In January 2018, Stress.Health.Business published a post which anthologized ten of our most popular blogs on the effects of stress on employee health, engagement and productivity. That anthology turned out to be our most widely read post of 2018.
We are continuing this successful tradition in 2019 by assembling the following selection of our most popular blogs documenting the multi-faceted approaches EAPs use to help employees stay healthy, focused and productive.
1. EAPs Help Improve Work Performance: New Study Demonstrates Impact on Productivity
A large study conducted by the Federal Occupational Health (FOH), the largest provider of occupational health services in the federal government has linked EAP use with improvement on measures of productivity, work and social relationships, perceived health status, attendance and tardiness, and global assessment of functioning. Read more…
2. EAPs Help Improve Disability Outcomes
Our hyper-connected, 24/7, ultra-competitive and globalized work environment is putting extraordinary stress on employees and their families. The health consequences to individuals and the financial costs to businesses add up to a problem of staggering proportions:
Depression has become the leading cause of disability worldwide.
According to a 2010 study by Mercer more employers are turning to Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) to assist them with their absence management efforts. Read more…
3. Family Financial Stress: How EAPs Can Help
According to a recent survey by PwC, nearly a third of employees report being distracted at work by concerns about their personal finances. In addition, nearly half (47%) of those surveyed report feeling stressed by their financial situation. Read more…
4. How EAPs Help Employees and Families with Legal Issues
When I started working in the employee assistance profession, EAPs did not offer legal consultation services. If a distressed employee called us about a legal issue we could be sympathetic listeners and try to help them manage their anxiety about the problem, but we could not give them what they needed most which was immediate legal advice. Read more…
5. Just In Time EAP
“Just in time” counseling is what we provided to a single mother of a 16 year old son recently. She called us at 1:30 am besieged by worry about her son who had neither called nor made it home for his midnight curfew. Believe me when I tell you that this mother was not seeking an appointment to see one of our counselors the next day to discuss the many challenges inherent in being the single parent of an adolescent boy. Read more…
6. Four Ways EAPs Help with Drug & Alcohol Problems in the Workplace
EAPs help employees and organizations with a wide range of personal problems that affect work performance. None may be more important than the misuse of alcohol and other drugs because of the additional safety and health risks associated with substance abuse issues. The misuse of alcohol and drugs becomes an immediate occupational health and safety concern when an employee’s coordination, concentration, motor control, judgment and alertness are impaired. Read more…
7. How EAPs Support Employees with Dependent Care Issues
Most EAPs offer organizations integrated dependent care resource and referral services (for children and the elderly). Typically, dependent care services are accessed through by phone (some EAPs make this service available 24/7) or via the EAP website. Read more…
8. Sleep Alarm: Businesses Are Waking Up to the High Cost of Insufficient Sleep
For the past several years we have seen growing awareness in the business community about the high cost of sleep disorders. There is an abundance of research which validates the impact of sleep problems on productivity: Read more…
9. How EAP Help Managers Improve Employee Performance
When it comes to balancing work and personal life managers have a double challenge. They not only have to figure out how to make work and home trade offs for their own well-being, they are also charged with the responsibility to be fair and responsive to their employees who are trying to manage the same challenges. Read more…
10. How EAPs Support Organizations During a Crisis
A group of employees witnessed a fellow worker fall to his death. He slipped and fell while working on a catwalk high above the production floor. The HR manager who made the initial call for support to the EAP said that some workers were crying openly while others were leaving the plant to go home. Read more…
We live in a world of multiple stresses, distractions and demands on our time. Many employers have discovered the value of EAPs in providing an array of services that help employees stay healthy, focused and productive.
