We know that children and teenagers experience peer pressure and end up doing things they would not otherwise. We also like to think that they outgrow the propensity to succumb to peer expectations as adults, unless it is to their advantage. Unfortunately, that is not true. Peer pressure often drives adult human behaviour as much as it does youthful actions because most people want to cooperate and feel accepted.
A good example is the expectation that Australians drink, and that has created a drinking culture noticeable on holidays, during social occasions, at office parties, during impromptu after-work gatherings, on weekends, and after work. People who do not drink during these times are often viewed as being uncooperative, unfriendly or judgemental, and that is a consequence of living in drinking culture. One out of five Australians indulge in short-term high-risk drinking or binge drinking and 72.6% drink regularly, reflecting a culture driven by customs, habits, norms, images, easy availability, marketing, and so on.1
It is impossible to cleanly separate the social environment from the workplace culture. People develop attitudes towards alcohol in their personal lives and subsequently carry those attitudes into the workplace. The workplace culture then influences whether an employee’s social attitude towards alcohol leads to alcohol consumption in the workplace or at work-related events. In Australia, drinking is more than just accepted. It is a cultural practice, meaning it pervades people’s lives. From that perspective, the workplace setting is a component of the larger culture, so having an impact on drinking behaviours must take into account what factors influence alcohol consumption outside the workplace.
Overlapping Cultures
It is not the employer’s responsibility or right to know what workers are doing when they are not working. The labour groups have vigorously fought for the right to privacy, requiring judicious use of drug and alcohol testing. However, workplaces are microcosms of the broader culture, and as such they are viewed as subcultures that either promote or discourage drinking. Though the workplace culture is separate from the broader community culture, they overlap in areas of personal values, behaviours and norms. They also overlap in that workers frequently become friends and share leisure activities together that include drinking. There are many familiar examples of how the subculture expresses itself.2
Workers feel pressured to join in end-of-the-week drinking events, even if they do not normally drink
Laissez-faire management attitude towards drinking in the workplace despite strong policies and procedures
Workers as a group support alcohol consumption outside the workplace as a way to cope with workplace stress
Workers show tolerance for co-workers drinking at the workplace
Drinking together as a workgroup is seen as a sign of social solidarity
Work related celebrations and events (promotions, retirements, office parties, conferences, business lunches, etc.) always include alcohol consumption
Management has a major influence on how the workplace culture develops. Management practices can have the effect of promoting an alcohol tolerant workplace culture, even if that is not the intent. For example, managers that overlook drinking incidents because meeting production quotas is viewed as more important is sending a message of tolerance. It also sends a message that the manager cares less about workplace safety than about profit. Managers who fail to develop formal drug and alcohol policies and do not institute random drug and alcohol testing programs are promoting the continuation of the workplace culture that supports drinking. Companies that hold office parties at pubs or make alcohol available at office holiday parties are promoting alcohol consumption as an acceptable worker practice. This is often where the workplace subculture and the broader community culture collide because parties held off-site are viewed as personal, but the attendance of workers and managers serves to solidify a workplace culture of alcohol acceptance.
Changing Peer Expectations
Changing a workplace drinking subculture first requires management recognition that it even exists. There must be formal drug and alcohol policies and procedures and a random testing program initiated. However, these actions must be supported by education and training, elimination of alcohol at work related events, and zero tolerance for workplace alcohol consumption. Managers and supervisors should not join staff members at end-of-the-week drinking sessions or pay for alcohol at business luncheons. Anything the management does to support alcohol consumption contributes to workplace drinking subculture. Through education and training, peer expectations can change and that can relieve peer pressure to drink when the consequences are fully understood. In other words, the goal is to create a culture in which peer expectations are that drinking is not going to occur.
The reality is that employers are not interested in worker habits related to their personal lives, unless alcohol or drug use during off-time impacts the ability to safely complete work duties. Ideally, workers will recognise when their own safety or the safety of others is jeopardised by personal drug or alcohol use or use by co-workers and will report to the employer before someone is harmed. That will not happen unless the workplace subculture is intolerant of the risks presented by worker alcohol consumption and workers know the employer will be supportive as they exercise their duty of care.3
Mediscreen at mediscreen.net.au/ can conduct drug screening 24-7 and services are suitable for all industries and locations throughout Australia. Screenings play an integral role in promoting a zero tolerance workplace culture.
This article has been taken from http://mediscreen.net.au/articles/?p=2070
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