What is an employee assistance programme (EAP)?
An employee assistance programme (EAP) is provided by the employer for the employees in order to provide assistance in resolving issues that may have a negative impact on an employee’s life and performance at work. EAPs address personal issues before, during and after they occur. This benefit to employees also ensures that they can be at their best during their working hours and therefore brings a lot of value to the business in terms of performance and productivity.
Having a healthy work-life balance is not always easy. Personal events, stress at work, toxic work environments or more simply an increased workload can be overwhelming for employees. When these challenges occur, the employee assistance programme kicks in and serves as a resource that employees can rely on. The service is in place to smooth the effects of personal issues in the workplace. It provides guidance and advice to employees while keeping the space confidential.
In a way, EAPs aim to ensure employee happiness and increase employee engagement, thus having a direct effect on productivity. The programme can provide counselling both face to face or online and addresses a range of issues, including the following:
- Mental health challenges
- Any physical health issues
- Potential financial difficulties
- Challenges around addiction
- Support around stress
- Any relationship problems, at work or in the employee’s personal life
EAPs are usually free and a huge benefit for employees.
Why are employee assistance programmes important?
Employees assistance programmes (EAPs) are essential. They improve employees’ lives physically and mentally. There are many benefits to the programme. Let’s dive in and explore these benefits in the section below:
Why should an employer implement an EAP for their business?
Employee assistance programmes (EAPs) ensure the safety of employees as well as their wellbeing. Employers should also consider that EAPs can be a great help for managers. They provide the following:
- Advice on occupational health
- Qualified support for managers
- Referral management
Indeed, EAPs can serve as a source to build out the strategy in terms of conflict management in the workplace. They can also form part of the structure of return-to-work policies or result in updates in the structure of the organisation. Businesses can experience substantial financial losses that are directly related to the health of their employees and their wellbeing. Having an EAP limits those loses as it provides a reliable and proactive solution to challenges employees might be facing in their personal lives or at work.
Wellbeing at work: how the EAP supports employee wellness
Stress is not the only element that employee assistance programmes (EAPs) address. The benefits are much wider and touch all aspects of wellness. Organisations who provide EAPs support their employees throughout their lives, including career events and challenges. The programme helps them navigate these experiences more smoothly. To put this into perspective, here are a few examples of situations in which EAPs can be of significant benefit for employees:
- Any family situation that can present challenges, such as divorce or childcare issues
- Professional relationships that can be conflictual or toxic
- Personal relationships such as family issues
- Recovery from traumatic events
- Emotional support through bereavement
- Coping with addiction
- Coping with stress at work
- Overall mental wellbeing
- Career transitions
- Help for employees with high levels of workload or those who travel a lot for work
The objective is to make employees happier and more fulfilled.
The correlation between wellbeing, employee productivity and business performance
There is a direct relationship between employee motivation and the organisation’s performance. This means that when employees are healthy, physically and mentally, their motivation levels increase as well as their productivity. By contributing to employee wellbeing, employee assistance programmes have a positive impact on your business.
How employee assistance programmes affect the bottom line
Having an employee assistance programme (EAP) is ultimately investing in people. Businesses who are aware of this are more successful in the long run. Some organisations might question the somewhat low utilisation of their EAP. They shouldn’t. Even with a low utilisation rate, EAPs have a positive return on investment, regardless of the business size.
Looking at this from a wider perspective, businesses are likely to retain employees who are happy. This results in long-term strategies and more importantly staff consistency through retention. This retention has an impact on customers who see stability in their supplier. These suppliers are not disrupted by turnover and appear as a safe choice. It also reduces the on-boarding process for new staff, training costs and much more.
The importance of mental wellbeing for businesses
Employee mental health is essential for the good functioning of the business. Organisations who care for their employees’ mental health by implementing wellbeing programmes are more successful. Human resources teams are usually responsible for these programmes. As such, they collect data, analyse it and provide insight to leadership teams that form a people strategy.
How to implement a successful EAP in a few steps
Having an employee assistance programme (EAP) may seem like a lot of work. This doesn’t need to be the case. Here are elements to consider and a few steps we recommend businesses implement to have a successful EAP and to support their employees in the best way possible through the programme.
What does it take to make a successful EAP?
Before getting into the different steps, let’s start by answering this question with some key pointers on what a successful EAP looks like:
- The EAP should be straightforward and comprehensive. This means the EAP should have a good utilisation rate, not charge extra for referrals, include crisis benefits and much more.
- The EAP needs to be proactive rather than reactive. The programme should offer preventive solutions for employee wellbeing. The objective of the EAP is to support and take pressure off employees. The programme provides advice.
How will your EAP work in practice?
The EAP provider starts by looking at a sample of employees. With this pilot phase, they identify the level of service your business will require. They gauge the need for counselling, training and other wellbeing actions.
Most of the providers will offer face-to-face and online counselling programmes. The provider should also provide the appropriate leadership team training and materials.
Step 1 to implementing a successful EAP: Confidentiality at all times
Ensuring absolute confidentiality is critical. Confidentiality guarantees that employees feel safe to share their challenges with confidence. If this is not the case, the programme will not be used as much.
Step 2 to implementing a successful EAP: Make the programme accessible to all
The objective of such a programme is to be available for all employees, regardless of their role and their position in the business. The location of the provider should be considered, particularly if face-to-face counselling is part of the solution. It should also be accessible remotely for employees who work from home. The programme should also consider the diversity of the teams and adapt to it. For more on diversity and inclusion, check our article on promoting diversity and inclusion in the workplace here.
Step 3 to implementing a successful EAP: Proactivity is appropriate
When we talk about proactivity, we do not mean that a big deal should be made about the programme. On the contrary, the programme should remain discreet while having proactive leadership teams directing employees who need support towards the programme. Conversations on this topic should be comfortable and casual while maintaining a certain level of sensitivity.
To do this, employers can incorporate their EAP in the company’s daily life with frequent reminders and content on the topic in newsletters.
Employee assistance programmes should not be ignored by business owners. They have a long-term positive effect on employee wellbeing and as such bring multiple benefits to the business. For more content on employee wellbeing, employee morale and engagement and employee motivation check our articles below:
