The HR Toolkit for Addiction in the Workplace
The HR Toolkit for Addiction in the Workplace
Next week, Pines Recovery Life Detox will be attending DisruptHR Miami. This event is a conference, of sorts, that brings together some of the top HR professionals from Florida an…
Published February 15, 2020 · Reviewed by Sergey Litvinov, MD · ~779 words
Next week, Pines Recovery Life Detox will be attending DisruptHR Miami. This event is a conference, of sorts, that brings together some of the top HR professionals from Florida and beyond. The purpose of this conference is to challenge those professionals to think beyond the normal HR structure, to confront them with issues, ideas, and situations that will spark thought, creativity, and leadership within their industries in tackling issues that some HR teams tend to neglect or shy away from.
We plan on bringing what is still a very stigmatized situation into the light at DisruptHR, and offering the solutions that these HR pros, and their peers, need when this situation becomes real.
Addiction carries with it some very unfortunate labels. Lazy, weak, careless, selfish, a liability. These words get tossed around a lot when the business world at large discusses addiction and the issues that come along with it. While none of these labels are anywhere near reality, they still exist and many opinions about a person are formed based around these labels when that person approaches someone for help or their identity as a person with addiction is revealed in some way.
A successful human resources department is not one that only focuses on hiring, firing, and team building. A truly successful HR department fills many more roles than that. Chief amongst those roles is as a counselor.
HR members will learn first, before any other colleague – and perhaps before any other friend or family member – that one of their employee’s lives is falling apart. A marriage is ending, a death has occurred, finances are in shambles, a major life event is about to take place, something horrific has happened or is happening in the workplace or beyond, or that addiction has reached a point wherein life can no longer function effectively.
What does an HR member do when a colleague comes to them and confides in them that addiction has arrested control of their life away from them and they need help? When this happens, time is of the essence. This cannot be gradual help, spread out over days or weeks. Someone in this situation has reached the end of their rope, has tried and failed to help themselves, and is looking for that last-ditch effort, that final solution that will allow them to regain control, confidence, and freedom. When this happens, that HR member needs to have answers, potential solutions, and actionable information that will set their colleague on an immediate path to recovery. There simply is no time to waste.
Increasingly, HR members are building toolkits to help deal with these situations. Folders to dig into that contain knowledge, information, and solutions for all manner of topics not taught in school.
At Pines Recovery Life, we believe that a major part of that toolkit should be an immediately actionable solution for addiction. Obviously, we believe that we are exactly that. But beyond just our brand, we believe that addiction treatment is an incredibly valuable part of an HR member’s toolkit and that having a trusted brand ready to take over a situation and offer real hope and solutions is something that is vital to every company’s survival and ability to thrive.
Again, we at Pines Recovery Life believe that we are an obvious best partner for HR Departments to have in their toolkit when the disease of addiction invades the workspace. Being caught unprepared and unaware is a horrible place to be. No matter your industry, addiction is present. And no matter what you know about your colleagues and their lives, anyone can become a person with addiction.
Not only does it make good business sense to have solutions for issues that could bring down a brand, but it’s also vital to the well-being of your most valuable asset – your employees.
At DisruptHR, and beyond, we will work to educate brands of exactly that. Employees work so hard to be successful and valuable, and brands spend massive amounts of time ensuring that an employee can do just that. Losing all of that to addiction can be devastating, both professionally and personally. No one wants to see their friends and colleagues fail. Having a partner like Pines Recovery Life Detox in your brand’s HR toolkit is exactly how you avoid that from ever coming into being.
At Pines Recovery Life Detox, it doesn’t matter where you are in life, in this country, or in your addiction. We are here to offer hope, treatment, and solutions for your future sober journey.
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