Close Up
Hard helps UB employees deal with work, personal problems
Before joining UB this spring as administrator of the Employee Assistance Program, Deborah Hard spent 15 years at the New York state EAP office supervising more than 25 Western New York EAPs. Photo: Nancy J. Parisi
“My former boss called me Deb, but I go as Debbie, or Deborah…whatever you want.”
Deborah Hard is nothing if not accommodating, a trait that also drives her new job as administrator of UB’s Employee Assistance Program (EAP), a free information and referral service available to all university employees, family members and retirees.
The EAP office helps employees deal with difficult and often-overlapping personal and work-related issues: substance and domestic abuse, problem gambling, work stress, caregiver overload, work-life balance, union matters, child care, military service and any type of emergency, whether on campus or off.
As part of the UB 2020 Human Resources Transformation initiative, Hard expects the EAP to expand and better tailor its services to the needs of UB employees. “This is a big campus with many levels of employee and supervisory dynamics, workplace stress and diverse personal situations,” Hard says. “We need to be better able to respond to all groups promptly and fairly.”
Before joining UB this spring, Hard spent 15 years at the New York state EAP office—part of the Governor’s Office of Employee Relations—where she supervised more than 25 Western New York EAPs. Shuttling between downtown Buffalo, Albany and colleagues in Rochester and Watertown, Hard consulted for existing EAPs at state prisons, SUNY campuses, the Department of Transportation, and the state Liquor Authority. Her first job in the field was as a state-certified EAP coordinator at Buffalo State College.
Today, Hard also serves as a peer counselor for the Western New York Stress Reduction Program Inc., whose critical incidence-reduction services aid police officers, firefighters, EMS personnel and other emergency workers. Her experience with emergencies makes her a valuable addition to the EAP leadership.
For instance, Hard was recognized at the recent University Police awards breakfast for collaborating with University Police officers who responded to an off-campus infant death. It happened during her first two months on the job.
“Kids’ deaths are the worst,” Hard says, referring to that incident and more generally to this summer’s rash of area swimming-pool drownings. “But no matter what the event, police or my trauma team contact me and we help first responders process what they see, hear, smell and touch—the whole horror of the scene.”
On campus, Hard oversees two EAP coordinators and the EAP Committee, a group representing a cross-section of UB student, faculty and staff. The committee is the workhorse for new ideas and develops university-wide EAP programming, advertising and promotions.
Promotion is key to the EAP’s efficacy, Hard adds. Too many employees remain unaware of the office or what it does.
The EAP office plans to continue many of its ongoing information and training sessions, including Powerful Tools for Caregivers, EAP Tools for Supervisors and popular meditation and stress management classes led by Bharat Jayaraman, professor and chair of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering.
“It makes sense to tap into UB’s local talent, which helps build community,” Hard says.
Hard’s ideas for new programs include a stress and financial management session set in the context of the fragile economy, as well as a workshop on sleep disorders and transitional programs for veterans and other employees returning to work after taking personal leave.
Hard consults often with Human Resources’ Wellness and Work/Life Balance unit, which is organizing the university’s first official military recognition event at the UB-Army football game on Oct. 18. Veterans’ issues are a growing national concern for employers and families alike.
Hard’s message to the UB community is simple: Keep an open mind and don’t hesitate to get help. “Asking for assistance does not indicate weakness. The EAP helps people get out of tough spots and on the road to productivity.”
For more information about EAP, click here.
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