Managing and developing a level of trust on a professional level can take time and commitment within your field of work.
Unfortunately, being honest about your struggle with addiction to your employer can be incredibly uncomfortable. Often when beginning the recovery process, you may find a variety of actions that you have taken due to your addiction may have negatively impacted your performance at work. Discussing these actions with your employer and sharing your decision to work through recovery can potentially bring up potential trust issues within your working relationship.
Acknowledge Trust Levels
Some employers will be understanding of your situation and be supportive of your decision to get help and work toward your best self. Others may struggle to understand the severity of the need to focus on recovery and automatically fall into a state of judgment.
If your employer falls into this second category, it does not necessarily mean they are a bad or unsupportive employer. They likely do not understand the effects addiction can have on an individual and how your recovery can help their company as a whole.
Strong Support
If your employer has shown strong levels of support, we recommend providing them with updates as you go through the recovery process. Engaging with your employer regarding your progress can help them feel that they are informed of the current situation and know what to expect from you as an employee. This can include updating your workload so that you can manage it in the upcoming weeks or having predictions on when you will be able to go back to work if you are taking a long-term break.
Lack of Support
If your employer is lacking support for your decision, it is still possible to maintain employment and work on a mutual basis of respect. Informing them of your current needs, such as potential hour cutbacks or time off, and discussing your plans during this time can help. Some employers will struggle to understand the need for time off due to mental health or addiction recovery, but telling your employer of the goals you wish to achieve by taking this recovery path and explaining how it will improve you as an employee can help them see the benefit on their side.
Understanding how your employer views your situation can help you determine how much trust you currently have from them and what you need to work on gaining while going through recovery. This is important to acknowledge to ensure you are handling these situations properly.
Regaining Trust
A strong aspect to focus on that can help you to regain a level of trust is to facilitate changes for the improvement of the business. By communicating your personal goals and needs and developing a plan for betterment, you are placing yourself in a leadership position. Setting a plan for change and staying committed to achieving your recovery goals can show a lot about you as an individual in the workplace. Taking initiative to bring your best self into a job setting says a lot to your coworkers and employer and shows your leadership qualities.
Self-Reflection
Reflecting on past mistakes can be a beneficial way to regain trust with your employer as well. As previously stated, it is common to make mistakes in the workplace when you have an addiction. Developing skills to manage withdrawal symptoms and learn from your prior mistakes can set you up to be a better employee in the future. Discussing these aspects that you are working to improve with your employer will show that you are taking accountability for your mistakes and are putting in the work to improve. Have a plan in place to refer back to and share your goals with your employer so they can follow up with your progress if they desire.
After reflecting upon ways to improve, you may find it beneficial to follow up with your employer on your progress. Asking for feedback from your superiors and taking their advice seriously can show that you are committed to reaching your goals and bringing the best to your work. Following up can also be personally rewarding. If your employer points out things you have improved on throughout recovery, it can reinforce your desire to continue improving. If they have any recommendations for further things to improve, it will only strengthen you as an employee. Taking their advice and criticism seriously can show a high level of respect in the working relationship.
Ensuring you are providing consistent outcomes of success and continually improving will show that you are working toward becoming your best self. Showing your employer that recovery will not get in the way of your work ability but will only lead to future improvement can help you regain trust in the work environment.
Working to regain trust with an employer when going through recovery seems difficult, but there are many ways to approach this. First, understand your current situation with your job and recovery needs so that you don’t overwhelm yourself and find yourself overpromising and underperforming. Being able to communicate your needs with your employer and updating them on your goals and progress can help strengthen your relationship and level of trust within the workplace. Sharing your goals and plans to achieve them with your employer can show your commitment to success. Following up on your progress can help your employer feel included and provide you with suggestions that may help you further your success. The ability to self-reflect is extremely important when working to rebuild trust with anyone. To learn more about rebuilding trust with your employer through recovery, contact Dream Recovery at (949) 732-1960.