Employees Counseling Process and Management

The following interview questions are aimed at examining various aspects of counseling in an organization. The main purpose is to understand various stages of the counseling process and management of those problems and issues that employees can face. This interview will show the differences between the theory of counseling and its applications.

1. What kinds of counseling services are provided in your organization?
2. Does the corporate culture of your company encourage employees to use the assistance of professional councilors? What kind of issues or problems are they allowed to discuss with a counselor?
3. Do employees know that the company can offer them counseling services? How are they informed about these counseling services?
4. How many counseling sessions can an employee attend? Are there any financial restrictions or time limitations?
5. What are the cases when the management can oblige an employee to ask the assistance of a counselor?
6. Do counselors of your company conduct workshops for a large number of employees in order to teach them how to overcome various psychological problems (Copeland, 16)?
7. Do the employees have an opportunity to receive training that will help them cope with workplace stress or anxiety (Copeland, 16)?
8. What are the major roles or functions of a counselor in your organization? What is considered to be a successful outcome of counseling?
9. Are counselors obliged to make follow-up assessments of the employee’s state (Strawbridge, Woolfe, and Dryden, 422)?
10. Are counselors allowed to ask clients questions about the workplace environment, organizational structure, or the specific task that the employee works on?
11. Are there any cases when a counselor is required to disclose personal information of the client (Doyle, 362)? What is the company policy toward this issue?
12. What are the circumstances when a counselor has to refer an employee to an outside professional? Does the management of the company approve such referrals?
13. Are there any conflicts of interest that the counselors of your company can face? For example, do they have to reconcile the needs of their clients with the needs of the company (Carroll and Walton, 2)?
14. Can counselors organize group sessions for the employees who may have some workplace conflicts with one another?
15. Do the results of counseling sessions have implications for the workplace environment (Carroll, 39)? For example, were there any organizational changes that were implemented on the recommendations of a counselor?
16. How is the work of a counselor assessed? Can employees provide feedback and make recommendations about counseling?
17. Are managers of the company informed about the problems that employees face? Do they know how to approach employees who may have various emotional or psychological problems?
18. Can participation in counseling sessions affect employee’s career or promotion? Does the company have any written or tacit rules about this issue?
19. What is your overall evaluation of organizational counseling? Does it improve employees’ well-being as well as their performance?
20. Would you make any recommendations that can improve counseling in your company? What are the things that may need improvement?

To a great extent, these questions are based on the work of various scholars who examined potential problematic issues of counseling in modern organizations. The answers to these questions will show how theoretical principals of organizational counseling and its practical aspects are related.

Reference List

Carroll Michael. Workplace counselling: a systematic approach to employee care. New York: Sage, 1996, Print.

Carroll, Michael and Walton Michael. Handbook of counselling in organizations. New York: SAGE, 1997. Print.

Copeland, Sue. Counselling supervision in organisations: professional and ethical dilemmas explored. New York: Taylor & Francis, 2005. Print.

Doyle, Christine. Work and organizational psychology: an introduction with attitude. Washington: Psychology Press, 2003. Print.

Strawbridge, Sheelagh, Woolfe, Ray, and Dryden Windy. Handbook of counseling psychology. London: SAGE Publications Ltd, 2009. Print.