Employee assistance programs provide you with the opportunity to ease burdens faced by employees in their personal and work lives. The truth is, productivity suffers if employees are stressed, but offering the right support helps improve workplace performance, which offers a host of benefits to your organization.
What Are Employee Assistance Programs?
Employee assistance programs (EAPs) refer to a service that helps employees resolve issues that affect their well-being and job performance. Typically, EAPs help employees address and work through the following concerns, regardless of whether they are personal or work-related:
- Mental disorders
- Substance use disorders
- Trauma
- Stress
- Financial problems
- Grief
- Relationship problems
- Any other issue impacting work performance
How Do Employee Assistance Programs Work?
An EAP is a voluntary and confidential service and one of the most important benefits employers can offer to their employees. The primary motivation behind EAPs is to minimize stressors that slow down work performance. It's no secret that employees' productivity increases if management makes an effort to promote the well-being of team members at all levels.
However, EAPs should not be confused with therapy or health insurance. EAPs are a short-term solution, and if there's a need for long-term or specialized assistance, the EAP counselor will provide a suitable referral. In some instances, the EAPs can also cover the employees' family members. To get a better idea of the principle behind EAPs, consider looking at an employee assistance program policy sample.
What Services Are Most Commonly Offered Through Employee Assistance Programs?
EAPs help to address a wide range of concerns by providing employees with services that include:
- Confidential and individual assessments
- Organizational assessments and management consultations
- Counseling services
- Employee education and training
- Health and wellness promotion
- Approved drug testing programs
- Legal and financial assistance
- Access to online self-help tools and resources
- 24/7 online and telephone support
- Referrals
Some EAPs concentrate on offering a particular service, while others are more equipped to address a broad range of issues affecting employee performance in the workplace. Another thing to note is that EAPs can provide these services to employees on-site in specific circumstances.
However, individual face-to-face counseling sessions usually happen offsite at a private location. That's because employees are more likely to avail themselves of the service if the employers hire a neutral third party that can guarantee confidentiality away from the workplace environment.
Since EAPs are part of the benefits package for employees, it means they don't have to pay out of pocket to receive help. In most cases, the employer covers the entire cost of the EAP. Employers can choose fee-for-service contracts and pay only when employees use the service. Alternatively, they can select fixed-fee contracts where the fees are fixed based on the number of employees and the allotted number of visits per year.
What Is An Example of An Employee Assistance Program?
A common example of an employee assistance program is an external program that gives employees, and their family members access to EAP providers away from the place of employment. With this arrangement, eligible members are allotted a specific number of in-person counseling sessions and can also take advantage of telephone and online support.
Types of Employee Assistance Programs
Besides external programs, other types of employee assistance programs include:
- Internal programs. With an in-house program, the EAP staff provide their services on-site. Internal programs are more suited to large organizations with enough resources to cover the cost of on-premises EAP services. The EAP professionals are usually employees of an EAP vendor, but sometimes they can be direct hires.
- Blended programs. Blended programs are designed to provide employees with on-site or offsite EAP services, depending on their geographical location. For instance, employees at the company's larger branches can access in-house EAP professionals, while employees at smaller locations can access offsite EAP counseling services.
- Peer-Based programs. Peer-based programs are not as common. With this type of program, the services are offered by trained and qualified employees. So, essentially, employees who need help will receive assistance from peers and coworkers.
- Member assistance programs. Member assistance programs are sponsored by unions and can address a wide variety of issues, such as working conditions and welfare concerns.
- Management sponsored programs. This program is subsidized entirely by management with no contribution from unions. Management sponsored programs are more common than member assistance programs and are often part of an organization's employee benefits package.
Benefits of Employee Assistance Programs for Employees
Employee assistance programs benefits for employees include the following:
- Improved well-being. EAPs help employees cope with various issues affecting their work performance. EAP services support employees dealing with divorce, family issues, trauma, mental health issues, and more. In addition, some EAP services help promote employee well-being as a preventative measure. Many of the benefits associated with EAPs stem from improved employee wellness.
- Positive work environment. Stress in the workplace is common, but it can negatively impact the organization if it's not dealt with. That's because stressed employees tend to be aggressive and less communicative when dealing with other team members. This negatively affects employee experiences. However, offering the right EAP services can help turn the situation around.
- Professional development. Access to relevant EAP services means employees can work on their professional development. EAPs sometimes provide employees with educational programs that teach new skills to advance one's career. Employees have better workplace experiences if they receive support with their career development goals.
Benefits of Employee Assistance Programs For Employers
Employee assistance programs benefits don't just apply to employees but employers as well:
- Increased productivity. It's already been established that employees face many issues that can interfere with workplace performance. EAPs work to address these issues while strengthening workplace mental health. In addition to helping employees resolve personal and workplace problems, EAPs provide a confidential support system that employees can rely on when they need help navigating certain situations. Besides counseling sessions, employees also have access to a wide range of services, and some of them are fun and unique, for instance, guided meditation and virtual yoga. All in all, this results in happier employees that are more productive.
- Reduced turnover rate. Organizations can only achieve a higher retention rate if they provide employees with positive work experiences. Employees are less likely to leave a job where they feel supported and valued. On top of that, it's easier to attract top talent if your employee benefits include an EAP.
- Greater ROI. Although employers have to pay for EAP services, the cost is generally well-worth it. The organization can benefit from an improved bottom line because profitability also increases when productivity increases. Otherwise, without EAPs, most organizations can incur huge losses due to employee absenteeism, low morale, poor performance, and a high turnover rate.
Disadvantages of Employee Assistance Programs
Although EAPs provide many benefits to employees and employers, they are also associated with the following disadvantages:
- Waste of resources. EAPs can be a waste of resources in several ways. For instance, employees may be poorly informed about the program's benefits, resulting in a low utilization rate. This situation worsens if the employee opts for a fixed-fee contract instead of a fee-for-service contract where you only pay for services used. EAPs can also waste resources if offered services do not apply to employees.
- Difficulty in accessing services. Employees will be less likely to utilize the program if they have to jump through hoops or pass through many chains of command to access EAP services.
- Exclusion of management. Sometimes management doesn't have access to EAP services. This can be detrimental to the workplace if management performance suffers because they did not get the help they need. Employers need to realize that managers also need help with personal and work-related issues to perform their duties more effectively.
- Confidentiality issues. Confidentiality issues usually arise with internal programs since employers are more involved with the EAP. This might prevent employees from using the EAP as much as they should.
- Cost Barrier. EAPs are expensive, and if employees have to pay, they may elect not to use the services to save money.
The First Step to Implementing an Employee Assistance Program At Your Organization
If you believe that an employee assistance program will benefit your workplace, then the first thing to do is identify the kind of support your employees need. There's no point in rolling out a benefits program if employees feel it doesn't meet their specific needs and interests.
Therefore, management must understand employee needs to determine the best EAP services to utilize. Other considerations to make include whether to hire on-premise or offsite services and which type of EAP to implement. Once you find the right EAP for your business needs and budget, you can benefit from improved productivity and better employee retention by promoting the overall wellness of your employees.
