employee satisfaction Archives - Fully Effective Employees

Reasons to Have an Employee Assistance Program

The primary purpose of an Employee Assistance Program is to maximize employee productivity while helping employees face life obstacles that can interfere with your business.

An EAP helps increase your bottom line while building morale, and support for employees and their managers.

According to a study published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, anxiety and depression rank among the top five reasons for absenteeism. The National Mental Health Association reports this problem costs American companies more than $200 billion each year. Stressors such as family problems and financial crises are often at the very core of these concerns. A high quality EAP can provide a multifaceted approach to improving the life of employees and by doing so, employers can save significant amounts of money in lost productivity, absenteeism, turnover and poor performance.

Fully Effective Employees provides the following employee assistance services:

Comprehensive assessment of an employee or family’s member’s presenting problem
A referrals to reputable mental health and substance abuse resources
Brief, short term assistance with problem resolution
24/7 telephone access to professional counselors
Legal assistance and referrals
Financial counseling and resources for debt management and financial concerns
Wellness coaching and programs for disease prevention and management, smoking cessation, exercise, weight loss, nutrition and stress management
Worklife services including referrals for eldercare, childcare, dependent care and pet care and referrals to community resources for social services
Extensive website with self-assessments, resources, articles and more
Webinars on a variety of social/emotional topics
Online interactive trainings with printable certificates of completion
Onsite brown bag trainings
Assistance with drug free workplaces
Employer assistance program- coaching and training on dealing with problem employees
Critical incident debriefing
HR consulting services and small business HR programs

There are a lot of companies that offer Employee Assistance services, so why choose Fully Effective Employees?

We have been providing EAP services to a variety of businesses since 1976.
In-house EAP trained professional counselors have been with the company an average of 13 years.
Expertise with small businesses, drug testing programs, training and HR issue
Personalized services tailored to meet the unique needs of your company.
Available for very small businesses
A local, Puget Sound based company with the capacity to work with national and international clients with an affiliate network of over 50,000 counselors.
Personalized, professional services tailored to meet your company’s unique needs.

An Employee Assistance Program offers an excellent return on your investment.

By admin|2017-06-05T13:19:58-07:00December 19th, 2013|balanced life, employee absenteeism, Employee Assistance, employee mental health, employee satisfaction, Executives, Protected, Small Business, wellness, work, work relationships, Worklife|Comments Off

Ten Reasons to Have an Employee Assistance Program

Most employers retain the services of an Employee Assistance Program to help employees and their families with personal and work related problems. If employees function well at work, they contribute to the well being of an organization as a whole. Most EAP’s help with a wide range of problems including stress, depression, anxiety, family or relationship difficulties, work issues, financial, legal, worklife, work problems and more. An EAP can be highly effective at reducing employee problems and increasing the bottom line. However, there are many choices in the EAP market and like all services, it is important to understand what you need and what you are receiving from your current or potential vendor. The following is a list of the top ten reasons to have an EAP:

1. Increase productivity

When employees are faced with personal problems, their concentration, focus and motivation are all negatively impacted so an EAP can help them deal with these issues which will improve productivity. An EAP reduces absenteeism, accidents and turnover, thereby making employees more productive.

2. Reduce Company Costs

Employee problems are costly. Troubled employees take more sick days, have more accidents, and make more health insurance claims. When employees suffer emotionally, their work and productivity also suffer. An EAP will improve work peformance and help increase the bottom line.

3. Confidentiality

When a third party company provides EAP services, employees are more likely to seek help, when they know their employer is not privy to their confidential personal information. Employers are not put in the position of assisting employees with personal problems when they are not trained or equipped to do so. They are able to manage people but not their problems.

4. Aids in the Recruitment and Rentention of Valued Employees

An EAP is a value-added benefit for employees and their families which provides confidential access to counseling and resources they might not otherwise have. It builds morale and loyalty when employees know their employer supports their physical and emotional well being.

5. Resolution of Work Related Problems

EAP’s help employees deal with personal problems that have begun to affect work peformance which will hopefully prevent termination and get the employee back on track. The EAP can also help the employee to develop skills to deal with work related stress and problematic work relationships.

6. Assistance in Getting the Right Help

When left to their own devices, employees may be confused or overwhelmed about how to access services, treatment or counseling in their own community or may not even know where to turn. The EAP counselors sort out the issues and assist with appropriate referrals and resources for ongoing support and problem resolution.

7. Management Assistance

Managers and supervisors may need help confronting and dealing with problematic employees or workplace situations. The EAP provides management training, coaching and consultation. The EAP can also assist with drug testing, harassment and potential workplace violence.

8. Drug Testing Programs

The EAP can assist employers with their drug testing programs by providing assessments, referrals, case management and assistance with Return to Work Agreements when employees test positive for drugs at work. Drug testing prevents serious accidents, injuries and fatalities and the EAP can help employees get back on track without losing their jobs.

9. Training

The EAP can provide online and onsite training to employees and supervisors on a range of topics. Training also increases awareness of the EAP. Most EAP’s also provide critical incident debriefings after a traumatic event has occured at the worksite.

10. Resourcs and Referrals

The EAP can be a wealth of information for employers, employees and their families. Not only can the EAP counselors assist with the pyschological well being of employees, they can also assist with legal issues, childcare and eldercare referrals, treatment programs, community resources, human resource assistance and much more.

For information on how Fully Effective Employees can help your company, contact us at audreyr@fee-eap.com

By admin|2012-12-04T23:40:25-08:00April 12th, 2012|employee absenteeism, Employee Assistance, employee engagement, employee mental health, employee satisfaction, Human Resources, mental health, Small Business, Uncategorized, work, Worklife|Comments Off

Employee Engagement and Retention

I attended an HR Roundtable sponsored by Resourcefulhr in Seattle today. A group of HR professionals met to discuss challenges and ideas for enagaging and retaining employees.

The major topics that we discussed included:

Finding certain specialized talent in the high tech fields where the larger companies are able to entice employees with large salaries, benefits and the prestige of the big name corporations.
Retaining employees in companies where the hourly salary is very low due to economic constraints.
Engaging employees and keeping them loyal and happy.
Dealing with generational differences including things like social media, work ethic, expectations and more.
Work life balance.

Research has shown that unless the salary is very low, financial incentives are not always the way to reach the hearts and minds of employees. Appreciation, acknowledgement, and recognition will go a long way towards keeping employees motivated to perform. A sense of belonging to the community in which they work, feeling valued and supported by their employer are important to keep employees loyal to. Low- cost benefits like health club membership discounts, wellness and worklife programs and employee assistance programs can be implemented for a great return on investment.

The members of the roundta ble discussion offered some great ideas that worked for their workplaces. Some of these included:

Hosting a community garden which provided a place for employees to plant, tend, weed and water flowers and vegetables and then reap the rewards of the garden by picking flowers for the workplace or making a salad with the fresh picked vegetables.
A monthly theme such as wellness or “stress less”, where speakers, massage therapists and other professionals were brought in to assist with the theme and provide benefits for employees.
A “Rock Star” program where decorated rocks with positive sayings would be passed to deserving employees who were nominated for certain acts of kindness, good performance or when they were going through a tough time.
A book club meeting weekly to read and discuss books relevant to the workplace or personal interests.
Webinar trainings or onsite trainings on new technologies such as Linked in, Facebook and Twitter, for the older generations to help bridge the generational gap.
Social media policies to clarify the use and time spent on social media in the workplace.
Nominating employees for exceeding performance, helping others, etc and then entering the nomination into a monthly drawing for a prize.
Host meetings to listen and hear employee concerns and to solicit ideas for improvement, change, etc.

All of these are fabulous ideas for keeping employees engaged. We all know the cost of recruitng and retraining new employees, so we need to be sure we keep our current employees happy.

Do you have any other ideas to contribute to this list? We would love to hear from you!

By admin|2011-09-23T00:13:56-07:00September 23rd, 2011|balanced life, Childcare, eldercare, Employee Assistance, employee engagement, employee mental health, employee satisfaction, Executives, healthy balance, Human Resources, mental health, Small Business, Social media, wellness, work, work relationships|2 Comments