The Benefits of Employee Assistance
Programs
By Rich Bayer, Ph.D.
When your employees enjoy positive emotional health,
your company runs more efficiently. When your staff is happy, it shows in
their work.
Dozens of scientific studies have proven this. The
studies show that stressed, depressed, or substance-abusing employees lose
some of their effectiveness, and therefore disrupt productivity in the
workplace.
An Employee Assistance Program (EAP) helps to solve
this problem. An EAP intervenes early with employees who are experiencing
emotional distress and attempts to find a solution before the problem gets
worse. Clearly, it’s easier to treat an emotional problem when it’s
just starting than to wait until it’s full-blown.
Also, the goal of the EAP is to minimize lost time
from work. Without early intervention with an employee, the amount of time
lost usually increases.
Four Benefits of EAPs
There are four key benefits to EAPs. They offer:
1)
Support for the Employer. An EAP can help you manage a
complex employee situation. If an employee has been struggling on the job,
usually you would take him aside and ask what’s happening. If he has an
emotional outburst and smells of alcohol, you know there’s a lot going
on. Since his work performance is impaired, it could mean taking
disciplinary action. But, if this otherwise very good employee is doing
poorly at work because of life's pressures outside of the workplace,
wouldn't it make sense to help him cope more effectively and restore his
good work performance. In this case, an EAP counselor can help both you
and the employee to deal with this situation and develop a plan that you
both can agree on. This gives you another option, one that just might save
a good employee and maintain his productivity.
2)
Support for the Employee. When stress, distress, substance
abuse, or depression takes hold, it begins to interfere with an
employee’s work. An EAP offers fast access to a confidential expert who
can help. The EAP expert will help your employee figure out what’s wrong
and then provide support for the problem. This is the “assessment and
triage” model. Assess the situation and find a solution.
3)
Preventive Care. Generally, EAPs provide access to some
education and on-site training. Topics include how to identify depression,
negative stress, couples and family problems, and substance abuse
problems, and what you can do about them.
4)
Emergency Consultation. EAPs provide crisis counseling as
needed. Imagine your place of business being robbed, or an employee being
the victim of a serious accident. This type of trauma can impact the
entire staff. Through your EAP, you can gain instant access to a therapist
who can come to your worksite and provide stress debriefing for the entire
staff, thus reducing the likelihood of ongoing distress and impairment
among all concerned.
What’s the bottom line? While you do have to spend
some money for an EAP, it can help you by:
- Reducing
your health insurance costs through decreased use
- Reducing
company downtime as employees miss less work
- Reducing
the loss of productivity among distressed employees who make it to the
job but work only at half speed
- Reduce
morale problems caused by a dysfunctional employee
So actually an EAP can save you money.
If you’re interested in working with an EAP,
contact a couple of EAP providers and ask for bids. Generally your EAP
arrangement will take the form of a contract with one of the providers.
The EAP provider will agree to a certain number of services that your
employees can access.
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Rich Bayer,
Ph.D., is the CEO of Upper Bay Counseling and Support Services, Inc. and a
practicing psychologist.
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For More Information Contact:
Upper Bay Counseling and Support Services, Inc.
200 Booth Street, Elkton, MD 21921
Tel: 410-996-5104
Toll Free: 877-587-7750
FAX: 410-996-5197
Internet: info@upperbay.org
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