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Does your company care about its people?
If posed that question, most business executives would quickly answer, “Yes!” And many companies do care, at least about the productivity of their employees. But what about having compassion for them as individuals? As people? Enough to do something about it?
Because good companies should not only care about their people, but care for them as well.
This includes providing education and support to enhance employees’ well-being. This is an act of responsibility—stewardship—that is good for the business and the people who work there.
In recent years, employee development and business wellness programs have begun offering a more complete suite of benefits. But there is a critical area not yet being addressed in many companies: the prevention of addiction.
If businesses are serious about caring for their people, they need to address addiction prevention. And just envision the impact on employees, families, and communities when that happens!
“It’s clear that addressing substance use in the workplace is critical to running a successful business.” (Facing Addiction with NCADD)
Current Gaps in Wellness Programs
A Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation survey found that two-thirds of human resource professionals believe that substance abuse is one of the most serious issues among the workforce. Which makes sense, because Psychology Today says more than 75% of people struggling with addiction are employed full-time. What should companies do to counter this addiction epidemic?
Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) are helpful, but most don’t address prevention effectively. For larger companies with EAPs, less than 5% of employees use them. Employees often aren’t aware of EAPs, find them confusing, or distrust their anonymity. For addiction-related issues, EAPs are normally used after the fact rather than for prevention. And many smaller companies don’t even have EAPs, e.g. only 29% of businesses between 50-99 employees have such a program.
“Little evidence exists that demonstrates that EAPs are effective in serving the goal of employers to maintain productivity and healthy, well employees.” (thebalancecareers)
Other companies use drug testing as their primary program, but there are issues with that approach as well. Testing doesn’t work well for alcohol, and there are many ways savvy drug users can fool the tests. Plus, this approach doesn’t affect people already at work, or those who start using after getting employed. Most importantly, testing doesn’t help the individual involved. And it signals the workforce that the company will get rid of people with issues rather than help them.
To truly care for their people, companies need to ensure their employee development plan includes a focus on personal and business wellness and the prevention of addiction.
“Today’s employee wellness programs have done a complete 180 compared to previous years’ plans, which focused primarily on physical health and safety. The game-changing influence of wellness programs is clear, as two-thirds of organizations have them as a natural extension of their brand and workplace culture.” (IdentityForce)
The Next Wave of Business Wellness
The good news is that there is an approach that can help employers address this problem: use the proven principles of recovery to augment their training and coaching programs for employees.
The time to act is now, because the negative business impact of substance abuse has been clearly demonstrated, and the ROI of prevention is significant. It is simply good business for a company to establish an addiction prevention program.
Taking steps to address the problem is relatively simple: provide thoughtful education on prevention that is web-based for confidentiality and easy access. And, ideally, offer coaching that can address prevention and the underlying issues that lead to addiction.
The value of prevention can be tremendous for businesses, and the people who work at them, if company executives are willing to take the next right steps.
“Preventing addiction is one of the most important and promising life improvement initiatives in the world today. We need to do something different than what we have been doing. Prevention is the answer.” (The Next Generation of Addiction Treatment)
What’s Holding Companies Back?
One inhibitor to progress in the past was that some business leaders did not understand the scope of the addiction problem in the workplace. Hopefully, most do now, but some have yet to grasp the win/win benefits of a business wellness program that helps prevent addiction.
- They don’t know what to do – Getting started doesn’t have to be complicated: pick good online resources and promote them with emails to employees on how to use them.
- They don’t see prevention as an investment – Substance abuse has a high cost for companies, and the ROI of prevention programs can be demonstrative: prevent problems before they occur; retain good workers and leaders; provide a valuable benefit to employees; and make people better at their jobs.
- They don’t feel a sense of urgency – Procrastination only harms employees further. White collar addiction and related issues such as stress and depression are wide-spread, and there is a strong moral imperative for business leaders to take action. By taking some simple steps, they can save some of their people’s careers, their families, and even their lives.
One company at a time, executives can lead the way into the next wave of business wellness. One person at a time, they can help address the epidemic of addiction.
If an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, why wait any longer to do the right thing?
Question: Are you willing to become an advocate for addiction prevention in your company?
Action: Read the material with links in this article, and then contact STEPS Business Wellness.
