How the EAP can boost productivity and performance
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/SHR-12-2016-0106 |
| Pages | 142-143 |
| Date | 12 June 2017 |
| Published date | 12 June 2017 |
| Author | Zofia Bajorek,Andrew Kinder |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour,Employee behaviour |
How the EAP can boost productivity
and performance
Zofia Bajorek and Andrew Kinder
Zofia Bajorek is Lead Researcher
in HR and Management at The
Work Foundation, London, UK.
Andrew Kinder is Chief
Psychologist at OH Assist,
Epsom, UK.
The evidence is there to
support the idea that
employee assistance
programmes (EAPs) work in terms of
helping reduce sickness absence
and the kinds of mental health
problems that lead to presenteeism
and a workplace malaise. But as a
service, it’s been pigeonholed. Its
reputation is that it’s the counselling
service, the safety net for HR that
helps managers avoid challenging
personal issues around
relationships, debt and mental
health.
The limited use of the EAP is an
issue highlighted by a new report by
Lancaster University’s The Work
Foundation. Just 9 per cent of HR
manager respondents involved with
the research into the use of EAPs
had attempted to evaluate their EAP
in terms of a cost utility benefit or
return on investment via the impact
on sickness absence, productivity,
performance or engagement.
Thirty-one per cent admitted there
had been no attempt to evaluate the
quality or impact of the EAP and 9
per cent didn’t know whether there
was any evaluation. In the study, HR
managers also pointed to an
ongoing stigma associated with the
EAP, as a counselling service
primarily for staff with mental health
issues.
Potentially there’s an under-use of
services, which might well be the
missing link in helping organisations
improve performance and
productivity among staff left dazed
by growing pressures.
But what can organisations do? In
practical terms, it means re-thinking
when managers and their line
reports should be using the services
available. It shouldn’t be the last
resort, but a more natural source of
support around everyday concerns
at home and in work, so managing
finances as well as who to better
deal with relationship issues at work,
give up smoking, how to overcome
periods of stress and generally stay
feeling healthy and positive.
Managers at all levels should be
encouraged to play a more active
role in promotion and in positioning
what the EAP actually is. They need
to ensure people know that the
service is there primarily for
prevention, as a way of avoiding
situations that can spiral into far
more serious problems. It also
means think about the language
used around the EAP, being clear
it’s not only about counselling.
A huge step forward will be to start
measuring the impact. There’s more
scope for demonstrating how your
use of the service is saving the
business money – just simply in
terms of calculating the numbers of
cases referred, the potential for
absence and forecasting the
savings from what was avoided by
comparison with sickness absence
Strategic commentary
PAGE 142 STRATEGIC HR REVIEW VOL. 16 NO. 3 2017, pp. 142-143, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1475-4398 DOI 10.1108/SHR-12-2016-0106
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