SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
The Hardline Value
of Employee
Assistance Programs
Almost every manager has seen it, and
perhaps you yourself have experienced
it: a dramatic decrease in productivity
at work while dealing with a non-work
issue. Maybe it was due to relationship
stress, a child struggling at school or a
loved one’s substance abuse. Whatever
it was, chances are you could simply not
put it out of mind while at work.
Decreased productivity due to non-work
problems is common. The average
employee spends 2.4 hours per week
dealing with their problems while at work.
Thus, if a company has 50 employees,
it is experiencing an average of more
than 100 hours per week of decreased
productivity and countless more hours
of distracted work from its team. This is
where employee assistance programs
(EAP), like the one at Process Strategies,
can help.
“Our established EAP clients have
employees who come in and discuss
a range of issues, from depression to
family stress, and for most issues, we
can help get them to a better place
within three sessions,” says Lynn
Eldridge, director of therapy services
at Process Strategies. “Our ability to
schedule patients quickly and see them
face to face increases participation in the
program, as they are much more likely
to seek help with us than call a generic
800 number and talk to a stranger on
the phone.”
A 2008 study published in the Journal
of Workplace Behavioral Health looked
at the increase in productivity resulting
from an employee receiving treatment
from an EAP. The study indicated that
up to 80 percent of productivity losses
were associated with presenteeism,
or employees who are at work but
not really working. The study further
noted that employees who accessed
EAP services reported they spent 6.36
fewer hours per week dealing with that
problem while at work.
“The services our EAP with Process
Strategies provides to employees
benefi t the employer as well,” says
Carol Hamric, executive director of
human resources for Kanawha County
Schools and a Process Strategies EAP
client. “Increased employee wellness,
decreased health care costs, increased
productivity and decreased absenteeism
and turnover are all outcomes. When
employees reach out to us, we can help
them address their problems before
they turn into issues that could affect
productivity and morale.”
However, Hamric realizes there are also
other cost benefi ts to an EAP.
“When we can catch problems early, we
can prevent them from reaching a level
that would require medical or psychiatric
intervention,” she says. “This helps keep
our medical insurance costs in check.”
According to Dr. Cynthia Persily, CEO
of Highland Hospital, which includes
Process Strategies, the company has a
long-standing relationship with trusted
counselors and therapists throughout
the state of West Virginia and beyond,
allowing this model to work for
companies with multiple worksites.
“It’s more than being able to provide face-
to-face counseling,” she says. “It’s about
knowing the workforce and working as
partners with our EAP clients to make
sure the program is communicated,
understood and utilized. When those
three things are in place, we can show
each employer their individual return on
investment with the program.”
Process Strategies can help employers
retain their workforce and keep
insurance costs down, regardless of
the size of the organization. Visit us
at www.highlandhosp.com to fi nd out
more about our EAP, or contact Jessica
Wehrle Carter at (304) 941-1559.