Employees have been depending on their employers not only for guidance about remote work and safety but also emotional well-being amid the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. They have been focusing on how their organizations have stepped up to provide the right kind of care.
Morneau Shepell and Employee Assistance Professionals Association (EAPA) have announced the publication of the 2020 Workplace Outcome Suite (WOS) Annual ReportsOpens a new window . As per these reports, there is a clear indication of the positive impact of EAP counseling. 56% of respondents reported that their issue was making it difficult to concentrate on work. But after counseling, this reduced to 28% of all cases. The study measured employees from the start of EAP counseling until about three months after counseling ended.
Employee assistance programs (EAPs) have been around for years, but the true value of these programs emerges during a crisis. They have the potential to touch the mental health of employees in a profound way, such that their overall performance and productivity is improved.
The ROI of EAP Counselling
32% of the respondents responded to have not being engaged in their work. After counseling, the rate of all cases was reduced to 23%. Also, 29% missed a half day or more of work time. But this dropped to just 13% after counseling. The resulting financial improvement for the business was evident. Cost savings ranging from about $2,000 to $3,500 per employee was achieved from reductions in work presenteeism (87% of total return) and absenteeism which was 13%.
Counseling of any form is usually seen as a benefit that improves overall well-being. It is time to now view it as a business imperative that can drive tangible results.
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Why Employee Counselling Is Important
Burnout is no longer an exception. It is a workplace reality with a large majority of employees experiencing it in the past few months. This is further amplified by mental and financial stress. Counseling provided by organizations can go a long way to ensure that their workforce is healthy and productive.
Changing priorities
Some months ago, organizations had to shift employees to remote working setup without notice. That threw the entire work routine out of pace owing to multiple tasks that employees had to manage at home, along with work. A whole new skill-set for task management was needed. Just as employees started accepting that work approach, six months later, organizations now want employees to return to the workplace, despite the pandemic still raging on. Such quickly changing priorities can cause massive stress to employees as they navigate workplace uncertainties each day.
Layoffs and job instability
Layoffs have been announced by almost all organizations. Employees who retained their jobs are wary of slim pickings out in the market. They know that job insecurity is real and hiring has been frozen so the likelihood of finding another job is low. Counselors can work as sounding boards for employees who want to unburden their fears. They can share workplace concerns with them without any worries of being judged. They can also encourage the employees to break out of the cycle of fear and become proactive about upskilling in order to shift careers.
Life crisis
The pandemic is as much about life crises as it is about workplace ones. Many employees have lost family members due to the virus, while others have had their partners losing jobs. Children are also being home-schooled and without social interactions, have started to exhibit behavioral issues. With such life crises facing employees, they are likely to subconsciously bring their worries to work.
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Counselling has a deep-rooted impact that can last for a long time. Employers need to only make a one-time significant investment in an EAP or even individual workplace counselors to create a culture of openness and sharing.
Note: This study sample included insight from 35,693 employees with self-reported data collected over a period of 10 years, between 2010 and 2019. A total of 38 different sources provided valid data on all five WOS measures: 20 EAP vendors, 17 employer-based programs, and one industry group of external vendors in the United States. This data is representative of 26 different countries with 97% of the total cases being from the U.S. (72%), China (22%), and New Zealand (3%).