As we all know, life happens. Businesses can discuss incentives, contracts, and productivity goals ad nauseam. But often, events outside the office have the biggest impact on employees’ productivity (and their work in general).
Burnout. Natural disasters. Family problems. These issues can rear their ugly heads and suddenly, everything else is on pause until you can handle them.
And if someone has been with your business for years and contributed their ideas, effort, and time to making the business grow, you don’t want to leave them in the dust as soon as they run into life’s hardships. You want to be able to tell them, “We’ve got your back.”
One way you can let your employees and coworkers know that you’ve got their back is by forming an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) or an Employee Assistance Fund (EAF). An EAP is a program that offers benefits like mental health support, life coaching, weight loss resources, and other employee-centered benefits. An EAF is an emergency fund for employees who face sudden hardships like losing a home to a natural disaster, for example.
In this article, we will focus on Employee Assistance Programs; to learn about Employee Assistance Funds, check out our article here.
What is an Employee Assistance Program (EAP)?
Examples of Employee Assistance Programs in Action
Benefits of an EAP for Employees
The Business Case for Employee Assistance Programs
First Off, How Much ROI is Possible?
Less Employee Turnover
EAPs Help Keep Workers Working
Increased Public Good Will
The Bottom Line: Are EAPs Worth It?
An Employee Assistance Program is a standard protocol for helping employees with difficulties related to their mental health, family, or other personal issues.
An EAP might set employees up either with a confidential third party, someone in-house, or another resource to help with issues like:
Because these problems can be intensely personal, a standardized EAP can ensure that private information is handled responsibly and legally. Many companies choose to outsource their EAP and allow a business like Groundswell to handle all of the ins and outs and technicalities of their Employee Assistance Program.
An EAP can fall under the larger umbrella of corporate social responsibility, and this overall dedication to employee wellbeing can come to designate EAP as one part of a healthy company culture.
As an example, let’s say that an employee named Andrew works at a tech company. He has been experiencing serious stress at work to the point where he can no longer be as productive as he was before.
The human resources department notices Andrew struggling, and they bring it up with him at his yearly review. Andrew admits that some difficulties in his home life have put a lot of pressure on him financially and at work.
The HR department, in turn, reminds Andrew that as part of his employee benefits package, he receives 20 free counseling sessions with a confidential, certified counselor who works out of the campus where he works.
Andrew starts to visit the counselor, who uses proven therapeutic techniques to help him and his frame of thinking. He finds solace in his counseling sessions, and he learns many techniques to help him both at work and in his personal life.
Andrew benefits because he got the help that he needed, and his company benefits because Andrew is a valued part of their office whose productivity and mental health affect everyone.
There are many employee benefits in an EAP. For example:
Why would a business commit funds and resources to employees for matters occurring outside the workplace through Employee Assistance Programs? A simple and profound answer is that it makes fiscal sense—in more ways than one. If you’re interested in achieving positive ROI while improving overall workplace morale, keep reading.
Any responsible business owner is keen to ensure that most funds expensed on behalf of employees can be made back in some way. If you had access to a program with the potential to give you as much as four dollars back for every dollar spent, would you take it? That’s what’s possible for companies with a thoughtful, well-managed EAP.
Constantly having to train new employees can be incredibly costly for employers. Many employers think of continual employee turnover as the cost of doing business in the 21st century, but the vast majority of workers will stay at companies with good benefits. Robust EAPs can help reduce employee churn and, in turn, lower costs for companies.
A company’s productivity is highest when employees are in the office (or in front of their home computer) doing the job they are paid to do. The challenges that EAPs are designed to combat—such as mental health crises, for instance—are known to cause employee absenteeism. Proactive approaches to confronting such challenges (that can be found in most EAPs) can reduce the amount of time employees are not at work.
The younger generations—especially Generation Z—value companies that focus on corporate social responsibility (CSR). They’re more likely to buy products and services from companies with high CSR scores. The most talented young workers are attracted to such companies. Having your company consistently rank near the top of “best places to work for” lists can only help its reputation.
As a CSR software provider, we feel the benefits of Employee Assistance Programs far outweigh any adverse effects. EAPs have been shown to increase employee satisfaction, which in turn decreases worker turnover and absenteeism. Reducing employee turnover and absenteeism lowers worker-related expenses for companies. There are few better examples of win-win prospects in the workplace.
Plenty of employers and CSR ambassadors want to implement EAPs but are intimidated by the amount of work it takes to successfully run one in-house. They might otherwise be discouraged by the costs of some third-party platforms. Groundswell is here to change the EAP game and the larger landscape of CSR software.
We keep costs lower for companies by abstaining from ad hoc fees when clients temporarily expand the scope of our services. Our charitable distributions are more efficient than most others’, with 90% of overseen donations given to intended recipients within 24 hours.
Our mobile-facing platform makes it easy to monitor CSR endeavors wherever you are. We also eliminate much of the paperwork and red tape that take up valuable time for CSR officers. Book a demo with us today to gain a greater understanding of how we can elevate your company’s charitable giving and implement favorable Employee Assistance Program benefits.
