The move towards greater health and safety practices in the workplace has led to a growing emphasis on the need for employee assistance programmes. Angela Faherty investigates
It is often said that a problem shared is a problem halved, but can talking through worries with a stranger really help to resolve the issue at hand? Increasingly, advice is being offered over the telephone and many people are anonymously seeking reassurance and help from trained professionals on the other end of the line.
The concept of advice help lines is not particularly new however. The Samaritans, founded in 1953, is a well-established advice and counselling service in the UK. It received over 4,660,000 contacts in 2002, 94% of which were by telephone. In a working environment however, the notion of stress and counselling help lines remains a new development but one that is likely to progress in years to come.
Increasingly insurers are offering employee assistance programmes (EAPs) as part of their group private medical insurance (PMI) and income protection (IP) packages.
For many organisations, keeping staff happy is the key to securing a successful business. And keeping employees healthy can guarantee a productive working environment.
With this in mind, it is little wonder there is growing pressure on employers to help ease the everyday challenges that can sometimes become a burden on staff. Whether it is personal matters such as health, family or financial worries or even work-related issues such as harassment or a work/life balance, helping the employee tackle demanding problems before they impinge on their work can benefit the employer in the long term.
Growing awareness
The recent advent of EAPs in the UK suggests that the need to help employees with the struggles of everyday life has certainly been acknowledged.
"More and more organisations are signing up to EAPs because it is now considered best practice to do so. Human resources and line managers do not have the time or the expertise to handle these issues effectively and there is a growing awareness that these programmes can help to provide a solution," says Charles Kydd, client services manager at Focus EAP.
According to the Employee Assistance Professionals Association (EAPA), there are currently 1,137 organisations that have EAPs in the UK. This covers approximately 2.26 million employees, which accounts for around 10% of the UK working employee population. Penetration of UK EAPs remains low however, this does mean there is plenty of growth potential in the market.
While it is frequently said that the term 'stressed out' is used too loosely, figures do suggest that levels of stress, anxiety and depression in the workplace are rising, causing a growing number of people to take time off work. It is here that EAPs play an active and important role.
Although EAPs can help reduce levels of stress or tackle problems in the workplace, outside influences such as the home environment will always be present and therefore, there will always be people who need help.
"EAPs act as a preventative measure. People can contact us prior to a crisis and while we can help them to manage their issues, the solution lies with each individual. An EAP can provide the help and support that someone needs when they just need some advice and someone to talk to," says Kydd.
The success of EAPs can be seen in a study by Professor John McLeod of the University of Abertay, Dundee. In the research, McLeod shows that counselling can reduce levels of stress in the workplace by more than 50%. It also suggests that workplace counselling is effective in relieving the symptoms of both anxiety and depression.
Working culture
One of the suggestions put forward by McLeod is a change to the working culture in the UK. It is well documented that this country has the longest working hours in Europe, and if this continues, McLeod believes that Britain may well break down. Therefore, getting in early is imperative if people are to remain on top of their workload.
A worksite-focussed EAP can help to identify and resolve an employee's concerns, through telephone or face-to-face counselling. A full EAP encompasses a free 24-hour help line providing access to a trained counsellor as well as face-to-face counselling if it is needed. Legal and financial advice can also be provided as well as training seminars to help staff manage the pressures that go with their working lives.
In some cases, additional services are offered. For example, Focus EAP also provides mediation workshops, which helps tackle some of the more challenging problems that can arise in the workplace.
"In the case where two people may not get on with one another, disciplinary issues often becomes cumbersome. In this instance, we can help to draw up a plan of action to help address the issue and certainly help towards making the working environment a better place," says Kydd.
Rider benefits
The benefits of EAPs are increasingly filtering through to the insurance industry. Early intervention and the rising demand to rehabilitate employees has led to a number of insurers offering EAPs as rider benefits to protection and health insurance policies. However, in the main, the focus has been predominantly around telephone help lines.
FirstAssist, for example, is a big champion of the need to address the growing trend in stress-related claims and workplace illness. All of its EAP services are operated in-house, but the firm is keen to stress that it keeps the insurance and EAP services as individual businesses.
"Although a purchaser may have insurance and an EAP with FirstAssist, they are kept separate from one another. Clients can come to us for an EAP service while not holding one of FirstAssist's insurance policies," says Sandra Ridley, EAP services manager at FirstAssist.
Norwich Union Healthcare (NUH) is also working in this direction. It offers GP help lines, stress counselling and has also made its Personal Health Manager (PHM) website available to group IP scheme members - a bolt-on that had previously only been available to its PMI customers.
The unique nature of PHM is that it is all encompassing in its approach. As well as addressing the counselling needs of clients through its GP and stress help lines, the service acts as a method for encouraging overall wellbeing by offering a health planner and health assessment service.
"Services that help to manage the wellbeing of staff are greatly valued in the corporate sector. Claims are often a product of employer negligence and by being more pro-active in promoting a healthier workplace, there is a drive towards better employee health and eventually, a better claims process," says Nick Homer, product manager for IP at NUH.
With the onus on greater employee wellbeing, protection advisers are well placed to explain the advantages of EAPs.
"The key area that advisers should be focussing on is the risk management of EAPs," says Ridley.
"Staff who are emotionally and physically well better serve their organisation and if they have somewhere to turn at a very early stage this can prevent problems escalating. EAPs as an employee and employer benefit is what should ring the loudest bell with advisers and this is what they should be focussing on."
Growth potential
Tapping into the risk management benefits of EAPs could serve as an additional route to growing protection sales. Highlighting the benefits of an EAP as an added value service on the back of a group PMI or IP scheme certainly has its advantages.
"EAPs as added-value benefits to core group products promotes a strong message to the corporate sector; better health in the workforce and greater staff retention both now and in the long term," says Homer.
As supplementary services to group protection, EAPs can act as a sales tool. However, most EAPs currently deal with organisations directly which can limit an adviser's role in this field. However, the growth potential in this market and greater emphasis on health and safety in the workplace means EAPs are likely to expand rather than dwindle.
Similarly, in the protection market, providers are aware of the benefits of making group schemes seem more attractive. And added-value services may help to retain some clients who may have previously cancelled a policy because they had not made a claim. It is here that advisers can boost sales. Focussing on the overall wellbeing of employees can increase the productivity of an organisation as a whole - resulting in a satisfied book of clients.
COVER notes
• There are currently 1,137 organisations that use EAPs in the UK
• Counselling can reduce levels of stress in the workplace by more than 50%.
• Tapping into the risk management benefits of EAPs could serve as an additional route to growing protection sales.
