An Employee Assistance Program (EAP) strengthens the relationship between your organisation and employees by providing access to a range of confidential counselling and support services when they’re most needed.
When implemented effectively, an EAP counselling program can improve productivity, reduce absenteeism and minimise the effects of stress and other mental health symptoms which can negatively impact the working environment.
Beyond counselling alone, an EAP program can also be an invaluable tool to help you proactively identify emerging issues or trends within the workplace and provide strategies to more effectively manage workplace risk.
How do EAP programs work?
EAP programs focus primarily on improving the health and well-being of your employees by ensuring they have access to counselling services when they’re needed, at no cost to them.
From depression, anxiety, stress and presenteeism, through to financial difficulties, alcohol or substance abuse, the range of challenges your employees may be dealing with could be wide and varied. An EAP counselling service ensures your staff and their families have immediate and direct access to confidential, solution-focussed counselling services to help them navigate and overcome those challenges with the support of a qualified Psychologist.
During the counselling process, the employee is encouraged to discuss with a counsellor in confidence any issues or difficulties they are experiencing. The counsellor assists them to explore those issues and develop strategies to cope with or resolve their concerns.
EAP programs also provide mediation and investigations services to support your business to appropriately handle staff grievances, as well as other HR support services to manage periods of significant organisational change including outplacement, exit interviews, culture and mood check surveys and leadership training.
Having an EAP program in place also ensures your business is equipped to handle critical workplace incidents. When required, your business will have access to immediate critical incident management services to support managers and staff in a range of scenarios such as the death, disability or suicide attempt of an employee/colleague, violence in or near the workplace or a workplace accident.
Why should my business provide EAP?
Time-and-time-again contemporary research tells us that happy and healthy employees are the key to fostering a cooperative and high-performing workplace, so it makes sense to protect this valuable asset.
Adopting a proactive approach to preventing, identifying and resolving workplace issues and supporting the health and well-being of your employees allows you to better manage risk by stopping issues in their tracks, before they develop into something more detrimental for your business.
As part of our EAP program, managers will have access to:
- A dedicated manager’s hotline accessible at any time, day or night, to seek advice about managing a difficult employee or situation.
- Critical incident management support available 24/7, including triage, response, recommendations and follow-up advice.
- Monthly and quarterly reporting which provides valuable insights into the type of issues employees are seeking help for, as well as industry benchmarking to see how your organisation compares to other similar organisations
- Regular HR mail outs providing tips to encourage employee well-being.
What are the benefits for my employees?
Counselling aims to improve individual well-being for your employees. Whether they’re dealing with a major issue, recovering from a traumatic event or simply requiring some professional advice or assistance, EAP counselling gives employees the tools and resources they need to address those issues or concerns and restore their state of personal well-being.
While different people will seek different outcomes from the counselling process, as a service which is immediate, confidential and free for the employee, EAP counselling can be invaluable for employees during times when they most need support.
Our EAP program also provides employees with the following benefits:
- 24/7 access to crisis counselling with qualified Psychologists.
- Support managing simple legal matters (not against your company).
- Financial counselling assistance from accredited Financial Counsellors to assist staff to learn how to better manage their finances.
- Access to a highly-qualified Dietician.
- Round-the-clock access to email and live chat counselling, allowing employees to seek support when it best suits them.
- Access to an online portal filled with useful materials and tip sheets to support employees to manage their well-being and mental health.
An EAP program can also be a desirable employee benefit which can help to attract quality talent to the business.
What to look for in a good EAP program
Not all EAP programs are the same. If you want to ensure your EAP program is worth the investment, make sure it includes the following features:
- A client-centric, solution-based approach to counselling.
- Prompt and reliable support for managers and decision makers.
- Attractive benefits for employees such as psychological, legal and financial counselling services.
- Access to a range of auxiliary HR services including critical incident management, workshops and leadership training.
- Provides regular reporting to help you identify emerging trends or issues.
- Ability to access services at any time, day or night.
- A service package which can be tailored to suit your individual business requirements.
- An innovative approach which challenges industry norms.
- Genuine care and consideration for people in need.
Here’s how we stack up against the criteria
Our approach ensures employees receive confidential, solution-focussed counselling from a qualified Psychologist to help them overcome a wide range of personal or work-related issues or challenges.
Our services are designed to support managers and key decision makers by giving them the tools they need to handle every situation with professionalism and sensitivity to overcome challenges and build a high-performing, cooperative team.
Employees will have access to a range of valuable psychological, financial and legal counselling services when needed at no cost to them.
In addition to counselling services, we can also provide valuable support to relieve pressure on your HR team with mediation, investigations, critical incident management and workplace training services.
We provide monthly and quarterly reporting to provide insight into the type of issues employees are seeking help for, along with industry benchmarking to see how you’re performing compared to other similar organisations.
Managers and employees can access our services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, by phone, email or live chat.
Our EAP program can be tailored to suit any type of business, big or small, designing a customised service that is just right for you.
We are industry leaders, launching new revolutionary innovations every year like Sia, our mental health and well-being AI chat bot which provides employees with 24/7 access to emotional support and encouragement.
Rather than adopting a transactional approach, we genuinely care for the people we work with. We’re also passionate about providing valuable support and assistance to people experiencing hardship through our various charitable ventures Acacia Wishes, our GROW program and the Acacia Research Institute.
