Imagine these scenarios: In the course of a regularly scheduled meeting, you notice that your employee has grown visibly thinner. Or colleagues tell you their observations of disturbing memory lapses and mental mistakes; or the employee’s conversation becomes sprinkled with potential indications of depression or even suicidality.

You ask the employee about it, and encourage him or her to make an appointment for evaluation or medical assistance, but then what? If you are seriously concerned, can you call a family member? How do you avoid violating privacy and confidentiality while still taking action you believe is in your employee’s best interest?

There is a simple but highly effective way to resolve this dilemma that goes one step farther than the usual emergency contact forms that are standard issue in business: Ensure that each of your employees signs something I call a Diminishing Capacity Letter^TM. This means scheduling a meeting with every current employee, and also making it part of the onboarding process for new employees. A simple template is as follows: