourcing, but one of those most undervalued components of an outsourcing firm is their expertise. When you work with a credible provider, you are accessing resources that are wholly focused on human resources.
An in-house HR sector, on the other hand, is limited because the overall goal of the company is still the product or service offered. A PEO has unrivaled experience offering human resources for a variety of different organizations. They have seen it all, they know what works, and they are committed to building the most effective processes they can.
That IS their business.
2. Avoid Lawsuits
With expertise comes a broad knowledge of laws and policies that might affect your company. When you have a business to run, it is hard to keep up on constantly changing employment law, and if you don’t have a solid understanding of the American legal system, it can be downright impossible.
3. Enhance Productivity
A PEO is not just well-versed in legal mumbo jumbo and protecting your reputation, they also are current on the best practices for increasing employee productivity. Not to mention that if the right tasks are outsourced, employees can be left to focus energy where it matters most.
Lastly, they know what policies are best for making your employees feel comfortable and empowered in the workplace, such as diversity and inclusion programs. Not for reputation purposes, but for the good of your workers. If you haven’t realized it yet, what’s good for your workers is what’s good for the bottom line.
4. Save Money
Well, that’s all great—but what about money? After all, you are in the business of doing business, right? Outsourcing human resource management is extremely economical—this is why most people start in the first place. Make sure that if this is your number one reason that you don’t cut corners finding professional help, but freeing up manpower, stream-lining processes, and increasing increased productivity equals cut costs and business growth.
5. Be More competitive
Like a domino effect, cutting costs and increasing productivity can set you far ahead of the competition. In this recession, most companies will take as much of either as they can get.
6. Evolve Your Company
What it really comes down to is evolving your organization. If you haven’t heard it said many times before, maybe you haven’t been listening—a business that stops changing is a business that is dying. You always need to be getting better at what you do. More sophisticated. More complex.
Outsourcing takes company resources out of areas where they are not needed and puts them in the hands of an outside force. This allows you to rechannel your own resources into improving other areas and creating new positions that add more value to the company.
Even if you are a smaller firm that wants to start acting like a bigger firm so you can take advantage of these 6 benefits, you can start looking at human resource management as something better left to the experts. In fact, it makes even more sense for a smaller business without the hierarchy and many departments of a multinational corporation.
Take a hard look at how much time you spend on managing these areas of your company. Could that time be spent somewhere else where it would add more value? Are you even doing that great of a job, or is lack of expertise holding you back? Ask yourself the hard questions and decide now if it is time to take the next step.
I am always at your service,
Rick Matthews
Primary HR Outsourcing 