Ever wished you had your own panel of experts to take your problems to? Or ever wondered what the average person in the street would do—or has done—in the same situation as you? That’s what our Second Opinion segment is for. On this blog, you can share thoughts and experiences which might help our listeners with their problems and predicaments...

THIS WEEK'S PROBLEM:

Michelle works in a retail store and one of her colleagues seems to have a drinking problem. It’s never been an issue until recently when this female employee turned up to work obviously ‘under the influence’ first thing in the morning. She wasn’t acting normally and had alcohol on her breath.

Michelle confronted the employee, who quickly made excuses, saying she was disoriented because she was sick. She even faked a doctor’s appointment, leaving work for a while during the day.

This employee actually works behind the counter serving customers, so it’s clearly unacceptable for her to turn up with alcohol on her breath. As her manager, Michelle doesn’t want to just give her the sack. She wants some ideas on how she can confront the employee in a compassionate way that will actually help and prompt her to do something about her problem.

DISCUSSION POINTS:

• How do you confront a colleague or employee about something in their personal life that’s affecting their work performance in a way that gets the work done and helps them too?

• How do you help someone face up to their problems without causing them to get defensive and put up walls?

• Have you been in a similar position to Michelle—having to confront an employee over misbehavior? What worked and what didn’t?

• Have you been in a similar position to Michelle’s employee—you were the one turning up at work drunk or stoned. Who said what to help you change?

Tell us your thoughts.

Here's the response of our psychology expert, Sue Bartho: