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The Birth of the Employee's Assistants Programs in the Workplace
Several years ago corporations awoke to the understanding that employees were their greatest asset. Without taking care of the employee and their family's needs they lost valuable trained workers, training dollars and production. Their answer was the Employee's Assistants Program. This took on several forms from calling some unknown place where the employee could talk to someone they did not know to the open door policy to the company's CEO. Neither of these worked very well for a variety reasons including, employees preferred talking to someone they knew and could see and the open door policy worked, but it soon consumed the CEO's valuable time.
It was clear chaplains were the answer
Chaplains came to the rescue! By being on-site each week they become acquainted with the employees and they win their trust. Chaplains are a neutral third party, meaning; both employees and management can trust them due to strict confidentiality. Chaplains take the load off of everyone from the CEO to the HR Department by representing the caring company to the employees and their family's at the hospitals, attending or performing weddings and funerals, making needed calls and tending to the needs of the employee and their families. Chaplains are the listening ear and the affirming presence in the workplace.
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Defusing Workplace Rage
I awoke the other day to the news that six more employees of the United States Post Office were tragically killed by a fellow worker. According to the Department of Labor and Industry, violence in the workplace is the 2nd leading cause of death in the workplace. It seems that workplace violence is far removed from us but, it can and does appear all too quickly.
Chaplains become the first line of defense against workplace rage. As a neutral third party, chaplains have their hand on the pulse of the individual employee including their family situations. They are able to detect and defuse rage at the first sign long before it boils over. By becoming a trusted friend to the employee and keeping their conversations confidential the chaplain becomes a sounding board defusing negativism and rage. By helping the employee and their families solve personal and relational problems the employee has a healthier state of mind and becomes a much happier and productive worker. Follow-up on the employees that have been laid off or terminated is another preventive tool to defuse workplace rage. In dealing with terminated employees that may not be thinking coherently it becomes a determining factor to have someone there to interject rational views of why the situation happened and by offering kindness at this low point brings back a positive outlook to the company.
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