Employee Assistance Program - Essay Example

Employee Assistance Program Introduction Employee Assistance Program (EAP) stems out of the fact that the performance of the employees in work place is directly proportional to their mental health. The state of their morale affects attendance, productivity and quality. Lack of morality was found to affect productivity and quality while increased stress caused higher incidence of accidents and absenteeism (US Dept of Labor, 10 Sep 1999). Employee Assistance Program is aimed at providing high and professional service to employees to confide and seek therapeutic advice from psychologists and specialists in interpersonal relationships.

The EAP can be the place where a grieved employee could approach and seek advice on family issues that nag him or her. Also find ways to set right their own thoughts on the happenings in the company; whether these are for the good or the bad. As a matter of fact, the supervisors in the company should encourage EAP and resorting to EAP when behavior of a person is not in line with his usual performances. Since the advice given is from professionals in the trade and they do not cost to the company or to the employee, the EAP will stabilize and produce the expected results over a period of time (Dept of Employee Relations, 2004).

Typical Uses of EAPOne, EAP will be a place where people could go for any of their not so obvious problems. Many times, men and women are bogged down by problems that come out of mental stress. This created either by an event or sometimes by presumptions. One of my friends, who was married for nearly two years, had a kid out of the marriage, suddenly found herself at a loss when her husband died suddenly in an accident. She used to be young and agile. She was a qualified computer programmer but mentally she was shocked at the turn of events.

Her own working performance shattered in face of this personal calamity. To make matters worse, the company could not appreciate the reason behind her lack of performance and found that she was not worthy of what they were paying her. She was shunted out of the company nine months after her husband’s death. Jobless and with no heart to hunt for one, kid to take care, she was really in a soup. Good that some of her friends could spend time with her, counsel her and put her slowly back to normalcy.

It took almost another year for her to get back to work in full swing and produce results in a different company.A professional psychologist would have given this a better treatment than what we friends could. EAP would have played an active role in this situation.Case Study Another incident of importance happened with one of my friends. He became an addict; I am not sure what drugs he employed. But it was certainly spoiling his high flying career. With nobody to chide him and nobody for him to confide to his problems, he took to drugs as recourse to his own personal problems.

As friends, we use to feel that we have not helped him at his time of need. But there are limitations to friends too. Many times, people do not confide if they know that the person who is listening has not power to correct the situation he is in. Under these conditions, naturally, this person did not feel comfortably to confide to his friends. He use to be a problem to the manager at his work place. In his last few days of work, he never took instructions from his manager. Though the company was large, the company felt that there was no point in having him in the company.

He needed counseling. None of us knew what went wrong with him. Two years later, he died. Even then, we do not know what was the problem that changed a dynamic young man from an achiever to a nobody who died with an over dose of drug.ConclusionEAP is a solution to many of the social problems that hamper work place. It arises due to inter personal problems; due to problems in the family and in the circle of friends. It might also arise due to technical lacking or due to managerial behavior. Any of the reasons could give rise to a state that would mentally derogate the performance of the individual.

It is also possible that these people who otherwise, were normal and motivated professionals, could have been contributing positively to the society. EAP will help address this problem to a great extent. This will also help in understanding the reactions to many managerial actions that are initiated by companies and by societies. The net result of such activities will be an increased productivity, better quality and, most important of all, a better life for every body, the manager and the employee.

Reference1. Dept of Employee Relations, 2004, About the Employee Assistance Program, State of Minnesota, available at: http://www.doer.state.mn.us/eap/abouteap.htm2. US Dept of Labor, 10 Sep 1999, Issues in Labor Statistics, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Summary 99.