This essay will evaluate whether first line managers should have the skills and knowledge to counsel staff when they experience problems at work or in their personal life.
Counselling is a service in which a person who is stressed for any reason comes to a person (qualified or unqualified) for help on the situation. It can be work related problems, family, or social life. It is the process of making you think about the situation with its negatives and positives and providing solutions to deal with situations. You make the person think of goals to help develop their way of dealing with problems.
The philosophy behind counselling is open to interpretation between people. It depends to as what people think and want from counselling. The idea behind counselling is how it is recognised by at the moment. It is to relieve the fear, troubles, and stress you are feeling from a current situation or past experiences. Workplace counselling is beneficial to staff as it can help reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression, improve mental health, lower levels of sickness and increase job satisfaction and commitment. Counselling is an effective method of under standing the pressure caused by occupational stress and offers a supportive remedy. Counselling sessions to employees will help them feel valued, and will enable the individual to identify the cause of their problems and issues. Counselling can help increase staff morale, boost confidence and self-esteem, improve productivity and efficiency and create a more relaxed working environment (Marshall, 2009).
The role of the counsellor is to help you question the way you look at things, the way you behave or react to situations or people. They can also help you to develop new strategies for dealing with your situation. They do this by getting to know you, developing an understanding of your circumstances, listening to what you have to say and by offering support and insight.
The skills
Bibliography: Jane, M. ‘What is counselling’. Available at http://www.thecounsellorsguide.co.uk/counselling-workplace.html [Accessed 26.04.09] Alan, C. ‘neuro-linguistic programming technique and training’. Available at http://www.businessballs.com/nlpneuro-linguisticprogramming.htm [Accessed 27.04.09] Mary C, Kwame M and Andrew S. (2003) ‘Does workplace counselling work?’ British Journal of Psychiatry pp 103-104 [Online]