Impaired Job Performance and Worksite Trigger Incidents:

Relatively little empirical research has been done on the supervisory referral of employees to employee assistance programs (EAPs). Inclusion of constructive confrontation (supervisory referral) into program standards and its continued promotion as "central strategy" of program theory and operation calls for critical investigation of supervisors' referral behavior, factors affecting their use of the strategy, and its effectiveness with the referred employees. This study examined two factors found to influence referral action-job performance and occurrence of an incident at the worksite which serves as a "trigger event" for the supervisor. Supervisors (N = 415) at 25 sites from seven organizations responded to a survey regarding their referral behavior. Both impaired job performance and worksite incidents were found to have significant relationship to the EAP referral handling of a specific "job problems" employee. Reported occurrence of a dramatic worksite incident accounted for about eight times as much of the observed referral index variance as a job performance (impairment) rating scale. An interesting, but statistically nonsignificant, trend was also found - the more "public" the incident, the greater the referral action taken. About half of the respondent supervisors were found to have taken no referral action whatever with their "job problems" subordinate. These findings raise questions about supervisors' perceptions of EAPs and their motivations in referral. More research into referral dynamics is needed if EAPs are to achieve their potential to help impaired workers and maximize cost savings for their host organizations.     

The Role of Supervisory Referral in Employee Assistance Programs

Abstract

A growing number of organizations offer Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) to help employees with their personal problems. Many organizations rely on their supervisors to help identify and refer troubled employees to the EAP for assistance, yet very little conclusive evidence exists regarding the factors that influence whether or not supervisors identify and intervene with troubled employees. A previous review of the literature (Nord & Littrell, 1989) found that the following variables were consistently related to referral: (a) degree of management support for the EAP, (b) gender of supervisor, (c) gender of subordinate, (d) existence of a supervisor network, (e) occupational category of the employees supervised, (f) social distance between supervisor and troubled employee, (g) supervisors' attitude toward their role in referral, and (h) supervisor knowledge of the EAP. However, results of some of the studies reviewed for the current paper were inconsistent with Nord and Littrell's (1989) findings. Additional research is needed in this area, including research on the effectiveness of EAP supervisory training, in order to provide guidelines for the administration of effective EAP programs.     

EAP Referral Training and Supervisor's Beliefs About Troubled Workers

This study was designed to investigate the relationship between EAP referral training and supervisors' interactions with troubled workers. Using a field survey, self-report, retrospective methodology, 224 industrial supervisors' beliefs about impaired employees were examined in connection with the former group's participation in constructive confrontation training and their attitudes toward EAPs. In general, based on Bayer and Gerstein's (1988a) Bystander-Equity Model of Supervisory Helping Behavior, it was predicted that supervisors who had attended training and/or held positive attitudes toward their EAP would report more welldeveloped beliefs about troubled workers than persons who had not received training and/or held negative attitudes toward their EAP. Overall, our results provided support for the idea that constructive confrontation training enhances supervisors' recognition of impaired employees. While we anticipated this finding, we did not expect supervisors to report that their attitudes toward their EAP were unrelated to their beliefs about troubled persons. Alternative explanations for why supervisors behaved differently from what we had anticipated are offered, as are suggestions for how to conduct research on other aspects of the supervisor-impaired worker identification process.     

The Utility of Personality Inventories in the Employee Assistance Process

Abstract

A study was conducted to assess the usefulness of objective measures of personality in (a) the identification of employees in need of an employee assistance program (EAP) and (b) the evaluation of employee mental health change as a result of EAP participation. In addition, comparisons of EAP referred and non-referred employees were made on race, sex, age, and performance variables. MMPI, CPI, and SRA-Verbal Form test data from all or part of a sample of 376 police officers referred for fitness-for-duty evaluations were used in various analyses. Many of the officers were reassessed following an EAP intervention, while others chose not to accept the intervention (forming a natural control group). It was found that the MMPI-2 has the potential utility in both the identification and evaluation stages of the EAP process. Males and black employees were found to more likely to be referees to an EAP. Finally, it was found that referred employee performance was more than a half a standard deviation lower than that of non-referred employees.     

Experiences of internal and hybrid employee assistance program managers: Factors associated with successful,at-risk,and eliminated programs

Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) originated as workplace-focused programs delivered largely by peer employees. Over the past 25 years, the once standard internal EAP has largely been replaced by internal/external hybrid programs or outsourced EAP vendors. Many long-standing internal programs have been downsized or eliminated, along with their internal program manager positions. This qualitative study examined the organizational, leadership, and programmatic characteristics associated with the internal and internal/hybrid EAPs from the perspectives of EAP managers working in programs that have thrived and those that have depreciated. Twenty-four current and former internal or internal/hybrid EAP managers were interviewed using a semistructured interview schedule. Qualitative methods were used to identify patterns and themes within the data to describe the experience of internal and internal/hybrid EAP managers and the critical success and risk factors associated with their positions and programs. Five final themes, with 15 subthemes emerged from the data, suggesting that both individual and organizational characteristics of EAP internal and hybrid programs are important to the program’s sustainability. These findings offer insights regarding best practices and critical success factors to EAP professionals, EAP purchasers, and the EAP industry.     

Evaluation of an employee assistance program at a transportation company

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) in terms of selected work performance indicators and treatment outcomes. Three primary data sources were utilized: a questionnaire administered to EAP users, reports from EAP counsellors on treatment diagnoses and outcomes, and employee records on absenteeism and other performance criteria over a five year time period. On the whole, EAP clients reported very favourable outcomes regarding the quality of services and improved well being, and the counsellors reported successful treatment outcomes. However, employee records on performance outcomes indicated that EAP clients had higher rates of problems before, during and after treatment, compared to a matched control group. Additionally, rates of sick days significantly increased from before to after treatment among EAP users.     

Women and HIV:

Women constitute one of the fastest growing groups of people infected with HIV. Women have always been affected by HIV as informal or formal caregivers. Despite this, HIV services and education have been directed almost exclusively towards men. Given that women comprise half of the workforce, the change in the face of the epidemic requires a reexamination of the EAP professional's approach to AIDS education and services. This article delineates HTV-related issues specific to women and their impact on the functions of the EAP. Suggestions are made for targeting AIDS workplace education and prevention to women. The implications of women's issues on early identification, counseling, and referral by EAP professionals are also explored. Consideration is given to the cultural and socioeconomic diversity of women affected by HIV.     

THE ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF SUPERVISORY SYSTEMS: A MODIFIED DELPHI STUDY

Few empirical data exist to demonstrate the efficacy of marriage and family therapy (MFT) training and supervision. In order to lay the foundation for a comprehensive model of MFT supervision and faciliate supervisory precess research, variables improtant to the outcome of MFT supervision were identified. A panel of AAMFT Approved Supervisors generated 771 variables thougth to be essential to superisory outcome and rate 398 of these variables as very improtant to the outcome of MFT supervision. The variables were collapsed into five categories and further divided into 37 conceptual clusters. The existing superisory literature tht supports the results of the study and implications of the study are discussed.     

Lack of consensus in supervision

This study describes what occurs when trainees and supervisors encounter a lack of consensus in supervision. We identified 120 episodes indicating a lack of consensus between a supervisor and a trainee during 23 hr of supervision. Qualitative analysis of the episodes described 10 supervisor responses, characterized as influence and evaluation, and eight trainee responses, characterized as cooperation and deference. The pattern of supervisor-trainee interaction was characterized by negotiation and collaboration. Supervisors and trainees collaborate to produce a presentation of the trainee as a competent clinician and a cooperative trainee. Supervisors identify deficiencies and offer requests in a subtle manner that appears open to modification, thus cooperating with the trainee's competent and cooperative image.     

Core competencies in advanced training: what supervisors say about graduate training

In an attempt to identify needed mental health skills, many professional organizations have or are in the process of establishing core competency standards for their professions. The AAMFT identified 128 core competencies for the independent practice of MFT. The aim of this study was to learn the opinions of AAMFT Approved Supervisors as to how well prepared postgraduate trainees are when compared to the core competencies. One hundred thirty-five AAMFT Approved Supervisors provided their perspectives on (a) which competencies are most commonly learned in MFT graduate programs, (b) how well the graduates have mastered these competencies, and (c) the level to which the supervisors need the competencies to be mastered prior to entering advanced training. Results suggest that a gap exists between the level of mastery that the postgraduate trainees exhibit and the level desired by supervisors. Implications are suggested for closing this gap.     

The EAP Treatment of Depressed Employees

Abstract

This article applies calculations from the outcome literature on lost productive work time to the EAP treatment of depressed employees. Pre-and post-treatment measures were obtained on 11,756 employees who accessed treatment over a seven-year period. Sixty-six percent of these employees reported at least moderate symptoms of depression at the time of intake. After treatment, approximately half of the depressed subjects reported no such symptoms. Applying results from research conducted by Stewart, Ricci, Chee, Hahn, and Morganstein (2003) to the present study indicated substantial cost savings associated with the EAP treatment of depression. The article provides a model for calculating return on investment (ROI) by reducing lost productive work time (LPT).     

EMPLOYER CHOICES IN EAP DESIGN AND WORKSITE SERVICES

In today's complex private healthcare market, employers have varied preferences for particular features of behavioral health products such as Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs). Factors which may influence these preferences include: establishment size, type of organization, industry, workplace substance abuse regulations, and structure of health insurance benefits. This study of 103 large employer purchasers from a single managed behavioral healthcare organization investigated the impact of such variables on the EAP features that employers select to provide to workers and their families. Our findings indicate that for this group of employers, preferences for the type and delivery mode of EAP counseling services are fairly universal, while number of sessions provided and choices for EAP-provided worksite activities are much more varied, and may be more reflective of the diverse characteristics, organizational missions and workplace culture found among larger employers in the US.     

The EAP Counselor:

The author conducted a qualitative study of EAP counselors and clients in which they were asked to describe in detail their experiences as EAP counselors. This article describes the findings of one section of the larger study concerning the counselors' attitudes toward their work, their preparation for the field, and the field in general.     

Mental health practitioners’ strategies in equine-assisted psychotherapy: implications for social work

Equine-assisted psychotherapy (EAP), in this study, which included a mental health practitioner, an equine specialist, at least one horse, and a client in therapy sessions, is emerging in social work practice, education, and research. The purpose of this paper was to explore experienced EAP mental health practitioners’ cognitive activities and strategies to inform the social work profession.

Utilizing a constructive narrative approach, eight experienced EAP mental health practitioners participated. Two semi-structured, face-to face, individual interviews were used to gain their perspectives. Qualitative software assisted thematic analysis. The findings included a main theme identified as participants’ concrete strategies used in EAP with two subthemes. The second main theme identified abstract strategies with six subthemes.

EAP provides a holistic framework as social workers incorporate horses and natural environments in practice, which is consistent with systems theory. The findings inform experienced mental health practitioners to be effective therapists and educators, as well as to instill confidence in novices. Recommendations for the application of the findings in social work practice, education, and research are explained.     

Effects of early support intervention on workplace ergonomics--a two-year followup study

The purpose of the controlled longitudinal study was to determine the effect of a tailored early support intervention method on workers' workplace ergonomics. The main areas of the early support intervention were training, guidance and support for supervisors in finding weak signals of impaired ergonomics. Supervisors were also trained to bring up these weak signals in discussion with employees and to make necessary changes at the workplace. The data consisted of 301 intervention subjects and 235 control subjects working in the field of commerce. The questionnaires were carried out in 2008 and in 2010, and the response rates among both groups were 45%. We used multivariate repeated measures analysis of variance (MANOVA) to test the difference in the groups at two points of time. The main result was that in the areas of work environment, the interaction between group and time was statistically significant (p=0.0004). The work environment improved in the intervention group, but deteriorated in the control. Working methods improved due to the interventions, but physical load factors increased over time in both groups. According to the study, tailored early support intervention has a generally beneficial impact on workers' workplace ergonomics in the areas of work methods, work environment and accident factors.     

The importance of mentoring relationships among youth workers

Organizational leaders often work to retain their employees and teach them the knowledge needed in becoming future organizational leaders. The purpose of the study examined in this article was to determine how mentoring within Camp Adventure Child and Youth Services contributes to the development of students selected to deliver programs to children and youth worldwide. Strong evidence of mentoring and development were found in both the training and delivery of services. The results of this study are meaningful not only for the particular program studied but for all youth-serving organizations. Supervisors and administrators of youth-serving organizations should be intentional about developing and promoting healthy mentoring relationships to create positive environments for staff and the youth being served.     

Chapter 4: Research on the Integration of Employee Assistance,Work-Life and Wellness Services

SUMMARY

This article will focus on the research exploring the degree to which organizational integration of Employee Assistance, Work/Family and Wellness Programs has evolved since the early 1990s. The first study reviewed is the National Study of EAP and Work/Family Programs conducted in 1994 by Boston University's Center on Work and Family in which 100 of the top family friendly companies were inter viewed. Two major studies conducted under the guidance of the Employee Assistance Professional Association (EAPA) are then reviewed. The Phase I research conducted in 2001 was a large-scale survey of the professionals in fields of EAP and Work-life (N = 950). The Phase II research conducted in 2002 was comprised of two stages: A pilot study surveying vendors in the EAP and Work-life fields (N = 213) and a qualitative study consisting of in-depth interviews with vendors from all three professions (N = 79). The overall theme from this body of research is one of dramatically increasing movement and market demand for some form of collaboration/integration of service delivery. Finally, the chapter offers recommendations for further research regarding integration of services as well as implications for the professional fields.