EAPs: Claim the High Ground on Helping Supervisors Learn Mentoring and Coaching Skills

Inc. Magazine had some interesting news recently that EAPs may want to pay attention to.

Research reported in the Harvard Business Review shows that the most likely reason employees leave their employers isn't money, it's a lack of coaching, mentorship, and training. I smell EAP opportunity here.

Can Employee Assistance Programming figure successfully into these problems and become a cost-benefiting financial solution to many the most expensive human resource problem organization's face?

Figure this one out, and you may endear yourself to the host organization big time rather than look like managed care bait come next budget cycle. Start with metrics and find out the turnover rate now. Then come up with your strategy for change.

Consider this pathway to expanding the value-added worth of your EAP. Take your EAP skills and abilities, and establish soft skills training directly related to relationship building, communication, coaching, mentorship, and helping supervisors bond effectively and listen aggressively to what there employees need. You have the experience to imagine an outline and pathway to growing these capabilities for supervisory and leadership staff.

Training (the third problem above) will always be hurdle because it is a time and resource issue, but the other two issues from this study are about relationships, bonding, listening, communication, listening, and other soft skills that EAPs are naturally better prepared to deliver to organizations. You're likely to increase supervisory referrals as a result--a nice pay off for better relationships and helping supervisors.

Who is offering mentor training and coaching training in organizations? It's time to claim the high ground. This is off the behavioral health care radar and their business model will never touch these problems.



Step #1: Gather information on turnover and figure the cost for your host organization. Step #2) In your annual behavioral risk mapping report that I have encouraged in past posts, present your arguments for adding these tow curriculum opportunities. Justify the cost. Two years later, measure impact.

Don't forget to present a paper at EAPA. You'll fill the room. Also try a SHRM conference. Those folks don't even know what an EAP is anymore.

http://www.inc.com/the-build-network/how-to-keep-your-young-talented-employees-from-leaving.html

EAPs: Getting Back to Basics with Supervisor Referrals

If you're a new HR professional, or even an recent recruit to the EAP profession, you may not know that EAPs had their origins in supervisor use of such programs as proactive management tools. Self-referrals evolved over time, only after EAPs became "broadbrush" beyond occupational alcoholism intervention forte. Unfortunately, the focus on self-referrals has overtaken the importance of supervisor referrals in the marketing of EAPs by managed care/behavioral health delivery models. And serious increases in risk have followed.

To reduce risk in your organization and dispose of this handicap, start understanding both the history of EAPs and their risk management, behavioral intervention purpose.

Typically, managed care will promote a 3-4% utilization rate. This is abysmal. It should be 9-16%.
It's all about how much training and relationship-building the EAP does with supervisors and key managers. Self-referrals are easy, but at-risk employees are hard to get through the doors of an EAP. But this where the payoff comes. It takes good supervisor training to reduce risk associated with these employees.

To get started on the right foot and conduct training that boosts your EAP utilization with more supervisors referrals, visit the Comprehensive EAP Supervisor Training Program and preview the entire product, FREE.