Dealing with employees who bring personal problems into the workplace

By David Price, group director, Health Assured. Don’t bring your personal problems to work is a term we hear all the time. The reality is that for some, saying “don’t bring your problems to work” is like asking the sun not to shine.  Some human beings have an amazing ability to compartmentalise their lives where many of us simply don’t. So how can that affect us as an employer or manager? Performance and conduct are usually the first indicators to suggest that someone is suffering from problems. Especially if it is out of character. When performance drops we know the business can suffer. As managers we may be tempted to manage the performance and not the person, which in times of distress can lead to disastrous consequences. So how do we navigate our way through these challenging situations?  First we must acknowledge that for some, in fact for quite a lot of us, it is not always possible to leave your problems at the door. In fact it is quite normal for our personal lives to spill over into all aspects of our life; which includes work. Second we tackle the problem head on and we create supportive boundaries which are the same for everyone. At Health Assured we specialise in taking people when life is getting in the way and we provide them with support and tools to make a big problems seem smaller and in turn create them the time to concentrate on the things that matter. Work is always one of them. We support managers and give them guidance and tips on how to support their employees. We also ensure they are creating manageable boundaries so the problem is only temporary, manageable and eventually will dissipate. A few simple manageable steps can ensure we navigate an employee’s problems while ensuring they are tasked with finding the solutions and adding value to your business. For further clarification then please contact Health Assured on 0844 892 2493