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Twenty Questions About Your EAP
We
often hear employers say "All EAPs look alike." It
certainly seems so when you compare them on paper. However, after
over 25 years in business, we've learned that perception and
reality are often very different. Getting true value from your
EAP is an example. Many employers fail to utilize their EAP benefit
to its greatest potential. Some even fail to purchase or develop
an EAP that can deliver the type of consulting and education
potential that the more sophisticated EAPs offer today. If you
would like to evaluate your current EAP, we encourage you to
answer the following questions:
1.
Is your EAP free-standing or owned by a health care system?
2.
Is your EAP accessible 24 hours/365 days per year?
3.
Who answers the phone after hours, a counselor or an answering
service?
4.
How often are your employees seen face-to-face vs. over the phone?
5.
Who are the counselors seeing your clients in person, what are
their credentials, and are they experienced in offering EAP counseling?
6.
Are your employees being referred to a diversity of providers
and resources or are they all referred to one practice, agency,
or health care system?
7.
Does your EAP have a credentialed EAP provider network? Who are
the providers in each of your locations?
8.
Has your EAP collaborated with your managed behavioral health
care vendor to promote a smooth transition between EAP services
and ongoing treatment outside the EAP?
9.
How often do you contact your EAP for consultation on an employee
performance issue?
10.
How frequently do your managers and supervisors call?
11.
How often do you call upon your EAP to provide training and education
programs for your supervisors and managers?
12.
Is your EAP able to deliver state-of-the-art multimedia training
programs on a variety of management and leadership issues?
13.
How visible is your EAP consultant? Do you receive regular calls
and updates from him/her with reports of utilization trends and
ideas on how to promote visibility within your company?
14.
What is the current utilization of your EAP program? Current
standards vary by industry but average between 6-8% annually.
15.
How does your EAP calculate utilization? Do they calculate per
case, per call or per person? Sometimes numbers can be misleading.
16.
Does your EAP offer a sophisticated print promotion package to
not only keep employees but also family members aware of the
EAP?
17.
What kind of outcome information do you get from your current
EAP?
18.
Does outcome information include client satisfaction reports?
19.
Is your EAP up to speed on current "best practices, "do you rely on your EAP for advice on how to put best practices
to work in your organization?
20.
Is your EAP on speed dial?
Your
EAP should be. Getting true value from your EAP means being confident
that your EAP is your partner in managing the complex human resource
issues you face every day.
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