As a business owner, you probably like to think that, if your employees are struggling, you would easily be able to pick up on it – at least before too long. However, in reality, workers can often toil away while personal worries bubbling under the surface wait to manifest as more serious issues.
Hence, you should consider setting up an employee assistance programme (EAP) offering support and resources for your staff to utilise at any time. Here are some especially big selling points…
An EAP’s assistance is offered truly confidentially
If one of your recruits suffers from a personal problem, whether it be professional, financial, legal, emotional or something else, there are various reasons why they could be reluctant to share it openly with you, however well-meaning you might be and seem.
Stepping in could complicate your relationship with the worker or risk a third party retaliating against the worker. Neither of these risks would apply if you left an EAP to secretly help instead.
Small issues can be “nipped in the bud” before they escalate
The Balance Careers insists that “no problem is too small for an employee to seek help from an EAP”, and that’s especially encouraging when you consider how seemingly innocuous problems can snowball into something much more perilous if not addressed early.
Stress alone can repress the immune system and so lead the sufferer to pick up various illnesses, as REBA warns. Fortunately, an EAP can serve as your company’s first line of defence against anguish.
You can improve staff retention
As more and more younger people enter the workforce, we can expect the average tenure at a given company to shorten. We’re already seeing this happening – as, according to recent research, 91% of millennials anticipate staying in a job for no longer than three years.
Job-hopping can have worrying implications for your company finances, given that turnover can cost up to 200% of a leaving employee’s salary. An EAP’s care, however, can give workers reasons to stay.
You can make your workforce more engaged
How engaged are your workers? Sadly, the genuine answer is probably “not a lot”. Gallup research indicates that 85% of employees are disengaged at work, and this can drag on productivity. This is especially true when workers mask their worries, which aren’t tackled as a result.
The UK Centre for Mental Health has revealed, according to bytestart.co.uk, that employees attending work while feeling unwell cost UK employers £21.2 billion in lost productivity in 2016.
There are ongoing financial savings to be made
While an EAP’s resources and services are generally offered free of charge to employees, the EAP would not be as expensive to your company as you might think. It can actually add up to impressive value for money, as the scale of the resources could far surpass what you could otherwise afford.
That’s a strong incentive for you to approach a company like LifeWorks and utilise its EAP offering. It could save you a lot of money in the long run.