New Product Measures EAP Effects on Productivity
A news release said the new service measures and quantifies workplace effects, such as increased productivity or decreased absenteeism.
The announcement said the approach presents a
better model for both client organizations and EAP
providers by scientifically demonstrating the correlation
of cost to results, providing ROI documentation for
specific programs, moving from activity reporting to the
presentation of empirical results, and differentiating
programs and services with outcome data.
The approach uses a survey that collects employee
feedback, both before and after services are provided, on
five key aspects of the effects of personal issues on
workplace functioning: absenteeism, presenteeism, work
engagement, life satisfaction, and workplace distress.
Results can be aggregated in a report that analyzes the
average change in employee behavior, but also documents
the impact on their participation and contribution in the
workplace.
“This workplace outcome – informed approach
represents a departure from conventional measures used to
address the age-old question of which EAPs actually
work,” said Dave Sharar, managing director of
Chestnut Global Partners, the international employee
assistance division of Chestnut Health Systems, in the
news release. “The conventional approach to gauging
EAP effectiveness has been measured by citing end-user
utilization rates, client referrals, or even employee
click throughs on a Web site to access resources.”
The company said the survey is flexible enough to be
administered manually or automated in a number of ways –
including building the process into an existing HRIS,
integrating and installing survey software within an
organization’s Web portal, or purchasing access to a
secure outside Web page (provided by the EAP vendor) so
that employees can log in to respond.
Free copies of the workplace outcome survey are available
by e-mailing Dave Sharar at
dsharar@chestnut.org
, or John Burke at
jburke@coastalnet.com
. More information is available at
www.chestnut.org/global/
.