Employee Assistance Programs lead to more productive workplaces
Mental health is a business issue in the Canadian workplace, says benefits and pension consulting firm Morneau Shepell. Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) can help improve employees’ mental health while simultaneously leading to higher productivity and as much as a 25 percent reduction in cost associated with lower productivity levels.
“People with mental health issues are uncomfortable at work and it affects their job. However, most managers have little or no training in how to manage employees with these problems. There is definitely a lot of room for education and improvement,” said Karen Seward, Morneau Shepell’s Senior Vice-President, Business Development and Marketing.
In its study, EAP Improves Health Status and Productivity, and Demonstrates a Positive ROI, Morneau Shepell studied more than 53,000 EAP cases that were opened and closed during 2010. The company also sponsored the Conference Board of Canada report Building Mentally Healthy Workplaces: Perspectives of Canadian Workers and Front-Line Managers. The two studies offered perspective on Canadian work environments and the degree to which they support the mental well-being of its workers.
The latest survey found that 44 per cent of employees surveyed had experienced a mental health issue, but only 26 per cent of surveyed employees felt that their supervisor effectively managed mental health issues, and 44 per cent of managers had no training in how to manage employees with mental health issues.
The Morneau Shepell study collected data to measure four specific outcomes: general health status, mental health status, productivity, and absenteeism. Here are some of its findings:
- Employees rated their mental health 15 per cent higher after receiving EAP support.
- EAP intervention resulted in a 34 per cent reduction in costs related to lost productivity.
- Before EAP intervention, decreased productivity and absence was costing organizations almost $20,000 per employee per year.
“Research shows that workers with depressive disorders, in particular, can have almost four times more health-related lost productive time than those who do not suffer from these problems,” Seward said. “The toll on the bottom line is huge.”
The Mental Health Commission of Canada estimates that mental illness costs the Canadian economy $51 billion a year in terms of health care service use, lost workdays, and work disruptions.
Roughly 75 percent of North American businesses utilize EAPs, says Morneau Shepell, which offers two recommendations for implementing and maintain an EAP:
- Organizations should develop a more strategic partnership with their EAP provider as a first step in realizing the return on their investment. The provider can recommend strategies to optimize the use of the EAP as a preventative measure with the objective of saving costs down the line, and be positioned to make recommendations around the strategic use of EAP services to support the organization’s health priorities.
- Organizations should consider a comprehensive, strategic approach to absence management. To promote sustained attendance at work, and prevent downstream costs and consequences, they should shift from standalone absence administration programs to attendance management strategies aligned with the company’s business objectives, cost management goals, and strategies related to employee engagement and retention.
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