Employee Assistance Programmes or Schemes that are Available to Organisations - Essay Example

? Briefing Paper: Advantages and Disadvantages of Employee Assistance Programmes or Schemes that are Available to Organisations ChandraBhasham Student’s Number: 21214913 Total Number of Words: 1,810 I. Introduction Also known as Employee Assistance Scheme (EAS), Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP) is a free confidential “professional counselling scheme” and consultation services which aim to make it easier for most employees to deal with a long list of work-related and personal problems (i.e. substance abuse such as alcohol and/or drug dependency, grief and bereavement over the loss of someone important, financial, health, and legal problems, family or marital problems, federal tax problems, pre-retirement planning, and emotional pain caused by relationship issues among others) (Assure Group Benefits, 2013; Deb, 2006, p. 316; Goldsmith et al., 2002, p. 107). Depending on the nature of each employee’s professional and personal problems, companies can either offer in-house EAPs or hire the service of a third-party EAP specialists that can provide a large group of employees with access to professional service offered by attorneys, doctors, financial advisors, elder and child care specialists, etc (Assure Group Benefits, 2013; Deb, 2006, pp. 317 – 318). There are advantages and disadvantages associated with the use of either internal or external EAPs. For instance, creating internal EAPs is more cost-effective as compared to hiring the service of external EAP providers (Highley-Marchington and Cooper, 1998). On top of having the opportunity to monitor the effectiveness of internal EAPs, organizations with internal EAPs can easily adjust the programme in such as way that it could provide its employees with a more effective solution when addressing their personal or work-related problems (IDS Studies, 2002). However, the use of internal EAPs could increase the risk of violating the universal rule on confidentiality (Newton, Hayday and Barkworth, 2005, p. 3). To ensure that the work-related and personal problems of each employee remain ‘confidential’, Newton, Hayday and Barkworth (2005, p. 3) strongly advise the use of external EAPs over internal EAPs. Aside from increasing each employee’s work productivity, the benefit of making EAPs available to organisations include improving the mental well-being of each employee, increasing employees’ morale as well as reducing the total number of employees’ sick leave and overall medical costs (Health Assured, 2013; Goetzel and Ozminkowski, 2008; Shaw et al., 2007; Thogersen-Ntoumani and Fox, 2005; Shapiro, Cheesman and Wall, 1993; Cooper and Sadri, 1991). It means that the process of offering effective EAPs could somehow help reduce the rate of absenteeism and employee turnover within a business organisation. However, several studies questioned the validity and accuracy of the methodological approaches used in the previous EAP research studies (Werner and De Simone, 2009, p. 357; Highley-Marchington and Cooper, 1998; Heathfield, n.d.). II. Problem Statement Highley-Marchington and Cooper (1998) and Heathfield (n.d.) argued that it is not easy to assess and evaluate the real effect of EAP schemes on employees’ trust particularly with regards to the need to observe the law of confidentiality. Aside from the fact that only 45% of organisations managed to evaluate the effects of EAPs, Highley-Marchington and Cooper (1998) mentioned that several organisations that implement the use of EAP schemes are seriously reluctant about publishing their audit results and research findings because of fear that the general public could develop a negative impression about the company. Because of “commercial sensitivity” issues, there are no concrete evidences that can literally prove whether or not the offering EAPs by employers can seriously create value on the part of the business organisations (Werner and De Simone, 2009, p. 357; Highley-Marchington and Cooper, 1998, p. 7; Heathfield, n.d.). Considering the controversy behind the accuracy and most effective ways to evaluate the real advantages and disadvantages of EAPs that are currently available to organisations, it is necessary to ask the question as to how organisations could successfully evaluate the use of either internal or external EAPs without violating the confidentiality of their employees. Is it best to evaluate the effectiveness of EAPs on individual level, organisational level, or both? III. Strategies Used in Evaluating the Effectiveness of EAPs within the Individual Level, Organisational Level, or Both 1. Individual Level A. What It Does There are several ways in which HR managers could effectively evaluate the effectiveness of EAPs within the individual level. One of the common strategies used is the pre- and post-counselling questionnaire. Basically, the main purpose of using the pre- and post-counselling questionnaire is to accurately identify and determine each employee’s work attendance, individual job performance, and specific problem that each one of them are currently facing within the workplace (Newton, Hayday and Barkworth, 2005, p. 10). Based on the questionnaire results, the HR managers are obliged to develop and implement programmes that could address the specific needs of each employee. To determine the effectiveness of such programme on individual level, each employee will be requested to immediately complete a feedback form with regards to how the service has impacted their personal life and work-related experiences (Richard, Emener and Hutchison, 2009, pp. 186 – 187; Newton, Hayday and Barkworth, 2005, p. 10). B. What’s wrong with It Even though the use of pre- and post-counselling questionnaire can be effective in evaluating the effectiveness of EAPs within the individual level, the use of this particular technique has its own limitations. As explained by Merrick (2011), evaluating the impact of EAPs on individual level will never be effective in terms of allowing the HR managers to develop and implement corporate policies that could somehow increase the company’s return on investment (ROI). C. What’s Right with It Based on each employee’s currently reported personal and/or work-related problem(s), the use of individual or employee-focused evaluation method is more effective in terms of providing each employee with a more effective and directs short-term counselling (Merrick, 2011). As a common knowledge, employees who are facing personal and work-related problems are most likely to show some signs of declining work performance. This partly explains why an employee would suddenly increase the number of tardiness or absenteeism on top of the decreasing levels of production output. Through the use of pre- and post-counselling questionnaire, HR managers will be able to accurately identify and fully understand what exactly is causing an employee to become less motivated at work. From this point onwards, the HR manager can arrange a special meeting with an expert who could offer counselling assistance on behalf of the employee. For instance, in case an employee is undergoing a familial problem, the company’s free counselling service can be extended to their family members (Prince, Hutchison and Emener, 2009, p. 113; Roman, 1990, p. 200). In case an employee is showing signs of substance abuse, assessing and screening this particular employee within an individual level is more effective in terms of providing him/her with proper assistance regarding access to necessary treatment and social support group (Rasmussen, 2000, p. 94). Therefore, the use of individual approach is more effective in terms of delivering positive clinical and relationship outcomes (Merrick, 2011). 2. Organisational Level A. What It Does Evaluating the effectiveness of EAPs on organisational level is totally different from that of an individual level in the sense that the HR manager is obliged to closely examine the usefulness of EAPs that were initially designed for the benefit of all employees collectively. To evaluate the effectiveness of EAPs on organisational level, it is necessary for the HR manager to record not only the type of EAP services offered by the company but also the number of employees served, identify work-related problems (in percentage), the occurrence of customer complaints, cases of work-related accidents, cases of medical insurance claims, and the use of other common indicators for measuring quality and efficiency at work (i.e. employees’ absences and turnover rate) and performance (i.e. sales) (Newton, Hayday and Barkworth, 2005, p. 11). By doing so, the HR manager would know whether or not the company’s EAPs are effective within the organisational level. B. What’s wrong with It Even though it is possible to evaluating the effectiveness of EAPs within an organisational level, the use of this particular strategy does not allow the HR manager to benefit from being able to identify the individual problem(s) of each employee (Prince, Hutchison and Emener, 2009, p. 113; Newton, Hayday and Barkworth, 2005, p. 11). For this reason, the HR managers who are totally dependent on evaluating the effectiveness of EAPs on an organisational level usually fails to identify specific person who needs serious counselling intervention from the said programme. C. What’s Right with It Despite the limitations behind the process of evaluating the effectiveness of EAPs on an organisational level, the HR managers should still use this particular method. First of all, evaluating the effectiveness of EAPs on an organisational level will allow the HR manager to design and extend necessary trainings to a group of employees particularly with regards to the proper way of managing work-related stress (Merrick, 2011). Furthermore, evaluating the effectiveness of EAPs on organisational level is also more effective in terms of allowing organisations to develop and implement effective work environment policies (i.e. substance-abuse free workplace) (Merrick, 2011). In other words, the process of examining the effectiveness of EAPs within the organisational level could allow the HR manager to come up with a universal work ethics and guidelines in which each employee is expected to follow. IV. Conclusion Since the globalisation era, the number of business organisations that offer EAPs is continuously increasing. However, up to the present time, there are still incomplete or very little evidence that can scientifically prove whether or not EAPs are really effective in terms of increasing employees’ work productivity, improving their overall health and mental well-being, and reducing the rate of absenteeism, medical costs, or sick leave. Considering the advantages and limitations of evaluating the effects of EAPs on individual and organisational level, it is best to combine the use of these two assessment methods. By doing so, the HR management will be able to develop effective EAP schemes for its employees. Due to the fact the EAPs can be very costly on the part of any business organisation, evaluating the effectiveness of such programme is essential. By closely examining the effectiveness of EAPs within the individual and organisational level, the HR management can reassure themselves that the EAP schemes they use is effective in terms of meeting its main purpose and objectives. V. Recommendations The use of either internal or external EAPs entails additional costs on the part of the company’s daily expenses. To ensure that the company could maximize the long-term return of investment particularly when it comes to extending EAPs to each employee, it is crucial on the part of the HR manager to carefully evaluate not only the effectiveness of EAPs within the individual level but also within the organisational level. By ensuring the EAPs remain effective all the time, the HR manager will be able to increase each employee’s team and individual work performance. As a result of improving employees’ overall work performance, the company can somehow improve the quality of their customer service and profitability. References Assure Group Benefits. (2013). Employee Assistance Program. [Online] Available at: http://www.assuregroupbenefits.com/?page_id=10 [Accessed 15 May 2013]. Cooper, C. and Sadri, G. (1991). 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