Be honest, be sincere, look him in the eye, make sure he knows your motivation is that you care. Less words is better sometimes. Make sure he knows it’s, at the moment, entirely between you and he only. Leave him time to think on your words, tell him you’ll be back later in the day to hear his ideas in addressing the issue. Leave him some dignity, and time for it to process.
When you return, start by telling him you have been honest, sincere and direct with him and are hoping he can afford you the same respect.
That’s my advice. And good luck, it’s never easy. But then, the best things in life rarely are.
A close relative of mine sobered up after an intervention by his coworkers. It changed his life very much for the better. There’s no way to know how your employee may react, but this confrontation might turn out to be the best thing that ever happened to him.
My suggestion: don’t talk about the alcohol at all, unless he brings it up himself. Make it purely about his performance. If you push him about his drinking, he may push back, but if you talk about his work he probably be more receptive.
This. If the guy was falling down drunk 24/7 but his work performance was excellent, he might be deserving a raise. Likewise, if he was sober 24/7 but not doing his job, he’d be getting a talk.
Alessan’s advice is spot on. Make it about the performance issues and not the drinking.
Either way you may want to talk to HR. They can give you advice that may keep you out of lawsuits or make it easier to fire the person if it comes down to that. You probably can talk to your HR people and not mention names to get advice.
Over a period of 40 years I have lost count of how many times I have had this conversation. Around trucking we have zero tolerance. If an otherwise good long term employee was found to be taking a couple of beers with lunch a non official but stearn warning was usually issued. In the case of a problem employee or new employee I would send them for a drug and alcohol test if I smelled it on them.
As suggested above, I stressed that this was just between the two of us right now, and that I was talking to them because I care about them and want them to have the opportunity to fix the problem before it gets any bigger. I also stressed that our friendship would not prevent me from taking additional steps, including involving HR with a documented improvement plan if it became necessary.
They (please pardon the continued use of incorrect pronoun, but I have to try to be as anonymous as possible) said they had been waiting for someone to talk to them about it. They just weren’t sure who would be the first. Just to be clear, there have been no obvious screw ups at work, just an overall decline in productivity and ability to focus/concentrate, and obvious hangovers with accompanying alcohol smell. I do not, right now, believe they were actively under the influence, not drinking at or before work, but I will be monitoring the situation. We are reconvening in a day or so to talk about strategy.