benefits
What’s in an EAP? 38 ❚ SEPTEMBER 2014 ❚ HR PROFESSIONAL
EAPS BY DEFINITION
Simply defined, EAPs are a resource that organizations use to sup-port
employees (and, in most cases, their families) in dealing with
challenges and stresses that negatively impact their lives and, in
turn, productivity and performance in the workplace.
In the past, a company’s concentration was on specific and lim-ited
concerns – primarily addiction. Today, EAPs provide support
for marital and family concerns, gambling and dependencies such
as Internet, food and shopping addictions, mental health concerns
(such as depression, stress and anxiety) and behavioural conflicts.
“The recognition that family plays a large part of a person’s state
of mind is also significant,” said Stordy. “Most EAPs today include
the option for family members to be included. This makes so
much sense, as we all know if a child, spouse or partner is suffering
through an issue, carry-over effects can really impact the entire
family and, as a result, an employee’s performance.”
Stordy says that over the past decade, greater efforts have been
made to increase the public’s understanding of mental illnesses
and its serious repercussions.
“But we still have a way to go,” he says. “Today, one in five
Canadians will be impacted by a mental health concern each year.
The stigma may still be there, but more people are making the
smart move of reaching out through EAPs and other services.”
SHORT-TERM HELP
It is important to emphasize that EAPs are designed to offer
short-term counselling, such as helping employees develop coping
skills to deal with specific situations. They don’t replace long-term
treatment for serious issues, but provide an excellent starting point
for someone looking to start the process.
Since personal challenges and stress affect companies to the tune
of thousands of dollars each year, employers are seeing a genuine
cost savings by implementing a quality EAP – one that provides
access to an established number of professional counselling hours.
Peter Stratton, chief people officer with Western Financial
Group in Calgary, says when looking at introducing EAPs into
their company, human resources professionals need to consider
a number of factors such as accessibility of the program to em-ployees;
quality of counselling resources; amount of coverage (i.e.
hours); cost to the company; how well the program will be uti-lized;
reporting; and confidentiality.
“HR professionals should try to network with other organiza-tions
that have a good employment practices reputation,” he said.
“Networking can help give employers a good understanding of
what works and what doesn’t. Also, having an understanding that
the lack of a good EAP can potentially lead to a higher cost envi-ronment
with more sick leaves and absences can help to ‘sell’ the
idea of an EAP at the executive level.”
Stratton says the key services of EAPs often include the
following:
■■ Family/relationship counselling (marriage difficulties, domes-tic
violence, eldercare)
■■ Onsite services counselling/support (emergency situations
requiring immediate onsite attention)
■■ Dependency counselling (alcohol, drugs, sex, gambling)
■■ Work-related counselling (supervisor or organizational change,
KEY COMPONENTS OF A STRONG EAP
INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING:
■■ Access to confidential, psychosocial counselling from a
qualified expert with proven credentials.
■■ Inclusion of family members.
■■ Transparency regarding the scope of service, hours
available and process.
■■ Access to other services that may affect an individual’s
mental well-being, including grief counselling, nutri-tional
consultation, childcare and eldercare guidance,
personal financial and legal challenge opinion and
dependency and addiction support.
■■ Extra support and guidance for managers.
“Some EAP providers are willing to tailor a program to best
suit an organizations’ needs,” said Allan Stordy, president
and CEO of Arete Human Resources Inc. in Calgary. “Do
some research, determine what services are key to your
particular organization, ask questions and check testimo-nials
– and then make the best choice.”
Additional resources, such as professional associations
that set standards for EAPs, are also out there. These in-clude
the Employee Assistance Society of North America
(www.easna.org) and the Employee Assistance
Professionals Association (www.eapassn.org). ■
Courtesy of Allan Stordy
“BE WARY OF THE MISCONCEPTION THAT
ALL EAPS ARE BASICALLY THE SAME.
THIS IS NOT SO AT ALL. RESPONSIVENESS
AND RELIABILITY OF THE EAP SERVICE
PROVIDER CAN DIFFER GREATLY.”
– ALLAN STORDY, PRESIDENT AND CEO, ARETE HUMAN RESOURCES, INC.
