Opioid Addiction – Grief Leadership – And Business Impact

I learned a great lesson about the impact of compassionate leadership on a business as a new vice president of human resources.  At the time, I didn’t relate the events to helping a grieving employee excel at work, but as I look back, that is what the human resource manager in this scenario did.

Opioid Addiction as a Traumatic Event

A second shift factory worker was slumped over a machine early in his shift. The employee tested positive for opioids and entered a rehab program.  Upon program completion, he met with the plant HR manager to discuss his return to work.  The HR manager explained that, by contract, the employee would be returning to his second shift job.   The employee’s demeanor immediately changed.  He was visibly upset, angry, and tears began to well in his eye.  He said, “I can’t go back to second shift.  If I do, I’ll start using again.” This employee reached the acceptance phase of his addiction during treatment.  He was willing to accept and admit that his new reality included the fact that he was a recovering addict.  News of returning to second shift was traumatic enough for him to revert to the bargaining, anger, and depression stages of grief almost instantly.

Compassionate and Adaptive Grief Leadership

Instead of pulling out the union contract and citing the section governing the return to work rules, the plant HR manager decided to engage the employee with compassion and listen to the cause of the sudden emotional shift.  Giving the employee a chance to openly discuss his issues brought a sudden sense of relief to the employee, who proceeded to describe, in great detail, the times, days, methods, and places where the drugs were sold and distributed in the plant.  With this understanding, the HR manager used some contract flexibility to move the employee to first shift.

The Business Impact of Compassionate Grief Leadership

This would be a good story if it ended here.  However, we took the information to the local sheriff’s department.  Unbeknownst to us, they were investigating rumors of drug activity in our plant.  Together we crafted a plan for the sheriff’s office to bring drug dogs into the plant on the designated day and time.  The raid was a success.  The dogs found drugs.  The drugs were able to be connected to those distributing them, and arrests made.

Aside from ridding a work environment of drugs and helping an employee get their life back on track, two other business impacts emerged.

First, much to our shock, when the police and their dogs entered the plant, our workforce stopped work and applauded.  The effects of that night changed the attitudes of the second shift workers for the better.  They learned we cared about them as people.  Second shift workers became more engaged, more productive, and later that year, helped to avoid a work stoppage during contract negotiations because of the trust the company earned that night.

Second, when word made its way outside the plant, the broader community took pride in having a company willing to demonstrate Corporate Social Responsibility.

All because a human resource manager helped an emotionally traumatized employee excel at work by engaging with them when they needed support the most.

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Anthony Casablanca

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