NEED FOR DECISION

[Music] um [Music] [Music] [Music] this is a motion picture about alcoholism [Music] the illness and eventual tragedy of over six and a half million american men and women is a known fact and when a person with alcoholism is no longer able or no longer cares to hide the fact we find it easy to recognize him but this film is not about the easily recognized victim of alcoholism it is about the alcoholic who might work alongside you every day the alcoholic in industry carries no sign or banner proclaiming his disease yet he makes up over three percent of america's working force perhaps he has not even identified himself as yet with alcoholism but who is the alcoholic in industry can a set of criteria be defined is there a way to be sure there is no easy answer alcoholism chooses no job level as an easy mark it is a personal disease of the human being not influenced by internal company lines the important point is that any office and any department can contain an employee with alcoholism each supervisor with a suspected case of employee alcoholism is faced with a moment of decision at some point he must face the problem head on he must act [Music] industrial alcoholism is part of a great and national problem over six and a half million american men and women suffer from alcoholism in each case society loses a valued member and industry loses a valued member of its vital working team when an employee no longer functions effectively alcoholism could be the cause but so could many other factors regardless of cause each man and woman with job skill and knowledge is worth helping it is for this reason that industry has established comprehensive programs to deal with alcoholism and no one is closer and more intimately involved professionally and personally than the alcoholic speed up the calendar bob you're running too slow dealing with the alcoholic employee is often difficult for the supervisor instructions are forgotten excuses are made performance slips standards are lowered reason vanishes i'll be right back there are few of us who turn our backs on someone afflicted with a disease and alcoholism is a disease gee i had no idea he drank so much for every case in your shop plant or office you can count on a family that has suffered you can count on unhappiness pain misery and debt well [Music] as hard as they may try they too are caught up in their provider's world of alcoholism it's a hard and unhappy world for all concerned can an employee with alcoholism be helped and made useful again to his family his company and society it has been proven time and again that he can be rehabilitated to perform his job effectively and enjoy a useful life the alcoholic can stop drinking cured no he's never cured but he can arrest his drinking problem it's never easy drinking and living become one it's truly a progressive disease the alcoholic must make a decision to stop drinking this decision and strength to make it can only come with strong motivation and often the threat of job loss can bring about that needed motivation how do you know a man has alcoholism in most cases you don't but he may know from necessity he's learned to hide his disease he's the expert not you it isn't the supervisor's role to diagnose a man-slipping job performance as alcoholism regardless of the outward symptoms as a supervisor your only concern is the performance of his given job the first step is to document the man's slipping job performance this step would be taken in any situation regardless of the cause of the inefficiency tangible signs of a problem should be carefully recorded and preserved at times a suspected alcoholic will show no outward signs of a problem other times signs will be subtle as subtle as relationships with others nothing should be overlooked in your documentation it should be as complete as possible the employee with alcoholism must of necessity provide protection for himself usually his skill at this will successfully mask any outward signs of the actual drinking problem once a case has been built and documented on an employee the supervisor is then faced with the task of calling the man to present the facts this is never an easy task to face especially when a likable employee with many years services involved robert stevens dial 734 robert stevens kyle seven but the fact that he is likable and has been with the company for a long period of time is even more reason for the supervisor to take this the second step in dealing with the alcoholic employee jim bob step in a minute yeah i'll be over he must now confront the man with the facts his performance has slipped he must be told this it isn't easy it never is bob i wish we we didn't have to have this discussion but what discussion do you mean that jim well it's about your work bob my work a time of tension for both men but one technique makes things easier for the supervisor at no time will he bring up alcoholism heavy drinking or other related comments he need never step out of his familiar role as supervisor for instance just your absenteeism and your lateness uh excuse me jim that was uh do you remember it was two or three minutes at a time and it doesn't make any difference two or three minutes do you remember when i was sick a couple of days that that's the the only time i i can remember look at me it was the attendance record for the past six months late seven times absent nine times there it is right there no it's not only that the plant production has been up and in your department production has been down my my uh my section's been down yes your section has been done and you've been told about it several times how about the equipment breakdown in your department what what what equipment breakdown right here right in the record here the equipment breakdown in your department has been way over the other departments with you i can't seem to get to you i'd talk to you for a few minutes and you walk away uh what kind of supervision is that you've got a lot of men underneath you i get along very well with my man the men uh have a lot of respect for me i i get along with everybody maybe they're walking all over you safety standards have slipped you're constantly off of the floor jim now wait a minute it's another thing which may seem unimportant to you but your your personal appearance you know you come in you got shaved half the time now look at the uh look i told you i wasn't feeling well jim yeah yeah but it is come to this if you have a problem let me know about it maybe we'll see if it's going to do something i don't have any problem look jim i i know i've been late a few times and and i haven't come in i told you i was sick but and uh all right uh there were a couple of breakdowns in the shop i admit that i'll be glad to solve those problems for you now look let's start kicking this around if we don't get out what's bothering him i've got to let you go that is final what do you want me to do i would like for you to see some people in the company let's start with the medical department after all you've been with the company 10 years survived maybe a little longer they want to help you they just don't want to bounce you out like that no when do i have to go i'd say the sooner the better how about it bob all right he's been given the chance i'll do it the supervisor has taken the right step you must realize that this is this is nothing personal well i know i know about you i've known you for a long time but believe me it's best for everybody concerned everybody okay okay all right we'll let it go with that then thanks for coming in hopefully he'll follow your lead and see someone in the medical department or when one isn't available a company designated local physician the supervisor informs the doctor about the suspected alcoholic he outlines the facts in his documentation the doctor is now prepared to deal with the problem it's up to the man now not everyone will be helped many don't want help of any sort but over 50 percent referred to medical will be helped no one is too far gone not to come back you