Whether you have five or fifty employees under your supervision, you always have to count on the possibility that someone in your team is experiencing a personal crisis right now. How do you deal with it? Can you lend a hand while maintaining a professional relationship? This issue is discussed on The Daily Muse website and here are a few tips on what to do in such a situation:
1. Remember that you are the boss, not a friend
Frankly, this phase is perhaps the hardest. It is clear that if you are sincere, you want to help the employee regain his personal balance. However, please note that you are not here to be available 24/7 as a therapist or a close friend. Let your colleague know that he can confide in you, but it would be a mistake to provide him with your personal phone number with unlimited help on the phone. Would you be able to maintain a purely working relationship, in which personal matters are set aside?
2. Create a schedule together
The cause of personal crises can often be an illness of someone close to him. At this point, one simply just needs time to cope with the situation. In this case, it is appropriate to set a timetable with the employee. Discuss together the days when he will be allowed to leave earlier or get a day off. Also familiarize other team members with their colleague's (unspecified) crisis and ask them to be compassionate and even accept responsibility for a portion of his work.
3. Check the situation
It is a small but very helpful gesture. Occasionally stop at the employee's desk or send him a short message asking about the state of his personal situation. Support from an employer helps him to better cope with problems and give him more strength to get back to business as usual.
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