Counselors Interaction

OBJECTIVE
Meaning, scope, limitations of workplace counseling. Globalization, competition, work pressure and workplace counseling. Changing workplace and changing human condition. Career initiation and counseling

Contd

Counseling & work-life balance Workplace counseling a career Counseling on external projects Counseling for Internship Program Faculty Guides counseling during Internship program Placement Coordinator's counseling during Final placement process

EMPLOYEE COUNSELING-A LATEST HR TOOL

The latest trend catching up in the corporate HR across the world is 'Employee Counseling at Workplace'. In the world of ever increasing complexity and the stress in the lives, especially the workplaces of the employees, employee counseling has emerged as the latest HR tool to attract and retain its best employees and also to increase the quality of the workforce

STRESSED EMPLOYEE

In today's fast-paced corporate world, there is virtually no organization free of stress or stress-free employees. The employees can be stressed, depressed, suffering from too much anxiety arising out of various workplace related issues like managing deadlines, meeting targets, lack of time to fulfill personal and family commitments, or bereaved and disturbed due to some personal problem etc. Organizations have realized the importance of having a stress-free yet motivated and capable workforce. Therefore, many companies have integrated the counseling services in their organizations and making it a part of their culture. Organizations are offering the service of employee counseling to its employees.

Stress Of Modern Life

What is Employee Counseling?

Employee counseling can be explained as providing help and support to the employees to face and sail through the difficult times in life. At many points of time in life or career people come across some problems either in their work or personal life when it starts influencing and affecting their performance and, increasing the stress levels of the individual. Counseling is guiding, consoling, advising and sharing and helping to resolve their problems whenever the need arises.

Everyone has to be better off!!

Employee Counseling is a service offered by companies to their employees. Organizations that care for their employees are perceived as more meaningful and purposeful. Here, it is worthwhile to note some observations made by the Chairman of Infosys in this regard. He states, The task of leadership is to make people believe in themselves, the organization, in the aggressive targets the organization sets. Belief comes from trust: the trust that this organization isnt about making one set of stakeholders better off; it is about making every one of us better off

HR Function

No human being is perfect and we all constantly fight our own inadequacies in our own ways. Working in any organization requires an individual to be geared up to face the challenges of work-life. This does not mean he/she can escape the duties and responsibilities of family life, whether married or unmarried. Not every individual is competent enough to take and manage the stress of a hectic life style. Thus, we cannot deny the fact that every individual has intra and inter-personal problems whether at work or at home. The HR function of any organization has the most important challenging job of "making the most" of their Human Resource. An employee can give his best to the organization only if he is in a positive "frame of mind".

WHY Counseling??

Need for employee counseling arises due to various causes in addition to stress. These causes include: to deal effectively with ones own emotions, interpersonal problems and lack of team spirit at workplace, inability to meet job demands, over work-load, confrontation with authority, responsibility and accountability, conflicts with superiors, subordinates and management and various family problems, health problems, career problems, etc

Ingredients of counseling

Increasing complexities in the lives of the employees need to address various aspects like: Performance counseling: Ideally, the need for employee counseling arises when the employee shows signs of declining performance, being stressed in office-hours, bad decision-making etc. In such situations, counseling is one of the best ways to deal with them. It should cover all the aspects related to the employee performance like the targets, employee's responsibilities, problems faced, employee aspirations, inter-personal relationships at the workplace, et al.

Contd

Personal and Family Wellbeing: Families and friends are an important and inseparable part of the employee's life. Many a times, employees carry the baggage of personal problems to their workplaces, which in turn affects their performance adversely. Therefore, the counselor needs to strike a comfort level with the employees and, counseling sessions involving their families can help to resolve their problems and getting them back to work- all fresh and enthusiastic. Other Problems : Other problems can range from work-life balance to health problems. Counseling helps to identify the problem and help him / her to deal with the situation.

Signs Of Stress

Sudden change of behavior Preoccupation Irritability Increased accidents Increased fatigue Excessive drinking Reduced production Waste Difficulty in absorbing training

Stress Management

Hurdles faced for counseling at workplace

The biggest bottleneck in employee counseling at the workplace is the lack of trust on the employee's part to believe in the organization or his superior to share and understand his problems. Also, the confidentiality that the counselor won't disclose his personal problems or issues to others in the organization. Time, effort and resources required on the part of the organization are a constraint

Benefits of counseling

Helping the individual to understand and help himself Understand the situations and look at them with a new perspective and positive outlook Helping in better decision making Alternate solutions to problems Coping with the situation and the stress

Contd.

Making impersonal decisions

Setting achievable goals which enhance growth

Planning in the present to bring about desired future Effective solutions to personal and interpersonal problems. Coping with difficult situations Controlling self defeating emotions Acquiring effective transaction skills. Acquiring 'positive self-regard' and a sense of optimism about one's own ability to satisfy one's basic needs.

Benefits to Organization

Counseling can go a long way in helping the employees to have better control over their lives, take their decisions wisely and better charge of their responsibilities, reduce the level of stress and anxiety. Counseling of employees can have desirable consequences for the organization. It helps the organization when the employees know that the organization cares for them, and build a sense of commitment with it. It can prove to be of significant help to modify the behaviour of the employees and more so to re-enforce the desired behaviour and improve and increase the employee productivity.

COUNSELING as a Career

Basic requisites of employee counseling

Respect / high esteem for human dignity; recognition of a person's freedom & rights and faith in human potential to grow Sincerity, authenticity Understanding Non-judgmental approach towards the counselee.

Contd.

Social etiquettes, warm manners Excellent communication skills which also include non-verbal communication and listening skills Objectivity Maintaining confidentiality Empathy

Contd

The counselor should be flexible in his approach and a patient listener. He should have the warmth required to win the trust of the employee so that he can share his thoughts and problems with him without any inhibitions. Active and effective listening is one of the most important aspects of the employee counseling. Time should not be a constraint in the process. The counselor should be able to identify the problem and offer concrete advice. The counselor should be able to help the employee to boost the morale and spirit of the employee, create a positive outlook and help him take decisions to deal with the problem.

Core Counseling Conditions

There

are 7 core techniques given by Rogers, Carkheff and Patterson, which assist the counselor to apply appropriate core counseling conditions

 Structuring Active Listening Silence Responding Reflection Questioning Interpretation

The Counseling Process

Step-1

Describe the changed behavior. Let the employee know that the organization is concerned with work performance. The supervisor maintains work standards by being consistent in dealing with troubled employees.
Explain in very specific terms what the employee needs to do in order to perform up to the organization's expectations. Don't moralize. Restrict the confrontation to job performance.

Step-2

Get employee comments on the changed behavior and the reason for it. Confine any negative comments to the employee's job performance. Don't diagnose; you are not an expert. Listen and protect confidentiality

Step-3

Agree on a solution. Emphasize confidentiality. Don't be swayed or misled by emotional please, sympathy tactics, or "hard-luck" stories. Explain that going for help does not exclude the employee from standard disciplinary procedures and that it does not open the door for special privileges.

STEP-4

Summarize and get a commitment to change. Seek commitment from the employee to meet work standards and to get help, if necessary, with the problem.

STEP-5

Follow up. Once the problem is resolved and a productive relationship is established, follow up is needed.