The business of Employee Assistance Programming

1. Colorado Chapter
Employee Assistance Professionals
Association
(EAPA)
Colorado Employee Assistance Professionals Association

2. Work loads and stress are
increasing at work
Stress accounts for 40% of employee
turnover. (6)
Colorado Employee Assistance Professionals Association

3. A changing workplace . . .
• A fundamental change in today’s global
economy demands cerebral not manual
skills as the minds of employees do the
heavy lifting. This shift “coinciding with an
increase in brain-based illnesses like
anxiety and depression, challenges the
US, Canada, and countries around the
world.” (5)
Colorado Employee Assistance Professionals Association

4. The Facts:
According to the Surgeon General, one in five adults (20%)
will experience a diagnosable mental illness in any given year. (1)
Among those of working age, it is estimated that the
prevalence of mental illness and/or substance abuse in any
given year approaches 25%. (2)
Mental illness and substance abuse annually cost employers
in indirect costs an estimated $80 to $100 billion. (2)
Lost Opportunities: Thirty-one percent of respondents said
quot;mental illnessquot; has more effect on lost productivity, increased
absenteeism, and other indirect costs than any other health
issue. (3)
Colorado Employee Assistance Professionals Association

5. An Employee Assistance Program
can help!
EAP interventions have been shown to
improve employee well-being, as well as
produce rapid improvements in work
performance. This will translate into
significant reductions in lost productivity,
absenteeism and healthcare costs. (4)
Companies with EAPs in place have a 21
percent lower absenteeism rate and a 14
percent higher productivity rate. (7)
Colorado Employee Assistance Professionals Association

6. What is an Employee
Assistance Program? (EAP)
In a special committee appointed by the National Business
Group on Health, EAP was defined in the following way:
Employee Assistance Programs are the human
behavior/psychological experts that provide strategic
analysis, guidance, and consultation throughout the
organization to [apply] the principles of human
behavior to enhance organizational performance,
culture and business success.
Colorado Employee Assistance Professionals Association

7. An EAP is:
•A worksite-based program
•Helps work organizations address
productivity issues
•Helps employee clients identify and resolve
personal or professional concerns that may
affect job performance.
Colorado Employee Assistance Professionals Association

8. Diversity of EAP Models
• Internal
• Hybrid—Half Internal/Half External
• External
• Telephonic
• Web Based
Colorado Employee Assistance Professionals Association

9. EAP Services
Problem Identification/Assessment and Referral
Crisis Intervention
Short-Term Counseling / Problem Resolution
Monitoring and Follow-Up Services
Training on Behavioral Health Issues
Organizational Consultation and Support
Program Promotion and Education
Behavior Health Wellness Support
Conflict Management
Colorado Employee Assistance Professionals Association

10. Human Performance
Harvard Business Review: January 2001
Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz
“ Most companies have operated on the belief that
high performance is exclusively linked with
cognitive and intellectual capacity. Data and
research have proven that for companies to
achieve breakthrough growth and success , they
must also focus on all of the elements of human
performance – the body, the emotions, the spirit –
consider the person as a whole.”
Colorado Employee Assistance Professionals Association

11. Citations for data
1. An Employer’s Guide to Behavioral Health Services, National Business Group on
Health, December 2005.
2. Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General, U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services, December 1999. The report is the product of a collaboration
between the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the
National Institutes of Health, which supports the National Institute of Mental
Health.
3. Innerworkings: A Look at Mental Health in Today's Workplace, Employee Benefit News
and the Partnership for Workplace Mental Health, January 2007
4. A Mentally Healthy Workforce – It’s Good for Business, Partnership for Mental Health,
2006.
5. Spangler, N., “US and Canada Forum on Mental Health and Productivity Brings
Stakeholders Together”, Mental HealthWorks p. 7
6. American Institute of Stress, Benefit News Online, May 9, 2006.
7. US Department of Health and Human Resources
Colorado Employee Assistance Professionals Association

12. Colorado EAPA
• For more information, visit us on the web at
www.coloradoeapa.org
Colorado Employee Assistance Professionals Association