Managing Employee Assistance Programmes
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/EUM0000000001020 |
| Published date | 01 January 1990 |
| Date | 01 January 1990 |
| Pages | 7-12 |
| Author | Olive C. Schmidenberg,John L. Cordery |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour |
MANAGING EMPLOYEE ASSISTANCE PROGRAMMES | 7
D
ata from research undertaken in a large
Australian banking organisation provide
valuable information for managers imple-
menting such programmes elsewhere.
Managing
Employee
Assistance
Programmes
Olive C. Schmidenberg and John L. Cordery
For the past 50 years or so, Employee Assistance
Programmes (EAPs) have been increasingly utilised in
their countries of
origin,
Canada and the USA, as a means
of controlling the effects of alcohol misuse in the
workplace. The last two decades have also seen their
implementation in Britain[l] and in Australia where, since
the early 1970s, EAPs have been promoted among large
organisations by government-funded agencies in each
state[2].
Although
a
conclusive judgement
on
the overall "success"
of EAPs is not easily reached because methodological,
conceptual and definitional differences prevent the
systematic comparison and integration of research data
from different studies
[3,4,5],
the literature on EAP
management does indicate some of the conditions
necessary for programmes to be effective in an
organisation. Two important factors are (1) the status and
position of the programme in the organisation, and (2)
supervisory attitudes towards EAP implementation and
management. In relation to the former, the effectiveness
of
EAPs
as a means of identifying and controlling alcohol
misuse has been shown to be substantially reduced if the
EAP system is not fully integrated into existing
organisational systems such as the formal or informal
performance appraisal
procedures[6].
It is also recognised
that a crucial factor in the implementation of an EAP is
the attitude of the supervisor towards the programme
[7].
There is insufficient information, however, on the
difficulties experienced by managers and supervisors in
putting the theory of EAP management
into
practice.
Such
data is important since it is the supervisor whose role
it is to implement the EAP guidelines, the only other
means of implementation being through self-referral on
the part of
the
employee. In addition, with the increasing
implementation of EAPs, users need to know what
practical steps to take in order to make the most of their
programme.
With these factors in mind, a research study was
undertaken in a large Australian organisation, to provide
some preliminary, in-depth qualitative data
on
the problems
experienced by those charged with the implementation
of
an EAP in
one organisation. Major aspects of
this
study
are reported below. The EAP in this organisation is
described in some detail as this is central to an
understanding of
the
findings. However, only those findings
which could have implications for the operation of EAPs
in other organisations are presented. Data relevant only
to the organisation in which the study was conducted are
not included here.
Methodology
The study was carried out in a large metropolitan bank,
with 20 branch managers and 20 branch accountants
comprising the subjects. The methodology adopted was
a qualitative, evaluative approach[8,9], reflecting the
idiographic, inductive objectives of the study. In-depth,
semi-structured interviews were conducted with each of
the subjects over a six-month period. Interviews were
tape-recorded, and typed transcripts of
the
recording were
prepared. These transcripts were then examined for
consistent and persistent themes [9] in descriptions of the
manner in which the EAP operated.
The Employee Assistante Programme (EAP)
At the time of
the
study the bank's EAP had been
in
place
for a period of three years. The programme was aimed
at staff at
all
levels of the organisation, though this study
was concerned only with the implementation of the EAP
at first line managerial
level
and
below.
Branches had been
provided with written guidelines on the operation of the
EAP and the manager and accountant
in
each branch had
attended a one-day training workshop when the EAP was
first introduced into the bank. Brochures describing the
EAP services and the procedures to be followed were
available to
staff,
who
had been informed, through in-house
publications and circulars, of the introduction and
implications of the programme.
The EAP in this organisation embodied those features
recognised as being common to most EAP formulations [4]
namely:
(1) a written policy on alcohol and drug misuse which
assures
job
security, normal sick leave benefits and
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