How to Support an Employee Facing Personal Crisis Affecting Work Performance?

Greetings of the day, Seniors, I work with a service-based company and have identified a specific issue hindering our work progress. An employee who joined a year ago, due to personal reasons (a longstanding love issue as his partner recently left him), is causing significant disruptions to the assigned tasks. He recently attempted suicide.

Despite receiving several counseling sessions, there has been no improvement in his behavior. He seems to disregard the company's management policies and is not paying any attention to them.

I kindly request your guidance on finding a valuable solution to address the aforementioned issue.

Regards, Vikram

You have already tried several rounds of counseling, but it has not worked. Being an old hand at the company, he has assumed that no one is going to take action against him.

Management Intervention Required

First, the senior management needs to call him and appraise him that he is under watch due to non-performance, deliberate disturbance, and failure to work efficiently. The management needs to make it clear that while they support him in his problems at home, it cannot be at the cost of the business of the company.

Steps to Address the Situation

If the situation does not improve, you need to first consider moving him to a different function, and finally, you need to consider terminating him; otherwise, you may have others following his footsteps in not doing their work.

Dear Vikram,

My answer might be a little offbeat. Have you researched the Employee Life Cycle and its challenges? No matter how efficient the talent you hire, it's bound to be affected by life-cycle issues.

A great salesman can get trapped in EMIs and lose his disposable income. Similarly, an unmarried female employee may eventually start a family and require support from the organization to advance her career.

Before we delve into what happened to the employee, please share the supportive measures you have in place. We have already heard about counseling and supportive bosses.

Here's a blunt question for you: Is the counselor trained in managing divorce, debt traps, and break-ups? I know many professional psychiatrists who still do not see this as a challenge. Most of us are least prepared for any mishaps, let alone equipped to deal with them.

Please review and ensure that your work environment is de-risked from these challenges. Remember, any talent can fall into such a situation. It is entirely up to us to help them or isolate them.

Suicidal cases are not rare in the workplace. Check on the clinical counseling help that you need to establish. Please do not rely solely on regular counseling as it may not be equipped to handle such situations. I know several firms that offer this as a service to top MNCs.

What would work in your situation? We can understand better if we discuss further.

Thank you.

As important as "Work-Life balance" is in personal life for everyone, it is also important in the professional life of supervisors. You need to decide how much you can get involved in his personal life (this depends on your professional relationship, friendship, and availability). This also depends on your organization's size (big MNCs can afford some extra facilities like contracted counselors, but a small service firm may not be able to afford it).

The more you try to become personal with him, the more understanding he will expect from the company. The more you remain professional, the more he will have to do so as well.

Counseling is needed, but during these discussions, you should keep your view as professional as possible. You need to keep the counseling focused on improving his work attention/involvement and not to cheer him up for a good life. You can surely suggest some external counseling for his personal help.

When you say that "Though several counseling sessions were given to him, they resulted in no change and he took the management policies for granted and did not pay any attention." Then you have to move forward from just counseling to some disciplinary action. It does not mean you have to let the employee go, but to bring him to reality, some harsh awakening might be needed. (Don’t put him in a 'losing his job' dilemma, but you can start with a short and clear verbal message/warning.) I think the suggestions made by Saswata are right on track here.

I believe soft skills training at this time may not be able to influence him much, as he will not be in a state to absorb any learning from them. Sometimes people just need time and respectful attention from their surroundings, and they come out of such issues on their own.

Are you in an HR role in the company, or just his supervisor? If not HR, then please involve HR in all the discussions with the employee henceforth, as a suicide attempt is an offense under Indian law, and you might be enquired by authorities in case of investigations (even about your counseling). These investigations may disturb the other employees, but HR would be able to handle them wisely, so the impact is minimal.

Most importantly, try to avoid mentioning his personal issues 'outside the cabin', even with management peers for guidance. The more sympathetic the organization becomes towards him, the more difficult it will be to bring him back to his good work rapport again.

Best of luck!

Best Regards,
Amod Bobade.