Who Is the EAP Customer (or Client)---Really?

This is really an interesting question with many opinions in the field. Let's assume for this post that the client definition the "one" who must ultimately be reckoned with? Many, even after 30 year of EAP activity, remain confused. In the past, host organizations were more easily viewed as customers. Then came the morphing of programs into "benefit model" products as managed care dominated the field. This unwittingly gave way to the "EAP client in office" model for clinicians joining the field. Of course, if you are in a top management role in managed care, you are concerned with performance bonuses and percentages of financial reward for containing the use of behavioral health dollars. This is the mission as viewed by managed care stockholders. The "employee-as-client" is seen by many experienced EA professionals as an improper model, and has contributed to the witnessed impotency of the EAP field in many respects compared to its former peak period in the late 70's and 80's. Employees are part of the organization and EAPs serve the organization by addressing issues associated with human capital -- behavioral risks and exposures. Other service/professionals address other concerns of the host organization. For example, CPAs deal with the company's finances, but they do not see the "finances" as the customer. It is the host organization who is the customer. This precise analogy applies to EAPs. By the way, when EA professionals use the "organization as customer" orientation, more risk and exposures are identified and more lives are saved. This is our mission and purpose. With this model, EAPs also gain more influence and more often do not wait for the phone to ring. In turn, there are many more opportunities to assist the organization and more knocks on the EAP office door by employees. The search for "value added" becomes less urgent for these viable programs.

Fix It Formula (for a Terrible Relationship with the Supevisor)

Communication difficulties top the list of problems employees have with their bosses. Most boil down to five key issues. They include

• Disparities in the amount of work assigned from one employee to the next.
• Minimal praise or no recognition for a job well done
• Dissatisfaction with pay and refusal to address it
• Personality style and performance style differences
• Minimal or no constructive feedback about performance

So, here is the Fix-It for Improving the Relationship with Your Supervisor...

• Prior to meeting with your boss, define the real issue that is creating problems in your relationship. Consider whether you played a role. Did communication issues play a role?

• Write down your concerns. Forget the small and petty stuff for now.

• Meet with your supervisor and explain in plain, unemotional language your observations and concerns about the relationship.

• Be positive in your energy and demeanor—not cocky, passive aggressive, or acting as if you are cornering your boss.

• Wait for your supervisor’s response. He or she may agree or may have another opinion. Hang on every word. Do not be defensive.

• Own your “half” of the relationship problem. It is unlikely you will get very far if you don’t accept the universal principle that each party in conflict plays a role in contributing to relationship problems.

• Your goal is an improved relationship, not to find fault.

• Ask for constructive feedback on your performance. Let your boss have the last word in this conversation.

Initiate regular contact with your boss going forward. As nationally known EA professional and mental health therapist, Dodie Gill, LPC frequently said, "Do not let a tree grow between you and your supervisor." EAP Employee Assistance Programs


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Tips for Employees: Being Cool with Disciplinary Actions

TIPS FOR YOUR EMPLOYEES: Facing a corrective (disciplinary) action meeting will test your composure and professionalism. The winning strategy in most cases is to turn the predicament into a learning experience that leaves you determined to change and achieve. Here’s how to hit the reset switch and go from dread to determination. Understand that a corrective action or disciplinary meeting is an attempt to elevate behavior, not to punish an employee. It’s an educational tool. If you adopt this perspective, you’ll take a team approach with your supervisor and see performance as the issue of management’s concern, not you personally. Ask for a follow-up appointment to discuss progress if one is not given, or send short periodic reports of your progress to your supervisor. Naturally, rely upon your employee assistance program for ideas, support, encouragement, and help in reducing anxiety and worry. Get articles like this one every month with an employee newsletter or customized, easy, do it yourself editable newsletter--The FrontLine Employee

EAPs and the Talent Management Connection

An employee’s most significant relationship in the work organization is the one with the supervisor. Unless this relationship is constructive and positive, the risk of losing a worker to another employer or worse to a competitor will remain unacceptably high. Kevin Sheridan, a business consultant specializing in talent management reports in his new book, Building a Magnetic Culture (2012), that engaged employees are ten times more likely to feel their work is recognized, that their supervisor and top management cares about them, and that they are getting useful regular feedback. Such employees are also four times less likely to leave. Obviously the supervisor is a key influence in helping employees get these needs met. EAPs have a role to play because their skills and abilities can help enhance the relationship that supervisors maintain with employees. Visible and strongly delivered EAP services naturally target the improvement of relationships, and are therefore an excellent strategy for increasing employee engagement, and in turn, the improvement of business outcomes. Excerpted from the Jan 2012 issue of FrontLine Supervisor EAP Newsletter for Supervisors.

No EAP Assessment and Help for Randy Babbit FAA Chief for Drunk Driving? Missed Opportunity Big Time.

I don't know about you, but I am having mixed feelings about the resignation of Randy Babbit, the FAA chief who was arrested for drunk driving and resigned on Dec. 5. He offered his resignation and it was accepted. Yes, the significance of Babbit's position is important, but should he not get an assessment to see if he has an alcoholism problem? Then, should he not be offered treatment if he is diagnosable? Isn't this the way it is supposed work?

I don't think the Secretary of Transportation should have accepted the resignation (or requested it?). This entire incident is a RIPE opportunity for creating another powerful dialogue about occupational alcoholism and how we are supposed to salvage employees who have substance abuse problems--not for their sake, but for society at large!

Of course, this does not excuse Babbit's behavior. However, it does put the the FAA in the position of easily leveraging him into an assessment and then if needed, treatment for alcoholism after an assessment, if in fact he meets the criteria for the diagnosis of alcoholism.

Now, before you freak out on me for this post, do you realize that the FAA has followed over 1500 recovering alcoholic airline pilots and that the program has an outstanding success rate. The recovering pilot's program is run by the FAA Medical Examiner in Washington, D.C.? I have worked personally with some of these pilots have met the founder of this program when I was at Arlington Hospital Addiction Treatment Program between 1984 and 1995. You probably don't know about this program because it is not publicized. It was started in the 1970's after the GREAT PUSH to help alcoholics in the workplace. Remember that?

The bottom line is that there will always be alcoholic pilots, but identifying them early and leveraging them into treatment is the way to go. And the FAA does. It is the only common sense approach. If you do not do this, alcoholics will hide. And this incident with Babbit will make those employees with alcohol problems go further underground (and then emerge again even worse.)

Also, do realize that Babbit would have been offered an assessment and/or treatment--required by OPM as a firm choice arrangement or be fired in the 1970's and early 80's. For some reason then alcohol-related problems were considered sign of potential alcoholism whose symptoms were behaviors show up as things like drunk driving.

The ADA obliterated these protections and drove practicing alcoholics further underground after its passage. Don't believe me? Okay here is the proof:

Don't you think that after 40 years of enlightened medical and treatment professionals pounding the table to convince society that treating addicts is in everyone's interest that the FAA of all organizations, would stand up and get this guy in treatment, if needed?

I think EAPA should make a public statement about this. This superior executive with an incredible work history is now toast. If alcoholism exists, and it remains untreated, further alcohol problems will continue, and the untold costs will also continue. What will they be?

This was a missed opportunity for the advancement of society's education about alcoholism. I honestly think we had our act together in the mid-1970's, but in 2011, we are back in the dark ages with addictive disease.

Reducing Absenteeism: Yeah, EAPs Do That Dummy!

There is a old threat to productivity rearing its ugly head in a new way - absenteeism. Before you say, "no kidding, Dan!", get this: The Washiongton Business Group Health ten years ago released a report, "Staying at Work" Report. It said, "properly targeted and executed disability and absence management programs can, in fact, produce real gains." They cite approaches that fail to mention EAPs in any way.  I just do not understand this!

The ongoing interest in absenteeism problems stems from a survey conducted showing 78% of human resource managers believe the main cause of absenteeism is a belief that those who skip out of work believe they are entitled to time off. This is extremely interesting.

The second most cited reason was a lack of supervisor involvement as a catalyst to discourage worker absenteeism. This has EAP solutions written all over it.
There is no way to discover the occurrence rate of personal problems to the degree that they affect absenteeism through a survey of human resource managers like the one conducted by this Blue Ribbon group. Superimpose this fact on top of the empirically-based research paid for by EAPA members dues and conducted by Linda LaScola Research sometime around 1992-3?, which found that human resource managers don't know how to use EAPs efficiently, and you got yourself a real case for EAPs coming to the rescue.
The obvious problem: EAPs are not being used as management tools in American companies as they were in the 70's. Instead, they are seen as counseling programs predominantly for self-referral. Nothing in this research, and nothing in any article reporting it, ever mentioned anything about EAPs! However, in the 1970's the WBGH was a high-powered elite group that played a significant role in promoting the establishment of EAPs in Fortune 500 companies. (I suspect most of the folks at WBGH from 70's are retired. This might explain their institutional memory loss. That, combined with about 33 HR journals telling everyone that an EAP is something run by a managed care company with an 800#.)

What to do:  Help spearhead an absenteeism management program that puts the EAP front and center. Consider new training, and ask the organization to give you access to their absenteeism report. Watch your EAP utilization spurt up. Let me know if they blow you off. I would love to know why. "EAPs don't do that" might be the key reason -- like they know what EAPs do better than you do! I have seen this a million times. You open your mouth at meeting, and someone says, "EAPs don't do that". Where does this stuff come from?

Do you have a newsletter for employees? If you do not, let prove something to you. You're utilization rate will go up 20% annualized with a monthly EAP newsletter (2 pages--never four!) or if it does not, I will publicly apologize in this blog at the end of a free three month trial.

So, let me send you a free trial. Don't worry, I will not chase you down waving a bill at you. Go here for it.

EAP Utilization Tip: Utilization Review & Hospital Social Workers

How many hospitals are in your town? Medical social workers or utilization review nurses might be the busiest occupation on the planet with the most stress. The cut-backs in hospitals and the personnel shortages they face, have made social workers busier than ever--that's if they have not been fired yet. Some hospitals have let all of their hospital social workers go. They have replaced the bulk with utilization review nurses who line up support and medical help post-discharge.

They could use some help. And they would love to refer employees from the company or companies you serve who've ended up in the hospital for one reason or another. You could lighten their load and get the utilization credit for your program. Remember family members could use EAP services too, so make sure your statistics include "employees impacted" by EAP services.

In many instances, medical social workers perform the same kind of  "brokerage" services for patients and their family members that EAPs do. (Brokerage is arranging services for the client without the client's involvement and then passing them off to that service or agency for continuing care or services.) Medical social workers interface with hospice services, meals on wheels, visiting nurse agencies, home health care, medical equipment companies, admission departments of nursing homes and assisted living facilities, social security disability and retirement offices of local government, many other services. If you have done this work as a medical social worker or hospital utilization nurse, you know that burnout is high. You're on the phone constantly.  Help these hospital professionals by letting them know you exist. When a patient is admitted to the hospital, the EAP (that's you) can be contacted to help arrange support or other services. They instantly become a new EAP client referred to your program. Note that you will need to reinforce your availability for assisting the hospital with patients who are also employees of the companies you serve. I would arrange six monthly letters to the person in the hospital who is head of insurance utilization. Send them monthly regardless. After that, your utilization will increase. Let me know what happens. This is a win-win for everyone, including your EAP client, especially.

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