SHRM26 Debrief · Modern Employee Experience · #2541
From Termination to Transformation: The New HR Playbook for a Recovery-Friendly Workforce
with Mark Bonta
& Cheryl Brown Merriwether
& Cheryl Brown Merriwether"Helping someone else through difficulty is where civilization starts."
What it was about
Substance use disorder is a pervasive but rarely discussed workplace issue, and HR leaders can save lives and improve business outcomes by replacing punitive, policy-first responses with an empathetic, Recovery Friendly Workplace approach.
By the numbers
67%
HR managers surveyed by Hazelden Betty Ford who said they know they have a problem but don't know how to handle it
70%
Percentage of adults with a substance use disorder who are employed
zero lost time injuries for six consecutive years (2017-2024, and one more year after Mark left)
Safety record at Mark's manufacturing facility after becoming a Recovery Friendly Workplace
Key notes
- Adopt the ELead model (empathize with intent, lead with clarity, elevate through development, align people and operations, develop a supportive culture) instead of reacting to performance problems with policy alone.
- Before terminating an employee for substance-related issues, consider offering recovery resources and support as an alternative, since termination can remove someone's safety net at a critical moment.
- Use the National Safety Council's online calculators to quantify the cost of substance use disorder and mental health issues to your specific company, state, and industry to build an internal business case.
The contrarian takeFiring an employee for substance-related conduct issues, even when policy technically requires it, can be the wrong call. The speaker's own decision to terminate an employee for repeatedly showing up smelling of alcohol preceded her death from liver failure six months later. That experience is why he argues leading with policy over people can cost lives rather than protect the business.
Take this back Monday
Do this for your team
Look up your state's Recovery Friendly Workplace program and ask what a manager training session would take to set up.
Say this in your next leadership meeting
About 70% of people with a substance use disorder are employed, so how we respond to a struggling employee is a retention issue, not just a compliance one.
Watch out for
- Leading with rigid policy enforcement instead of understanding the person and root cause behind a performance or conduct issue.
- Reacting to a problem immediately instead of pausing to ask what might be driving the behavior and what outcome is actually wanted.
- Assuming EAP alone solves the problem, when only about 3-10% of employees with a substance use disorder actually use it and many don't know what it's for.
Fun fact · Cheryl Brown Merriwether
She was named a SUCCESS Magazine Women of Influence in 2022 and won BambooHR's 2023 'HR Experience Maker – Heart & Soul' award.
If this landed, see these
↳ Go deeperUnwell at Work: Addressing the Health Challenges No One Talks AboutExtends the same 'this isn't a discipline problem, it's a health problem' logic across menopause, pelvic floor, and more.⇄ The counterpointBeyond Inclusion Training: Building Cultures that Get RealArgues empathy alone isn't enough: culture change needs specific, negotiated expectations, not just good intentions.✦ The unexpected oneThe Brain-Healthy Workplace: A New Imperative for HR LeadersThe same low-cost, high-return health investment logic, just applied to brains instead of substance recovery.