What A Change!

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What a Change
What do you think is likely to be Manuel’s problem?
Firstly, Manuel Gomez is struggling to balance his personal and professional life. The events happening in his life such as the divorce, the disputes over child custody, management of properties, and the pressure from the administration to improve his performance are making it hard for Manuel to develop a work-life balance. Hence, the work-life dilemma is one of the critical problems affecting Manuel’s job involvement. Secondly, Manuel’s outbursts of temper, poor work performances, and the increased level of absenteeism, are some of the evidences of classic symptoms of substance abuse (Smook et al. 205). It can be argued that to deal with the stress from his personal life, and the pressure from the workplace, Manuel has self- medicated himself with drugs and alcohol.
Might a substance-free workplace be appropriate for Bill Brown’s company? If so, what would be the steps in establishing such a workplace?
Manuel Gomez’s case study shows that substance abuse in the workplace has adverse effects on the employees and the management. The negative outcomes that have been identified include poor performance, insubordination, and lack of respect. Therefore, to minimize the occurrence of such behaviors, adopting a substance-free workplace is appropriate for Bill Brown’s Company. The first step in the development of a substance-free culture is the establishment of a clear Drug- Free policy that will be communicated to all the employees.

The second step is to collaborate with local health care facilities and test all the employees for substance abuse. The third step is to offer treatment services for the employees using drugs and alcohol to cope with their personal and professional problems. Lastly, the management must ensure that they comply with the legislation requirements before instituting the Drug- Free policy (Smook et al. 197).
How might the use of an employee assistance program help in this situation?
Managers in many organizations use the employee assistance program (EAP) approach to deal with workplace issues such as employee burnout, substance abuse, and emotional problems that interfere with the productivity of the employees (Attridge and Dickens 9). The Bill Brown’s Company should recommend the program for Manuel because he exhibits the behavior of an individual with an alcohol or drug abuse problem. The characteristics include the outbursts of temper, poor work performance, and the increased level of absenteeism. The employee assistance program (EAP) will diagnose Manuel’s problem and manage the psychological issues that interfere with his well being and productivity.

Works Cited
Attridge, Mark, and Steven P. Dickens. “The Impact of Behavioral Screening and Employee Assistance Program (EAP)-like Interventions on Health Outcomes and Estimated Expenditures in a Community Healthcare Clinic Setting and an Employment Setting.” (2016): 4-75.
Smook, Breggie, et al. “Substance abuse and the workplace: a situation analysis.” Social Work 54.2 (2018): 194-209.