WHAT'S THE COST OF DOING NOTHING?

ST. ANDREWS - Bill Howatt has a simple question on the back of his
business card: What's the cost of doing nothing?

If you're talking about workers addicted to drugs and alcohol, that
cost adds up to $40 billion in Canada, he said.

But many employers haven't yet realized how employees with addictions
affect the bottom line, he said Tuesday at a conference put on by
Enterprise Charlotte and the Charlotte Drug Coalition at the Fairmont
Algonquin Hotel.

"The reality is if one in four people have an addictive disorder, one
out of four people have a mental health issue, then we have a lot of
concerns," he said in an interview after he lectured a room full of
business professionals from Charlotte County and across the province.

"Employers can't take the attitude that people leave their junk at the
door," he said. "It's our job to get involved. I don't think people
are interchangeable anymore."

Howatt, a renowned human resources expert and psychologist who also
writes a weekly business column for the Chronicle Herald in Halifax,
said it's also the law.

"You have to ask, what's the risk to your organization by avoiding it,
and if something happens, and you knew (about the addiction), then
you're legally liable for not doing something about it," he said.

Howatt encouraged employers to train managers in interventions,
presenting a list of steps he thinks all businesses should incorporate
into their standard operating procedures.

Among the most important steps, he said, is to treat the worker with
dignity and respect - and to understand if they are under the
influence, they won't act rationally.

"There's a stigma, and we have a tendency when we don't understand
something to judge it," he told the group. "We need, as best as we
can, not to judge." A poor attitude can also leak into hiring
practices, he said, which also need improvement.

Often, employers seem to hire people blindly, he said. He referenced a
study that showed people with higher scores during interviews actually
performed worse as employees.

"We hire too much on credentials. We don't hire to potential," he
said.

That aside, Howatt listed off some of the ways drug and alcohol
additions affect people's productivity. Dependability decreases, along
with memory, work quality, motivation and job skills.

"Drugs change your brain," he said. "They will change your effect,
your emotion."

He also addressed the myth that marijuana doesn't affect some people's
motor skills and concentration.

He said pot and other drugs socially and emotionally delay
people.

"It stifles their ability to reach their potential," he
said.

Other addictions, such as gambling, sex and the Internet, can also
have negative effects on people's work habits, he said.

Kelly Wilson, chairwoman of the Charlotte Drug Coalition, said area
businesses have expressed a growing concern with addictions in the
workplace.

"The acceptance of substance abuse from employees was something they
were concerned about," said Wilson, who works for the John Howard Society.

"People are looking at new norms that it is socially acceptable to use
substances before they go to work, while they're there, during break
times, lunch times."

She said employers are worried about worker safety and lost
productivity, and want a better understanding of their rights.