Jack Sampson, a clerk in the human resources department of the Franklin County Hospital, had been with the hospital for four years. Until the last several months, he had been an ideal employee. He had always been excellent at answering other employees’ questions.
Furthermore, he was active in both community and church activities. He was married and had two children.
However, Mel Dillon, director of human resources for Franklin County Hospital, had noticed some significant changes in Jack’s behavior during the last three or four months. Jack’s work had become sloppy, and he had been very irritable and snappish when answering questions from employees. He had been absent from work on five occasions during the past two months. Before that, he had never missed a day of work. In addition, he had been late to work three times during the past month. This had never happened before.
One day, Jack missed the weekly staff meeting.
Afterward, he explained his absence by saying that he had forgotten about it.
Mel decided to talk to Jack about the change in his behavior. Jack explained he hadn’t been feeling well lately. Mel suggested that he see a doctor, but
Jack said, “I’ll be OK. Just bear with me for a little while.”
After another three weeks, Jack’s behavior and performance did not improve. In fact, they seemed to be getting worse. During that time, Mel noticed that Jack was staying away from his desk for long periods.
Since Jack’s job didn’t require him to be away from his desk for long periods, Mel decided to find out where he was going. As Jack was leaving his desk the next day, Mel followed him at a respectable distance.
Jack went into one of the hospital’s storage rooms and stayed there about 10 minutes. This storage room was for hospital supplies; as far as Mel could determine,
Jack had absolutely no reason for being in it. A short time later, Mel thought he smelled alcohol on Jack’s breath.
1. What should Mel do at this time?
2. How should Mel handle the overall problem?