Fact or Fiction – An EAP Service is a Counselling Service?

Fiction. Total Fiction.

Employee counselling is merely one of a number of services available through an Employee Assistance Program or E.A.P.

An E.A.P. is a suite of customized services delivered by Employee Assistance professionals, aimed at maximizing productivity in the workplace.

The E.A.P. mantra is ‘a happy employee is a productive employee’ and E.A.P. strategy addresses managerial, organizational, and employee concerns that affect productivity in the workplace.

The E.A.P. profession is at the intersection of Organizational Psychology, Mental Health, and Human Resources. E.A.P. Professionals have a deep understanding of all three professions and marry them in the delivery of services to clients.

So what are the actual EA services? For clarity, they can be divided into services to Management, services to the Organization, and services to Employees.

Services to Management

Executive Coaching– goal-directed coaching for managers, targeted at tying personal efficiency to organizational needs. Measurable personal goals derived from organizational needs are identified and time-sensitive plans executed to ensure that managers have the skills they need to produce the results that the business demands, within agreed upon time frames.

Consultation– Managers are not typically trained in behavioural science, psychology, or related disciplines. EA experts are resourceful consultants who can help managers deal with troubled employees and processes or policies that negatively impact employee well-being. EA consultants can help Managers recognize employees in distress and help them get those employees to seek E.A.P. services before problems escalate.

Services to the Organization

Interventions– prolonged workplace tension often results in contention, disagreements, and open conflict between employees. This is where focused interventions involving all stakeholders can be effective in diffusing the tension and easing conflict, returning the workplace to productivity.

Mediation – mediation is an effective means of resolving the conflict when it occurs between pairs of people in the workplace. The mediator uses their skill to help the parties in conflict to come to a win-win agreement.

Training and Motivational talks– lunch and learn, whole day, and half day training sessions to teach helpful skills to employees. Examples of sessions that are often helpful to employees includes: building mental resilience, coping with change, stress management, work-life balance, mindfulness meditation, time management, conflict resolution, and effective communication, among others.

Crisis Management– Workplace death, armed robberies, accidents, and natural disasters can lead to traumatized employees in need of psychological first response. EA professionals respond by providing on-site crisis response management and guidance, as well as delivery of services directly to affected employees.

Education – E.A.P.s contain repositories of helpful information, often in digital form, which is available to employees. These repositories range from self-help articles, education about work life issues, health matters, and how-to guides.

Services to the Employee

Life coaching –life coaching helps people accomplish goals for themselves that they either cannot or find difficult to accomplish on their own. Life coaching helps people gain clarity, insight, and motivation to achieve

Counselling – counselling helps resolve personal problems that impair productivity. The individual employee typically engages with a psychologist or other professional e.g. Certified Financial Planner who can work with them over the course of a fixed number of hour-long sessions to resolve, overcome, and heal past pains

Referral Services– not all employee solutions reside within the direct E.A.P. services. Solutions are sometimes found in psychiatric, child care, elder care, and other community resources. E.A.P.s provide recommendations, referral, and follow up services to employees who need these services

It should be clear that counselling, while an important E.A.P. service, is in fact just one of a suite of services E.A.P.s provide to organizations. The idea that an E.A.P. is a counselling service is inaccurate, incomplete, and unfortunate. E.A.P. services, when supported by management, and executed by skilled professionals, can lift productivity levels in organizations way beyond expectations. This is why 93% of Fortune 500 organizations in the United States actively employ E.A.P.s. They recognize the invaluable organizational resource that complete Employee Assistance Programs provide. In a landmark study completed in 2017, E.A.P.s in the USA were found to generate an average Return on Investment of $5.69 to every $1 spent. Is an E.A.P. Service a Counselling Service? Not in the least bit, Counselling is only just scratching the surface, E.A.P.s are so much more than that.