Supervisor Training in Employee Assistance Programs:

Abstract

The role of the supervisor in the constructive confrontation process has been established as central to employee assistance programs (EAPs) (Googins and Kurtz, 1980; Hoffman and Roman, 1984; Roman and Blum, 1988). Supervisors are in a unique position to identify troubled employees and intervene in a meaningful way. As a result, EMS have implemented supervisor training programs in order to enhance supervisors' skills in performing these tasks. These training programs have been implemented and accepted in virtually all EAPs (Trice and Belasco, 1968; Trice and Roman; 1972). Despite the general acceptance of supervisors and supervisor training as critical to the E M mission, there has been very little research in this area by E M professionals. Thus, with only a few notable exceptions (Googins and Kurtz, 1980; Hoffman and Roman, 1984; Trice and Beyer, 1981), supervisor training remains relatively unexamined despite its importance to the EAP field. This paper will present data from the first phase of a study project funded by the National Institute of Drug Abuse to study the effectiveness of supervisor training. In this first phase a national telephone survey of EMS was conducted to obtain an accurate picture of the extent and nature of supervisor training practices within EAPs. On the basis of these survey data, an analysis of current supervisor training practices will be presented with particular emphasis placed on recent changes in the EAP and training environments. Finally, a number of recommendations are offered to enhance the quality of current training programs and help in designing new programs to meet the changing needs of EAPs.