Before we dive into how we launch EAPs, it is important to understand the scope of what a modern EAP should look like.
Employee assistance programs—or EAPs—are intervention programs that help employees resolve issues that are impacting their wellbeing, and get the support they need in areas within and outside of work.
Organisations typically work with external providers for a range of EAP offerings. These may include:
When we hear about EAPs, the first thing that comes to mind is often traditional workplace stress management programs. With these programs, there is typically a singular focus on reactive measures—such as providing support after a problem has occurred.
But the workforce has evolved significantly, and employees are faced with increasingly complex challenges. To help employees cope with these changes, new elements have been introduced to modern EAPs.
Unlike traditional EAP models—which are often designed to be reactive—modern digital EAPs have evolved, and benefit employees through their holistic approach to wellness.
The needs of your workforce have changed, and so should your EAP. This means implementing a program that is Preventive, Proactive and Integrative.
An employee assistance program goes beyond helping individuals address workplace stressors, to improving other dimensions of employee wellbeing—such as physical, emotional, social, spiritual and financial wellness.
They are designed to support employees through a wide range of issues and challenges, including:
When employees are thriving in their personal and professional lives, they’re able to bring their best selves to work and remain focused and engaged. This contributes to greater performance and profitability for organisations.
Other EAP benefits for employers include cost savings, and improved key indicators of wellbeing like absenteeism, presenteeism and engagement.
The first step to launching your EAP program is to define your goals for the program. By outlining your goals clearly, you’ll be able to identify key areas to focus on, as well as metrics you can use to measure the success of your program.
Begin by checking in with your employees on what their needs are, and areas where they require support. This will help you identify gaps in your existing employee wellness program, and the type of support or services you should prioritise.
At ThoughtFull, aside from direct client feedback, we look at metrics like overall engagement rate and wellbeing impact.
Conducting surveys, focus groups or 1-1 interviews are ways to gather insights from your employees. Asking questions about the EAP, your existing employee wellness offerings and employee mental health can help you determine pressing concerns among your workforce. You may include questions such as:
Once you’ve outlined your EAP goals, the next step is to work out how you will offer the EAP. There are three main areas you need to consider:
Various factors, such as the needs of your employees, organisational resources and company culture play a role in determining the type of support or services you want to offer. You may decide to implement an EAP that covers diverse aspects of wellbeing or opt for interventions that address specific issues.
For instance, if you find that a growing number of employees are experiencing symptoms of workplace stress or burnout, you may want to look into EAPs that target employee mental health.
Sample Annual Program: At ThoughtFull, after fully understanding our client’s goals, we design an EAP program that impacts all levels.
Your options include managing your EAP in-house, engaging external EAP providers, or opting for a combination of both models.
The key factors you need to consider when choosing potential EAP partners are:
At ThoughtFull, we support employers and HR teams in areas like marketing, employee communication, employer branding and organisational mental health pulse checks. Feel free to reach out to our team to learn more about how we can help with launching your EAP.
When it comes to promoting awareness about your EAP, there are two main areas you need to focus on: your communication channels and content.
Tap a variety of channels, including internal web pages, email, webinars, employee town halls, one-on-one meetings and messaging platforms to communicate your message.
Recognise that different employee demographic groups may have distinct concerns and ways of communication. You’ll need to tailor your communication, and craft messages that resonate with different demographics to foster engagement.
During the launch period, your content should cover your reasons for launching the EAP, the different areas where your EAP can support employees, the types of EAP services provided, as well as information about your EAP provider. It can help to share case studies from your provider that highlight how other organisations have benefitted from the program, along with information on how your provider will maintain EAP confidentiality.
At ThoughtFull, we support HR teams with their EAP policy through various onboarding initiatives like internal marketing and messaging.
Post-launch communication is a critical, but often overlooked aspect. After launching your EAP, it is important that you continue to communicate about your offering regularly. To sustain employee engagement, you should aim to promote your EAP at least once every quarter.
Having an evaluation process will not only contribute to the success of your EAP, but help inform future strategies and initiatives for employee wellbeing at your organisation. It is also instrumental in providing valuable insights about the effectiveness of your EAP, and highlighting areas for improvement.
Key metrics that you should be tracking include EAP utilization, employee satisfaction, employee retention rates, turnover rates and absenteeism rates. Other metrics, such as cost savings and ROI provide a financial measure of the impact of your EAP. These are key for justifying the costs of investing in employee mental wellbeing to stakeholders.
In addition to monitoring quantitative metrics, it is helpful to gather qualitative data about your EAP through employee surveys. Conducting surveys can help you gain insights on factors like how your employees are responding to the EAP, barriers they may face in accessing support at work, and any questions or concerns they might have about using the EAP.
One of the keys to launching a successful EAP is to understand the barriers your employees face in accessing mental health support and implement measures that effectively address these barriers. Examples of common barriers to mental health care include:
If the core factors at an organisation are not conducive to employee mental health, toxic behaviours can emerge, making it challenging for EAPs to have impact. As such, building a culture of wellness is fundamental for launching a successful EAP.
Leaders play a vital role in promoting employee wellness, and getting them involved in the EAP is key to the success of your program.