Ethical Case... What would you do?
I was reading a case this week about a sales representative from a large drug company. He was the top seller for a particular division, but one day decided to check himself into a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center. The rep was a young recruit from a top-ranked school. . . .
A recent performance review reported that he had met or exceeded all the expectations. The whole situation caught everyone off guard because he didn't seem like the kind of person who would not be handling his work in a professional manner.
His manager and supervisor (as well as the HR department) were faced with a tough decision. What is the policy towards the situation? The HR manager in the case says:
"It depends on the person and the circumstances involved. For some of our personnel, we have covered the costs involved in a treatment program, but we've found that these programs usually don't work and are a waste of a lot of money. They can cost between $10,000 and $15,000 for the usual stay. Personally, I'd advocate immediate termination of this individual, because sooner or later down the road he's likely to return doing drugs or drinking. This places us in a terrible position with our customers and the government. All I can tell you is that you and his manager have a decision to make regarding this guy. I need to be appraised quickly of whatever you decide to do. I've seen more of this is the last two years than in the previous twenty years I've been with this corporation. Maybe we need to do a better job of picking people."
So in this case, the direct manager and district manager have to make the decision. Here are some more facts:
Termination, hiring & training a new associate: investment of $28,000.
FDA regulations: very stringent; with a lapse in behavior, it would not be good for the company.
What do you think the managers should do in this case?
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Comments
Posted by: Valbona Bushi
Posted on: September 11, 2005 11:25 AM
I think the managers should keep the sales representative.
He has been meeting and exceeding all expectations. The fact that he has recognized his own problem and has checked himself into the rehabilitation center says a lot about his character. He is the best in the company and is trying to get rid of his addiction.
Also, from a money perspective it costs less to pay for the program ($10,000 - $15,000) then to go through the termination, hiring and training a new associate ($28,000). This sales representative has brought in the most sales and will most likely continue to do so.
Posted by: Daniel Jurek
Posted on: September 11, 2005 08:43 PM
Our sales associate is an interesting case. He was able to function pretty well and even exceed company expectations. The fact that he has a drug problem worries me because it may affect his future performance prospects. Using money as the sole decision maker for this case, Ms. Bushi is absolutely correct: it makes more sense to keep and take care of our representative than it does to remove and replace him. If he is a top employee, he may continue to generate revenue beyond his average counterparts and thus prove is worth many times over.
At the first sign of drug problems (subsequent to the rehabilitation), the company needs to re-evaluate. If they cannot justify keeping him, then they need to let him go.
Nobody should ever get involved with drugs. But those that do may have a tough time getting back on their feet. Couple this with the fact that other employers would be afraid of hiring this individual on the grounds that his actions lend themselves to unpredictability, and our man may utterly lose control of his life.
Human nature tells us to care for these individuals in a responsible way, but not to get attached. The employer should follow this notion and take care of their employee who is having a problem, but not become attached.
Posted by: LarKesha Burns
Posted on: September 12, 2005 12:04 AM
I think it depends on the type of drug program the employee is enrolled in. True, the employee is competent, but if the rehabilitation calls for him to be away from his job for long periods of time, then it would be profitable to find someone new. If it is just an outpatient program, then as an employer I would give kudos to my employer and try to support him throughout his endeavors.
Posted by: Eugene Roytberg
Posted on: September 12, 2005 08:44 PM
The HR manager seems to want to terminate the employee because he doesn't believe that the employee can be fully cured. He believes that the employee will do what the others in similar situations have done, and that is going back to doing drugs. Now the question I ask here it: Did those others check themselves into a rehabilitation system like this guy or were they forced into the system? If they were forced than they didn't really want t change, hence they wouldn't change. But this guy wants to change, he could have gone on using drugs and no one would have ever known, but he knew that it was wrong and he needed help.
However, if the other people who went back to using drugs, even after the rehabilitation center, did check themselves in just like this guy did, than I would not take the chance of keeping him around and very regretfully would terminate him. I would feel personally horrible about it; however the future of the company would have to come before my personal feelings. Even though it would be cheaper to rehabilitate him than to train a new employee, I would still not want to risk the reputation of this company on it (especially when there is a track record of rehabilitated workers going back to the drug use). Once again the action of termination would only be used if the other workers were just like him, who turned themselves in.
Posted by: Justin Rich
Posted on: September 12, 2005 11:59 PM
It would be interesting to know what exactly what he was seeking help for. I think that makes a huge difference. I agree with the HR person though and the salesman should be fired. Obviously something is wrong with him and even if he recovers there is going to be a big change in his life. I think there are many people with drug/alcohol problems in the work force (way more than anyone wants to admit) and life goes on. For a drug company though they have to watch who they have working for him. A known offender of that is a huge risk to keep on at the company. I'm sure the salesman is a great person, with an obvious talent in sales, but with a drug/alcohol addiction he probably should not be a drug rep.
Posted by: Dan McCandless
Posted on: September 15, 2005 07:35 PM
I think that in very personal issues such as these HR should refrain from adopting a very rigid policy. They have to be aware that their workers are individuals and that the cases are going to vary. That said, I think they should give the worker an additional chance. Although I would agree that they must be careful to make this a long and drawn out process, it is worth the investment of $10,000 to $15,000.
The company must be careful to appear to the public as insensitive and out of touch with its workers, so they face a very real PR threat if they terminate the worker in an abrupt fashion. The worker checked himself in without any pressure from the company, so at the very least we know that at present he is committed to beating his problem. As many have pointed out, he is an excellent worker and it doesn't appear that his personal life has dragged into his work. It is worth the risk to regain a top notch employee who might give a far greater return in the future than the majority of the people that they hire. They must make it very clear to him that they are taking a risk in taking him back, and that they cannot tolerate a relapse, and if he does happen to relapse then they cannot afford to continue his employment at their company.
Posted by: Raffi Pounardjian
Posted on: September 27, 2005 01:16 AM
Without a doubt, this is a tough ethical decision that requires a manager with experience. On the one hand you have an employee who performs his job well and exceeds all of his sales expectations. You also have the cost of hiring and training a new employee of $28,000 as opposed to the cost of the employee’s treatment of $10,000 to $15,000. On the other hand, you have the increased risk of future unsatisfactory performance due to the alcohol or drug addiction. Also, as a sales representative, the employee can hurt the company’s reputation if he gets into trouble as a result of the alcohol or drugs. Personally, I would find out the seriousness of the drug he was addicted to, and the seriousness of his addiction. If the drugs and his addiction were serious enough, I would terminate him on the grounds that he runs a future risk of performing poorly and hurting the company’s reputation. If the drugs and addiction were not very serious, and if the employees at the treatment center said that he had a good chance of recovery, I would take the risk of keeping him on because of his performance in the past. However, I would talk to him about the matter and inform him that I would keep him “on a short leash” with his job so that he takes his addiction and recovery seriously.
Posted by: Megan Kinney
Posted on: October 2, 2005 05:28 PM
I think they should not terminate this sales representative. He is taking measures to improve his current situation and has yet to slack off on the job.
It would be more costly to hire and train a new employee rather than let this man go into a rehab facilitly. I think they should send him to this facility once, if he needs to return to the facility again he should be terminated, because in the long run he will definitely cost the company more money.