"The malpractice for advice giving is like five times as much as a craniotomy " What is Counselling in HRM ?

 Definitions  Of   Counselling ? 

1. Employee counselling at the workplace is the discussion of an employee's problem that usually has an emotional content to it in order to help the employee cope with the situation better.( Ajila, & Adetayo , 2013) 

2. Gerstmanm( 2014) aim of the employee counselling is to assist both the employer and employee by interviewing with an active problem solving  approach to tackling the problems at hand.

3.Counselling is defined as a relationship in which one person endeavour's help another to understand and solve his adjustment problem. Counselling is a two way affair involving both counsellor and  counselee- English English 

4.  The process of helping employees recognizes their feelings about issues, define personal problems accurately, find solutions or learn to live with a solution. Dictionary of personnel and Human Resource Management by R. Bennet.

What is Counselling ?

Counselling is a way of helping people to help themselves. It's main  aim is to help someone to , 

• see their present situation more clearly .
• Understand fully how they feel about it.
• Determine actions.
• Make realistic plans.

What does not come under scope of counselling?

• Advising done by the counsellor.
• Treatment of  severe  mental illness.
• Solving all life's problems.

Aims of  Employee Counselling .

• Finding the key sources of difficulty faced by the employee.
• To review the individual's current strategies and styles of coping and dealing with the perceived problem.
• Counsellors can help individuals to find and maintain work that uses their skills, talents, and attributes in order to support career engagement.
• Counsellors and employers can support individuals to make the necessary career adjustments to stay fully engaged.
• Health and physical .
• Personality.
• Marital , sexual and family.
• Social and financial .
• Drug and alcohol.
• Vocational Problem.

The need for work place counselling.

1.The welfare of employees is one of the major responsibilities of the employers. More and more employers realize that wellness both physical and psychological and productivity go together.

2. Counselling is one way of helping the employees to cope with the changes taking place in the organization. Changes are never easy it disrupts, disorients, and causes anxiety. Counselling helps individuals and teams during transition.

3.Counselling improves mental health of the troubled persons. Employees do not leave their problems aside as they enter their workplace. Psychological and social problems can be costly for an organization.

4.Counselling services can also be viewed as a preventive service where the availability of counsellors who offer training and education prevents mental illness.

5. Finally counselling itself is a source of organizational change.

Objectives of Counsellor .

1. To clarify important factors in life.
2. To work with inner resources .
3. To explore thoughts and meanings.
4. To support at time of crisis. 
5. To work through "stuck" issues.
6. To reach better solutions.

Who can counsel ? 

you don't have to  be a professional counsellor to develop counselling skills and counsel those in need of assistance. Probably we all have done it, in some stage of our life either knowingly or unknowingly.

 

But what is developing the skills required to be a successful counsellor, you don't have to be born with it, all these skills could be developed.

Counselling Skills.

• Active listening and sympathy. 
• Respect
  
• Tolerance.
• Genuineness or sincerity.
• Strength and Balance.
• Direction.
• Self Knowledge .
• Coaching skills.
• Advising skills.
• Referring.
• Providing feed back.

1.attending

2. Reflecting& Paraphrasing

 3. Summarizing.

4.Questions.

5.Focusing.

6.Immediacy..

7.Report Building 

8. Silence.

Identifying people who need counselling 

While developing the skills required to be a successful counsellor is important, it is also important that you have the necessary skills to identify those who need counselling help and when they need help.

• They are unusually troubled, tensed or anxious.
• Their behaviour has changed noticeably.
• They seem unaware of the consequences of their behaviour.
• They are not responding to usual motivators.
• They are not mobilizing their energies.
• Their thinking is clouded.
• Performance Problem.

Preparation for a counselling session.

• Define session objectives / develop skills.
• Determine no of sessions/ degree of trust/ confidence levels.
• Adequate notice/ time and place 
• Duration min 30 minutes.
• Remove all distractions.
• Rehearse and document action plan. 

Guidelines for  conducting a session.

• Be warm and friendly.
• Define reasons.
• Ask open-ended questions on feelings / thoughts.
• Identify alternative/solve
• Seek employee feeling about possible consequences 
• Provide support and resources.
• Employee Assistance Program
• Summarize key point. 

Practical Consideration In Counselling.

• Responsibility of Counselling.

Individual line managers should take the responsibility of counselling employees who have minor emotional or performance related problems.

• Length and Number of Sessions.

Counselling sessions provide the real settings to solve the emotional problems of the employees and the duration of such sessions may vary, from 40 minutes to 75 minutes.

The spacing of the counselling sessions helps the client to consolidate the gains that have accumulated.

• Time and place of sessions.

When fixing the time and place of counselling, you should consider important factors such as suitability of time and place to both the parties, non- conflict with the timings of normal duties, secrecy, and so on.

Session should be of interest to both parties and therefore it should be arranged by mutual consent and convenience.

• Need for keeping confidence.

It is important that the client feels confident to discuss matters freely with the counsellor and whatever should be kept confidential between the two of them are kept in strict confidence. The success of the counselling session will depend on how much confidence can be command from the client.

Types Of Counselling.

Organizational counselling is divided into three types. This classification has been taken from the book organizational behaviour by the newsroom and Davis.

Directive Counselling 

The counsellors hears the employee's emotional problem, decides what the employee should do and then tells and motivates him to do it. Focuses on the counsellors as a judge or advisor. The counsellor plays an active role. The client is required to follow the solution given by the counsellor.

Advantages of directive counselling

• More attention to the clients.
• The counsellor tries to understand the problem of the client.
• Clients get a proper guideline to follow.
• The counsellor plays an active role.

Disadvantages of directive counselling

• A counsellor is authoritarian here.
• The counsellor becomes more confident.
• Abuse of the authority.

Non -Directive Counselling 

Is just the opposite of directive counselling. This counselling technique is a client oriented process. Non directive counselling is a process of skill full listening and encouraging the counselee to explain emotional problems, understand them and determine appropriate solutions. This type of counselling is generally used by the professional counsellors.

Advantages of non-directive counselling

• Here the counsellor does not play an authoritarian role.
• Non-directive counselling is client-centred.
• Here a client can take his or her own decision.
• A counsellor cannot be overconfident.
• Here a client cannot be dominated.

Disadvantages of non-directive counselling

• Here counsellor does not play an active role.
• The client faces pressure that he has to think about his problem and make a decision.
• Non-directive counselling is indirect in approach.
• Here counselling just provides information with a frustrated man or client should do but cannot give his decision to him. So in non-directive counselling, the client is to make the decisions to solve his own problem. The counsellor will not make the decision but help to make the decision.

Participative Counselling.

It is also called cooperative counselling. Another method generally used by the organization is in between these two extremes. Co -operative Counselling is more practically applicable and more readily suitable to managerial attitude and temperament than the other two.

Advantages of participative counselling

• It is a suitable method for solving a problem
• The participants may be cooperative and sympathetic to the problem employee.
• A useful solution may come out.
• Implementation of a solution may be easier.

Disadvantages of participative counselling

• It is time-consuming
• It may create a conflict of thought
• Some participants may not be agreeable to the solution
• Some participants might not manage time to participate.

Iceberg model of counselling

Sometimes the feelings of the employee are hidden under the surface of a counsellor’s communication than are revealed. For this reason, they constantly encourage the counselee to open up and reveal deeper feelings that may help solve the employee’s problem.

So, here are the all types of organizational counselling. All of these types of organizational counselling are highly used in our organizational counselling program.

Counselling Process.

Initial Disclosure

 During this stage, the counsellor and client establish a rapport and create a safe and comfortable environment for open communication. The counsellor explains the purpose, goals, and confidentiality of the counselling process, ensuring that the client understands the nature of the counselling relationship.

The counsellor encourages the client to share their concerns, issues, and experiences. The client is given the opportunity to disclose their thoughts, emotions, and any relevant information that led them to seek counselling. The counsellor actively listens, demonstrates empathy, and may ask clarifying questions to gain a deeper understanding of the client’s situation.

The initial disclosure stage is crucial for building trust, establishing a therapeutic alliance, and setting the foundation for further exploration.

In- Depth Exploration.

Once the initial disclosure is made, the counsellor proceeds with a more detailed exploration of the client’s concerns. This stage involves an in-depth assessment of the client’s thoughts, emotions, behaviours, and any underlying factors that contribute to their current difficulties.

The counsellor uses various therapeutic techniques, such as open-ended questions, reflection, summarizing, and probing, to facilitate a deeper exploration of the client’s experiences. They may also employ specific counselling approaches or interventions tailored to the client’s needs and the counsellor’s theoretical orientation.

During the in-depth exploration, the counsellor and client work collaboratively to identify patterns, triggers, and underlying issues that may be contributing to the client’s challenges. The counsellor helps the client gain insight into their emotions, thoughts, and behaviours, encouraging self-reflection and self-awareness.

Commitment to Action

The counsellor and client collaborate to develop an action plan for positive change and growth. Based on the insights gained during the in-depth exploration, the counsellor helps the client identify specific goals and objectives to work towards.

The counsellor may provide guidance, psychoeducation, and skills training to empower the client in making meaningful changes. They might also suggest various strategies, techniques, or resources that can assist the client in achieving their goals.

The commitment to action stage involves regular monitoring and evaluation of the client’s progress. The counsellor and client review and adjust the action plan as needed, ensuring that it remains relevant and effective. The client is encouraged to take responsibility for their growth, applying the insights gained in counselling to their daily life.

Conclusion.

Counselling is a form of talk therapy. We all as human being  face different problems in our day to day life whether it is personal or work related. The gravity or the severity of the problems may vary and this will determine how much and to what extent it affects us personally or our work. 
We all need help to analyze  and solve problems and to take decisions from time to time, when we are faced with such problems . Especially when problems affect us very personally we are often not very good at systematically and effectively dealing with it.

• Problems could affect us personally an intern can affect our work or even affect our families.

• The problems sometimes could be only work related and may cause performance problems.

Video 

References

1. Abeywickrama, Dorothy, Employee Counselling and Absenteeism,1st Edition,1991.
2. L.Gibson, Robert and H Mitchell , Introduction to Counselling and Guidance ,6th  Edition,2006.
3. https://www.visioncounselling.com.au/what-is-counselling/#
4. https://positivepsychology.com/counseling-process/
5. https://dspmuranchi.ac.in/pdf/Blog/stages%20of%20counselling.pdf
6. Michael Carrol,(1996), Workplace Counselling: A Systematic Approach to Employee Care 
7. Dr Yogeshver Prasad Sharma, (2020), Guidance and Counselling 
8. Meera Ravi,( 2020) , Counselling, What , why and how.
9. https://www.jiwaji.edu/pdf/ecourse/political_science/MBA_HRD_IV_405__INDUSTRIAL_PSYCHOLOGY__TYPES_OF_EMPLOYEE_COUNSELLING%20(1).pdf
10. https://www.jiwaji.edu/pdf/ecourse/political_science/MBA_HRD_IV_405__INDUSTRIAL_PSYCHOLOGY__TYPES_OF_EMPLOYEE_COUNSELLING%20(1).pdf

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