Stress is a natural part of working in almost any organization and is not necessarily a bad thing. However, there is enough research evidence to suggest that an optimum amount of stress in a can be good for productivity.
What Is In-Office Counseling?
In-office counseling is just what it sounds like: counseling or therapy within the workplace instead of outside of it.
Those who work in in-office counseling dedicate their efforts to creating a space for employees to feel safe, help manage stress, and provide resources to help boost mental functioning (and productivity, by extension).
Despite the prevalence of stress in the workplace, many employers, managers, and other authoritative officials still fail to recognize how damaging it can be over time.
These sorts of emotions can enhance the motivation, performance, and well-being of the employee. But, unfortunately, stress and productivity follow a "U-shaped relationship," where optimum stress is great for performance, but too much or too little hinders it and consequently harms the company's overall functioning.
Even human resource (HR) departments, which are supposed to represent the best interests of employees and companies themselves, are more focused on hiring, firing, and contract-related work rather than maintaining the optimum circumstances for the employees to flourish.
Then, it logically follows that there's a significant gap in employee experiences and morale, one that in-office counseling services can potentially fill. In this case, licensed mental health professionals (like those at ) can be a great resource, whether they officially work for the company in question or not.
In-office counselors can be useful in many ways. They might, for instance, help build training modules for individuals in leadership positions in the organization, work with teams that are not performing adequately, and provide one-on-one assistance to employees who may be struggling for one reason or another.
They might also conduct workshops that assist in the growth and development of employees of all sorts. Finally, in-office counselors are all-around great resources, especially for those who might lack direct guidance in the workplace.
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Who Can Be An In-Office Counselor?
Most organizations look to external agencies for this line of work. Often, the primary reason is confidentiality (that is, choosing to hire employees outside of the company can be useful if finding a more objective and trustworthy individual for counseling is the goal).
Hiring from the existing pool of employees can make others feel less comfortable. The assumption, for many, is that since the employer is the same for both the counselor and the employee, confidentiality might be compromised, or an individual may be punished for what they disclose.
However, this is a fallacy, and there are a limited number of instances where this has occurred. Still, many employers keep these concerns in mind when deciding who to add to the team.
In-office counselors can have different training and areas of expertise. Still, generally, you can expect a psychologist, licensed counselor/therapist, or a similar professional to be qualified for such a position.
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Benefits Of In-Office Counseling
One of the main advantages, at least from the employer's perspective, of having in-office counseling is the fact that unwanted or unproductive behavior can quickly be addressed.
In-office counseling makes the workplace less stressful it also can be a vital resource - many employees may not have the time or money to invest in counseling on their own.
These counselors can also function as intermediaries between the employee and the employer. They can act as a neutral third party who can help unpack and mediate conflict.
Feeling safe and secure in the workplace makes it much easier for employees to communicate openly with one another and their superiors. In addition, creating an environment that avoids unnecessary distractions and encourages employees to strive for self-improvement can certainly lead to increased productivity.
Recent literature has also found that organizations with in-house counselors (such as Google) also have higher employed retention rates, which is always a plus!
Retaining employees means having a more skilled group of workers. Still, it also means an organization won't have to dedicate lots of time to hiring and training new employees (which is also great for productivity).
Overall, in-office counselors have a major role in improving an organization's work climate and its employees' performance.
Though it may seem costly to implement, in-office counseling will likely benefit almost everyone in any given workplace.
After all, the office is where many of us spend the majority of our time. Upon reflection, it's not hard to see why it can be so massively beneficial to create the atmosphere that employees want to be in and look forward to.