Employee Assistance Programs in Australia: Evaluating Success

Abstract

Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) are a vital aspect of organizational support and a significant and important element of Human Resources Management. The efficacy of an EAP will therefore have strong implications for the effective functioning of the people processes within an organization. It is incumbent upon organizations to assess the success of their program, its effectiveness, and its efficiency. An employer survey was conducted with 44 organizations that currently provide EAPs to their employees. The study was conducted in 2010, 2011, and 2012 and was based on a range of organizations with a total of approximately 50,500 employees who are in receipt of EAP services, from providers who are members of the Employee Assistance Professional Association of Australasia. The results concluded that EAPs do indeed attend to a wide range of psychological issues and that organizations benefit widely from the existence of EAPs. Furthermore, the study revealed that a close connection between EAPs and Human Resources Management is shown to be beneficial in terms of the broader organizational issues. Even though there is evidence of extensive satisfaction with EAP services it is also evident that there is opportunity to improve the level of monitoring and evaluation of such services to ensure their part in adding value to the organization.