Employee Assistance Porgram Avaiable for the Modern Workplace - Research Paper Example

This research paper will mainly focus on the advantages in implementing the employee assistance program, how to choose and nourish the program. On the other hand, the paper will also put emphasis on ways of evaluating the employee assistance program. Employee Assistance Program (EAP) Introduction The employee assistance programs are arrangements that assist in recognizing and resolving issues that the troubled employees are facing in the course of counseling considered to be short term, follow up checkups or referrals to professionals having special skills. A large number of the employee assistance programs offer training facilities to people owning businesses and the supervisors of these businesses in order to deal and recognize the behavioral crisis inside a workforce. The programs of assisting the employees are not created to grant long term management. According to the Business Week Magazine, the programs give an employee a secure environment for discussing their problems with a particular counselor who in return makes an evaluation that is confidential (S. Philip, 2000). Employee Assistance Program In addition, this evaluation if needed gives a recommendation to a professional of mental wellbeing. The magazine goes on to assert that the owner of a business is supposed to have worries concerning the workers given more value and have good work productivity. Ordinary psychiatric problems take a significant part from abuse of drugs to alcohol infatuation. Yearly, the business cost comes near to three hundred and twelve billion in absenteeism and productivity lost (W. G. Brian, 1997). These employee assistance programs have come out to be important and popular constituents of total advantages packages used for large and small employers who are alike. The employee assistance progressional association affirms that during the late nineteen nineties, there were a close number of twenty thousand employee assistance programs providers that were operating in the United States. They were first designed to respond to the business concerns on the impact to be gotten from an employee drug and alcohol abuse in productivity. Currently, they are planned to deal with various issues that are affecting the modern day workers. The modernized employee assistance programs are created to assist the workers with different problems like stress from depression, marriage and family counseling, financial problems, illness amongst the co workers and crisis organization (W. G. Brian, 1997). A large number of these employee assistance programs have made increased their counseling scope in order to help the workers struggle with the issues concerning eldercare, natural catastrophes, and violence in areas of work. In addition, these programs have increased elements that are proactive to the offering they make. An example is that the employee assistance programs have supported the workplace guidelines and educational efforts of AIDS/HIV. The expansion in the range of employee assistance program is commonly pointed to the United States changes in bigger collective fabric. S. Philip (2000) asserts that changes in technology and demographic changes have assisted in creation of different and new varieties of mental and stress health issues that affect the productivity and health of a large population of the employees in the world. Human beings who have family or personal problems may lack a place to go for an advice than to the advantages the employee assistance program put forward through their places of work. Various companies have realized that detection of a direct link can be identified amid the productivity and well being of a certain employee. According to W. G. Brian (1997), these companies are also relying on their employees in improving their productivity and their increasing their bottom line despite the advancement of technology in the world. This means that the association existing between the productivity and the well being of the employees cannot be disregarded. If an employee has problems related to the work he or she is doing, it may result in poor performance of the work issued and may lead in the productivity of a firm to be affected. Symptoms that may be observed in a case where a certain employee is handling a particular issue in his profession are: poor morale, low job performance, absenteeism and theft. The growth of the employee assistance program has been attributed by the enhanced affordability of the program. Small companies that had limited number of resources had to expand their employee assistance program in order to include programs that were affordable and sponsored by national corporations and insurance companies (S. Philip, 2000). This act occurred at some point in the mid 1990s. According to the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, some companies that had less than twenty five employees offered employee assistance program plans by 1997. Advantages of Implementing Employee Assistance Program Many small businesses owners have concerns on the costs accrued in implementing and maintaining an employee assistance program. They recognize that the employee assistance program may be of great use to their employees but the expenditure of operating the program may discourage the business owners. To the small businesses entrepreneurs, one of the advantages accrued is the affirmative impact on the productivity of an employee and how it controls costs in health care. In addition, the companies that offer employee assistance program are viewed as companies that support the employees in the population where they are operating. On the other hand, this plan has been mentioned as elements that are effective in retaining employees. Then plan assists the company in doing its best capabilities by provision of goods and services to the customers. It also allows owners of a business in concentrating more on operations done inside the business (S. Philip, 2000). How to Choose an Employee Assistance Program There are various factors that are supposed to be considered by businesses or companies. The first one is the qualifications of staff that are suitable in operating with the plan. The staffs are supposed to continue with initiatives of their education. Also, the businesses should check the level of experience of the employee assistance program in program reviewing (W. G. Brian, 1997). The second characteristic is the company identifying the cost structure of the plan. Costs vary depending on the structure of operation, services offered and ways used in determining charges. The third characteristic is the training services offered by the employee assistance program. These programs used in training differ widely. The fourth characteristic is the employee’s assistance program responsiveness and convenience. The owners of businesses are supposed to look for providers with capabilities that are located in the same region like the company (S. Philip, 2000). This will help the employees in visiting these facilities either during work or after doing work. The business owners are supposed to inquire more on the response time of the program to the inquiries of the employees in situations that are not emergencies. Lastly, communication of the program to the business owners and the employees is another characteristic needed before choosing an employee assistance program. How an Employee Assistance Program can be Supported For the employee assistance program to be successful, managers and other staffs of a company are required to go for training. In order for the program to be successful and diminish any liability of an employer, managers should understand the purposes of the employee assistance program (W. G. Brian, 1997). People in management are supposed to be educated on the issues about the program’s don’ts and do’s. Employees can be referred to the assistance program but no force is put for people to ask for assistance. In an occasion whereby the rules and regulations of a company have been violated, employees are not exempted from disciplinary actions even if they are involved in an employee assistance program service. Small businesses that want to maximize the efficiency of their employee assistance program should promote the program. In addition, the company’s employees are supposed to be aware of the existence of the program, the coverages, ways of accessing the programs and the nature of resources contained in the programs. Employees are supposed to build up assurance in the facilities of the people giving such services and get information that the needs they have are able to be attended to by using the employee assistance program resources (W. G. Brian, 1997). How to Evaluate Employee Assistance Program that has been established When the program has been installed, the program’s sponsor is supposed to make sure that the program is effective to the benefits package generally. An employee assistance program that is not addressing the concerns and needs of an employee in a company is not effective and money may be wasted in acquiring the program. Many people agree that establishing the efficiency of the employee assistance program is termed to be a difficult task sometimes since problems facing employees such as drug abuse and stress are not possible to enumerate. The program has confidentiality limitations that restrict tracking the use and efficiency of the employee assistance program. Sponsors are able to estimate the program’s cost effectiveness by putting more attention to utilization tendencies (S. Philip, 2000). Conclusion According to the above research conducted, the confidentiality of an employee is supposed to be preserved so that there can be better services delivered. Due to privacy concerns, professionals may manage employee assistance programs with site services that are far away from their places of work. Sponsors of a company are supposed to incorporate their programs with other attempts in promoting an employees wellness. The employee assistance program may require to be revised in case a small percentage of employees considered to be eligible are using the program. In addition, revision may be needed if issues prompting first use of an employee assistance program have not been resolved in a speculated time period. Incase employee’s outlook the program with suspiciousness; revision of the program may be needed. Companies are supposed to conduct enough investigations on the desires and needs of the employees available. References Brian, W. G. (1997). Employee Assistance Programs. New York: American Printer. Philip, S (2000). How to Get the Best from an EAP. People Management. Read More