An employer’s guide to choosing an EAP

Choosing the right EAP for your organisation provides a whole host of benefits. From a happier, healthier workforce to a reduction in absences, you can boost productivity and give your people a confidential avenue of support when the going gets tough.

Want to know how to choose an EAP provider that works for your organisation? Our comprehensive guide dives into what specifics to look for, how to calculate your return on investment, and a brief overview of our own EAP tiers so you can select what’s right for you and your people.

EAPs explained

Employee Assistance Programmes (EAPs) are confidential lines of support for your people. They help them deal with matters that affect their mental health to mitigate burnout and wellbeing-related absences. Working with a qualified counsellor, the individual can discuss issues that stem from work-related stress to personal relationships.

Overall, EAPs work with the aim of protecting your organisation and people to maintain productivity and reduce absences. They can also help reduce things like presenteeism (where people are present but not mentally engaged in their work).

Why does an EAP matter for your organisation?

Jobseekers, as well as existing individuals in your organisation are looking at how they are looked after within the workplace. Around three-quarters of UK working individuals have either left or considered leaving their jobs because of insufficient wellbeing support.

Organisations need an EAP to:

• Mitigate costly absences

• Comply with their duty of care in line with UK employment laws

• Have a line of support when management are not available

• Be competitive in the job market

• Meet the needs of their individuals – particularly those who require reasonable adjustments.

In fact, organisations recognising this and are following suit. Research shows that organisations are placing even more importance on their people’s health and wellbeing

What does an EAP cover?

At its core, EAPs are designed to offer mental health support for your people. They do this by providing a confidential line of support for individuals to contact and seek professional advice – be that in the form of signposting or structured counselling.

Most EAPs come with the following as standard:

• 24/7 helpline

• In-person and remote counselling (via telephone and/or video call)

• Financial and legal information line

• HR and management support

• Critical incident line

However, each EAP may offer additional services as part of a tiered package. For example, at HA | Wisdom Wellbeing, we offer three levels of support (Wisdom Super Care, Peak and Core). This is so we can tailor needs to the organisations that seek our health and wellbeing support.

Things to look for when choosing an EAP

With so many EAP providers and options available, it can be difficult to discern which will be the most valuable. While cost is certainly a factor, the level of cover and service is far more crucial for your return-on-investment. Here’s how to choose an EAP provider based on the following criteria.

Scope of care

While mental health support is crucial (especially in high-pressure environments), EAPs must do more to provide a holistic approach to wellbeing. That’s why a credible EAP provider will provide other avenues of support such as:

• Virtual GP services

• Menopause support lines

• Self-guided CBT

• Occupational Health Assessments and more

With soaring NHS waiting times, access to support can often hinder attendance in the workplace. This in turn reduces your service delivery and may even lead to costly sick pay.

That’s why an EAP that has these additional services has a competitive advantage when recruiting new talent, as well as helping individuals in the organisation feel accommodated for.

Fast support

We receive an incredibly high number of calls to the helpline which range in severity, so fast connection to a counsellor and/or signposting is essential. When choosing an EAP, look at average connection times, as well as different contact methods (like live chat, video call or telephone) in order to cater to individual preferences.

Availability

24/7 access to a confidential helpline is typically standard for most EAPs. What’s more important is accessibility throughout the year. We believe it’s important to have a wide network of counsellors, as well as our in-house ones to accommodate for 365-day availability. This means even on public holidays and peak festive seasons, individuals can seek support whenever they need it most.

Accreditations

Accreditations hold an EAP provider up to a particular standard and reassures organisations and their individuals of the level of care they can expect to receive. As our solution brief-focused therapy is delivered by qualified counsellors to individuals who are suited for it, we ensure that this service is delivered to the best standard. That’s why we hold a BACP and NCPS accreditation, as well as various other accreditations such as:

• SEQOHS

• EAPA

• ISO 14001

• Investors In People and much more.

Language support

Access to counselling doesn’t just extend to date and time, but language too. When choosing an EAP, look at what languages are catered for. This includes (but is not limited to) verbal, visual (BSL) and braille.

Additional services

While it’s great to have an EAP service that provides a plethora of perks, having the option to request additional services on an ad-hoc basis can be highly beneficial. Such additional services can include (but are not limited to):

Work Health Assessments

Occupational Health Assessments.

In-person CBT (upon request/recommendation from counsellor)

Workshops and webinars

Suicide First Aid Training

Critical Incident Debriefs and much more.

Tracking and utilisation

It’s one thing having an EAP, it’s another getting full use out of it. Depending on your tier, our EAP clients get support from one of our relationship managers to understand how their service is being utilised, how often it’s being used and how to get the best out of their service.

Organisations can receive top-line information on the nature of the call (e.g. ‘Anxiety’), methods of contact, as well as how many calls they’re receiving over a particular period of time. This can be useful insight to help organisations see where they may need to make changes internally to better facilitate their people, as well as make their EAP more readily available for people who need it.

Social proof

We all look at Google and/or Trustpilot reviews to really see what people are saying about an organisation and its service. When looking at which EAP to choose, it’s important to do your research and see what level of service you can expect. Look for reviews from organisations themselves to see how the EAP has personally benefitted them, as well as service users who have utilised the health and wellbeing support to ascertain quality.

Business support

While people may be aware of an EAP on offer, it can be easy to forget when the going gets tough or there are lots of deadlines to work to.

EAPs that provide a level of business support to increase utilisation and awareness can stand out from the rest. This is because it takes the hard work away from organisational leaders, so they can focus on doing what they do best.

That’s why at HA | Wisdom Wellbeing, we make it easy for you to promote your EAP internally. We regularly remind organisations about our latest update, insightful articles and downloadable assets they can use themselves or circulate with their people.

Sector experience

Years of experience in the EAP world helps shape service delivery, pain points and fine-tunes offering. However, EAPs are not a one-size-fits all, which is why we recognise specific sectors have different needs.

For example, sectors such as Healthcare and/or social care tend to have high rates of turnover and burnout, particularly as CQCs have to be at a good standard. The same can be said for the Education sector, where Ofsted ratings play a huge role in attracting new pupils and maintaining teacher standards.

Critical incident support

Traumatic incidents in the workplace affect not just in the individual, but their colleagues too. You should consider what critical incident support is available with an EAP provider. At HA | Wisdom Wellbeing, we provide Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) on an ad-hoc basis, procedure to help normalise the often overwhelming psychological, physiological and emotional responses to minor, moderate and severe critical incidents.

What should an EAP cost?

It’s not just about how to choose an EAP provider, it’s weighing up the costs too.

An EAP’s cost depends on your needs and varies per provider. Typically, the more people you have in your organisation, the lower the rate per person per month. At HA | Wisdom Wellbeing, we offer a fixed price based on the number of individuals, as well as the tier (level of care) you require.

How to measure the ROI of your EAP

Besides a happier, healthier workforce, the ROI of your EAP can be measured by the following:

• Reduced absences

• Increased people retention

• EAP utilisation

The maths

Using our EAP ROI calculator, based on 20 people in an organisation, you can look at the hidden cost to your organisation vs the cost savings if you invested in an EAP:

• Turnover costs = £7,919

• Mental health costs = £1,522

• ROI = £19.85 (based on a 60-month term)

As you can see, the cost of an EAP far outweighs the alternative.

HA | Wisdom Wellbeing EAP levels of care

1. Wisdom Super Care

Wisdom Super Care is our most comprehensive wellbeing solution. Designed for total wellbeing support, it includes (but is not limited to):

• 24/7, 365 confidential helpline

• Up to 12 counselling sessions

• Menopause Care (dedicated menopause support line and Rightsteps CBT)

• Virtual GP access (Livi)

• 4 x Life and Leadership Coaching session

• 2 x Mental Health First Aid course - 2 day accredited course (places per year)

• Dedicated Occupational Health assessment & one specialist webinar

While we recommend this for all organisations, it’s particularly made for those who feel their people would benefit particularly from our Virtual GP service.

Getting appointments at the best of times can be difficult around work, so our virtual GP can get individuals an appointment from the palm of their device at a time to suit them. It also allows for individuals to enrol in Mental Health First Aid training, and make the most of up to 12 structured counselling sessions.

2. Peak Performance

Our Peak Performance EAP is our total wellbeing package which includes (but is not limited to):

• 24/7, 365 confidential helpline

• Up to 10 counselling sessions

• 1 x Life and Leadership Coaching session

• 1 x Mental Health First Aid course - 2 day accredited course (places per year)

3. Core EAP

Our Core EAP provides organisations with total mental health support. While not as comprehensive as Peak or Wisdom Super Care, it’s a great starting point for the essentials. Core EAP includes (includes but is not limited to):

• 24/7, 365 confidential helpline

• Up to 6 counselling sessions

• Access to the Wisdom app

Choose your EAP

Ready to get total health and wellbeing support for your organisation? Contact one of our Wellbeing Experts today or download our brochure to find out more.