This holiday season, Tinker Air Force Base’s Civilian Personnel Office is encouraging Federal civilian employees to reach out to the Employee Assistance Program for resources and support if they feel the weight of stressful situations negatively impacting them.
While the holiday season is usually a time of celebration and joy, Civilian Personnel Officer Robert Amundson said that the holidays can also be a time of stress due to financial strain, family situations, coping with being away from home depending on an individual’s assignment and other stressors that can increase strain on employees and increase incidents of workplace conflicts.
“The holidays bring out the best and the worst in people, and you have to think about how people are going through a lot of stressors in their lives,” Amundson said. “If we’ve got a problem, we want our employees to reach out to the appropriate resources for assistance.”
Most of the time, Amundson said that his office receives reports of incidents that involve more verbal altercations than physical ones. Amundson said that part of this is because Amundson said that he and others in the Civilian Personnel Office make it a point to connect with units across the installation so supervisors will be proactive and reach out before an actual incident occurs.
Amundson said his office will step in if there is a history with an individual employee that indicates that individual might have a propensity to do an act of violence that could potentially damage government property, themselves or others.
“Based on conversations and historical evidence from supervisors, what we will do is work with them on a plan moving forward that would help them take care of that issue,” Amundson said.
One of the most important things that Amundson said can help avoid situations escalating is to report anything as it happens. He said that it isn’t unusual for someone to speak up in the aftermath of a situation and point out previous incidents that should have been brought to the attention of a supervisor or the Civilian Personnel Office.
“A lot of times people don’t want to get involved because it’s not their fight or not their issue,” Amundson said. “But collectively, being good wingmen, we all need to be there to report these incidents and being there to help that Airman out before the situation becomes a crisis.”
Those feeling stress from their work or personal lives can reach out to the Employee Assistance Program at 1-866-850-9078.