(Employee Counselling at Workplace)

Corporate Counselling or 'Employee Counselling at Workplace' is a new development in Human Resource. The latest trend catching up in the corporate HR across the world is Employee Counselling. This involves providing help and support to employees to help them cope with challenges in life which affect their output. This type of counselling gives an employee a window to share and to take different perspectives about issues, how to face and deal with issues in a better way. Many at times, juggling life and career comes along with challenges either with work or personal life or even both which affects productivity levels. Counselling entails guiding, consoling, advising and sharing as well as helping to resolve problems whenever they arise in every facet of life in order to bring out the best of each individual.


Areas of Counselling
As a manager in an organization invariably counselling becomes your unofficial duty. This however has major drawbacks for example, the lack of trust on the part of the employee might prevent full disclosure of the problem to the superior. In some cases also unwarranted workplace sexual affairs generate. These factors, among others, coupled with the complexities of life are becoming increasingly important for employees to use the services of counselors to take up the counselling activities. Such activities will include areas such as
• Performance counselling: this type becomes necessary when the employee shows signs of declining performance, being stressed in office-hours, bad decision-making etc. It should cover all the aspects related to the employee performance like targets, employee's responsibilities, problems faced, employee aspirations, inter-personal relationships at the workplace etc.
• Personal and Family Wellbeing: A crucial part of an employee is his or her family and friends. Most often problems people encounter with family and friends negatively affect their job performance. Therefore, the counselor needs to strike a comfort level with the employees and through counselling sessions involving their families can help to resolve their problems and getting them back to work- all fresh and enthusiastic.
• Other Issues: Apart from the above mentioned factors, other issues such as management of finance, health matters, communication, emotional abuse, threats also affect a person’s output at work. Counselling helps to identify the problem and help him / her to deal with the situation in a better way.
Benefits of a counselor at a workplace
• The confidentiality that the counselor would not disclose an employee’s personal problems or issues to others in the organization helps for openness and trust.
• Time, effort and resources required on the part of the organization are a constraint.
• Development of the personnel.
• Increased productivity.

Conclusion
Counselling can go a long way in helping the employees to have better control over their lives, take their decisions wisely and better charge of their responsibilities; reducing the level of stress and anxieties. Counselling of employees can have desirable consequences for the organisation. It helps the organisation when the employees know that the organization cares for them and are able to build a sense of commitment with it. It can prove to be of significant help to modify the behaviour of the employees, more so to re-enforce the desired behaviour which improves employee productivity.
For more information contact Akosua –info@hopecounselling.org