The World Health Organization estimates that in a company of 1,000 employees, 200-300 workers will suffer from a serious mental health problem in any given year, one worker will die by suicide every ten years, and for every employee who dies by suicide, another 10-20 will make a suicide attempt.

When we look more closely at the US, it can be seen that of the high-income countries monitored annually by the Commonwealth Fund, the US has the highest suicide rate – with workplace suicides having risen by 39% since the turn of the millennium. And the UK is not far behind when it comes to cause for concern, as it is estimated that 10% of suicides each year could be work related.

In the tragic event that an employee does commit suicide, the employer has a vital role in supporting workers in the aftermath of this tragedy – a role which must be handled with a sense of care and compassion in order to properly manage the aftereffects of such a delicate situation. These are some of the things employers need to do:

• Acknowledge the Incident – it’s important for employers to speak about what has happened and provide employees with the space to process it. The loss should be acknowledged without speculation or blame, and condolences should be offered to the family, colleagues, and friends, as well as a clear assurance that the company is there to offer support to those affected.  
• Supporting and Signposting – in the immediate aftermath of the incident, it’s imperative that employers are making employees aware of the support that’s on offer internally (usually through an Employee Assistance Program) as well as offering to signpost grief counselling services to those who need it. Peer support should also be encouraged during this time, as the team will be feeling a mix of emotions, some more intensely than others, and having the support of your peers to lean on is vital.
• Allow Time for Grieving – some employees will be more affected than others by the loss of an employee through suicide, either due to how close they were with the deceased or if suicide is a particularly triggering topic for them based on past trauma. It can be a good idea for employers to provide a certain level of flexible leave for those who need time to process. In addition, employers can designate a safe, quiet space in the workplace where employees can go if they need a moment away from their work environment.
• Memorials and/or Tributes – if it’s appropriate and in line with the wishes of the family, it can be good to consider organizing a memorial service or providing a space for employees to share memories and support each other. Employers can also consider allowing employees to express their grief through tributes such as a memory board, a charitable donation, or planting a tree in memory of the employee.
• Ongoing Mental Health Monitoring – managers need to be regularly checking in with their teams to see how they are coping and reminding them of support available. It’s equally as important that managers are also given ongoing support and training so that they can handle these delicate situations to the best of their abilities.

In the aftermath of an employee suicide many employers will likely want to review and improve their workplace practices around suicide prevention – especially if the suicide was in any way work-related.

This will involve re-evaluating the workplace culture by reviewing policies and practices to ensure they support employee wellbeing and mental health, as well as reaffirming how important open and honest communication is and that all employees can always make time to talk privately to their leaders and direct reports.

It can be a good idea to conduct an incident review to get a better understanding of any work-related behaviors that might have been observed at work. HR should use these findings to prevent future tragedies by using the data to strengthen polices, procedures, and support systems.

Lastly, consider introducing mental health initiatives such as stress management programs and anti-bullying policies, as well as reviewing your current EAP provider to ensure they are offering a wide range of support for diverse issues.

If you would like to discuss this in more detail, please get in touch with me at karen.cerrato@orgshakers.com

Most of us are guilty of having a gossip now and then. And there is no more potent breeding ground for gossiping than that of a workplace – after all, conversations are bound to occur over lunch breaks, in the corridor, or passing the water cooler.

However, is having a workplace that loves a gossip a sign of a healthy work environment, or a toxic one?

One study of 1,400 participants found that those perceived to be ‘office gossips’ were viewed in a negative light when compared to their non-gossiping colleagues.

However, another study determined that gossip enabled people to influence each other, form similar opinions, and build robust social bonds – as well as promoting cooperation amongst groups without the need for formal intervention.

What we’re seeing is that even though gossip is proven to be a tool for social cohesion in the workplace, its connotations can have negative effects on one’s reputation. After all, when we think about how ‘gossiping’ has been presented in popular media, it never tends to be in a favorable light (think shows like Gossip Girl or the endless litany of celebrity gossip columns).

But when it comes to employers being unsure whether or not to be concerned about office gossip, context plays a key role in whether it is acting as a force for good or not. Gossiping can actually be categorized into three different types:

• Positive Gossip – this is when people speak positively about others in their absence and share uplifting stories, leading to the building of trust and the strengthening of social bonds.
• Neutral Gossip – this is when someone talks about someone else purely to share information, and will often constitute mundane topics without any passing of positive or negative judgement.
• Negative Gossip – this is when someone is spreading rumors, criticisms, or unfavorable information about others that damages reputations and relationships.

When employees are engaging in positive or neutral gossip, this tends to lead to increased cohesion and camaraderie, which ultimately helps to strengthen the way that team members communicate and work together.

However, if employers begin to catch wind of negative gossiping taking place, this may be a cause for concern, as it can have a detrimental effect on their workplace culture, and can even lead to bullying allegations depending on the extent of what is being said. This can result in a workplace being dubbed ‘toxic’ and ‘unwelcoming’, which can damage the overall reputation of the organization. It is therefore important for leaders and managers to ensure that they are promoting a culture where the building of interpersonal bonds is encouraged but also aligns with the values of the company, highlighting that gossiping negatively is not something that is condoned.

If you would like to discuss how we can help you build a positive workplace culture that emboldens your reputation, please get in touch with us today.

Rising workplace sickness is costing UK businesses billions every year, with an estimated £25bn being lost through presenteeism, according to a new think tank report.

New analysis from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) reveals the annual hidden cost of employee sickness has risen by £30 billion since 2018. 

Most of this increased cost, around £25 billion, is from lower productivity, with only £5 billion due to a rise in sick days.

Employees now lose the equivalent of 44 days’ productivity on average due to working through sickness, up from 35 days in 2018, and lose a further 6.7 days taking sick leave, up from 3.7 days in 2018.

Workers in the UK are among the least likely to take sick days, especially compared to other OECD and European countries. 

Read the full piece here: https://www.hrgrapevine.com/content/article/2024-08-01-rising-workplace-sickness-is-costing-uk-economy-billions-every-year-think-tank-warns

In recent days, the UK has experienced the worst civil unrest in more than a decade.

After the fatal stabbing of three young girls at a dance class in the UK seaside town of Southport, the spread of misinformation around the perpetrator of this crime, as well as far-right and anti-immigration rhetoric, has sparked a series of riots, looting, and violent attacks against people of colour.

After the arrest of a 17-year-old boy for the murders in Southport, social media posts began to falsely speculate that the suspect was a Muslim asylum seeker who arrived in the UK in 2023. However, it has since been confirmed that this information is false, and that the suspect was born in the UK to Rwandan parents. But these harmful rumours have led to violent rioting and race-related crime skyrocketing (on Wednesday 7^th August, there were plans for more than 100 gatherings of rioters), with many people finding themselves scared to leave their homes for fear of being attacked or discriminated against due to their race, ethnicity, or faith.

Sadly, the UK is not alone in experiencing racially motivated incidents of this kind, and when they do occur, many employers will have team members who feel angry and scared. Therefore, it’s so important for leaders, managers, and HR professionals to be providing the right support during this time:

• Flexible Working – reiterate to staff members that their safety is of the utmost importance to the company, and should they feel more comfortable doing so, they can work from home or any other place they feel safe. It is also worth considering flexibility around hours being worked, as some may feel more comfortable working earlier in the day, as many riots have been scheduled and taken place in the evening.
• Mental Health Support – the rising violence all across the country is going to have a damaging effect on the mental health of those who feel targeted, exacerbating feelings of anxiety, depression, and stress. Employers should remind their teams of the tools they have available for mental health support, whether this be external signposting or through an in-house Employee Assistance Program.
• Reporting a Crime – if an employee were to fall victim to a crime, especially when travelling to and from work, explain the process that they can go through to report this crime if they wish to and assist where necessary. For many people, it can be incredibly daunting to admit that they are a victim and have to report abuse, and so those employers who can support staff during that process will be instrumental to making them feel safe.

It is an atrocious thing when people feel unsafe where they live, and so it is crucial for employers to be doing everything they can to support the physical and mental wellbeing of those staff members affected.

If you would like to discuss these support strategies in further detail, please get in touch with me directly at therese@orgshakers.com

Burnout is recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) as an ‘occupational phenomenon’. Whilst it is not a medical condition, it has been classified as a syndrome, meaning a collection of symptoms or signs associated with a specific health-related cause.

Burnout is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by prolonged stress or overwork. It can lead to a lack of motivation, decreased productivity, and overall feelings of cynicism and detachment. Burnout often occurs when individuals feel overwhelmed, emotionally drained, and unable to meet constant demands effectively. It can impact various aspects of a person’s life, including work performance, relationships, and overall well-being. Recognizing burnout early and taking steps to address it is important to prevent further negative consequences on health and productivity.

However, many people tend to confuse burnout with depression, but the reality is that the two are very different. Whilst there is some overlap in symptoms – such as fatigue and low mood – the two differ exponentially. The most obvious difference is that whilst burnout is considered a syndrome, depression is classified as a mental health condition and often requires a professional diagnosis and psychological/medical treatment.

This is because depression can be caused by various factors, including biological dispositions (such as genetic dispositions or hormonal imbalances) or environmental factors. Burnout, however, is primarily related to stress induced by work, and typically results from prolonged exposure to job demands paired with a lack of resources and/or support.

While burnout and depression can coexist or exacerbate each other, they are separate conditions that may necessitate different approaches to management and treatment. If you suspect that you or someone you know is experiencing symptoms of either burnout or depression, always seek the right support. This can mean reaching out to your manager, going through your HR team, or potentially reaching out to your EAP provider.

As burnout is something that is likened closely to the workplace and working conditions, it is more likely for managers and employees to recognize signs of burnout amongst their colleagues. Here are a few signs you might spot when someone is on the verge of burning out:

• Increased Irritability – if you notice team members becoming easily frustrated, agitated, or showing signs of impatience, it could be a sign of burnout.
• Decreased Motivation – a lack of enthusiasm or engagement in tasks, projects, people, or meetings.
• Physical Symptoms – persistent headaches, fatigue, digestive issues, or sleep disturbances.
• Cynicism and Negative Attitude – a shift towards a more negative outlook, pessimism, or sustained criticism.
• Decreased Productivity – missed deadlines, unfinished tasks, or a decline in the quality of work.

Once an employee has been identified as suffering from burnout, it is then important to consider implementing some of the following practices:

• Encourage Work-Life Balance – be an advocate for setting boundaries between work and personal life. Encourage team members to take breaks and to take their holiday to remind them that you want them operating at their best and therefore need to ensure they are taking care of their well-being.
• Provide Support – foster a culture of open communication and support within the team. Encourage team members to share their concerns and struggles, and offer assistance where needed.
• Promote Self-Care – encourage team members to engage in activities that promote self-care, such as exercise, mindfulness, hobbies etc. Diet and water intake could also be explored, and promoted in the office through having water coolers and healthy snacks available.
• Delegate Tasks – ensure workload is distributed evenly and appropriately among team members. By delegating tasks effectively, this will help to prevent overwhelming individuals.
• Seek Feedback – regularly check in with team members to gather feedback on workload and use this feedback to make necessary adjustments.

By recognizing the signs and implementing preventive measures, you can promote a healthy work environment for your teams that allows them to work at their optimum. To discuss how we can help implement these preventative strategies, and offer training around burnout prevention, please get in touch with me at therese@orgshakers.com

As the tug of war between working from home and working from the office continues, we are now seeing a rise in return to office (RTO) mandates being issued across multiple industries. Indeed, one study has found that up to 70% of companies with flexible work schedules are planning to increase the days employees must work in office by 2025.

These forcible RTO mandates are expected to have a disproportionately negative impact on one group of employers: the ‘super-commuters’ – individuals who travel for more than 90 minutes to get to work.

Recent research from Trainline found that the number of super-commuters has increased following the pandemic. 47% of those who travel for 90+ minutes made the change either during or after the pandemic, and 84% of super-commuters said they were able to extend their commute because of their hybrid working pattern.

This makes sense – with employees expected to come into the office less, this affords them the ability to live further away from where they work and extend their radius of travel, as they will only have to do this commute two to three times per week. However, with RTO mandates rising, this will likely take its toll on those who have to now commute 90+ minutes each way on a daily basis.

Having to travel such long distances each day significantly increases the workday for these super-commuters, taking them from an 8-hour day to over 11-hours when including this added travel. This is likely to have noticeable effects on employee performance and engagement in the form of higher absences, lower morale, and increased likelihood of burnout.

One way employers can support their super-commuters, however, is by leaning in on the very thing that has made hybrid working effective – flexibility.

If employees are going to have to spend an extended period of time travelling to work, then one thing to consider encouraging is making use of that travel time. ‘Working from home’ has already evolved beyond the home with employees working from coffee shops, trains, and just about anywhere that has a Wi-Fi signal. So, if super-commuters are spending 3 or more hours getting to and from work, why not make this a part of their working day?

This removes the pressure of travel delays making them ‘late to work’, as they would have already been working on their way to the office! It also ensures that they are able to get home from work at a time which enables them to continue to sustain the work-life balance that attracted them to hybrid and remote working in the first place.

If you would like to discuss how we can help your business optimize your working styles and ensure that optimizes productivity, please get in touch with us today.

With the scope of HR continuing to grow, the profession is witnessing an increasing number of HR teams that are struggling to meet this increasing demand.

In a recent LinkedIn poll, we asked our followers to share where their teams were facing challenges.

Almost half of respondents, 43%, said CAPACITY (having enough of the right people available when needed), 23% cited CAPABILITY (having the right skills and experience within the team), and 27% stated BOTH were issues.

Just 7% responded ‘NEITHER – we’re in good shape’.

This means that an overwhelming 93% of HR teams feel that they are not properly resourced to deliver everything their organizations need.

The impact of this on practitioners is highlighted in a study by HR software company MHR which found that half of HR professionals are on the verge of quitting due to burnout. Indeed, a separate study by Gartner found that 71% of HR leaders believe burnout amongst HR teams is more of a challenge than it was pre-pandemic.

And it’s no wonder this is happening. Since the pandemic ended, HR have been at the forefront of responding to a seismic shift in the workplace – the rise of the ‘carpe diem’ mindset has seen a significant increase in the importance of employee wellbeing; the ‘quiet quitting’ phenomenon brought to light important conversations around boundaries and work-life balance; and all of this on top of the mass adoption of hybrid and remote working across the world.

But this is just the tip of the iceberg. Also thrown into the mix is the need for companies to focus on their diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies, offer learning and development opportunities around the assimilation of new technologies, manage the change fatigue that emerges from this, and create a bulletproof Environmental, Social and Governance plan… all the while maintaining their ‘business as usual’ HR processes!

In our experience, the best route forward in a situation like this is to take a step back.

At OrgShakers we have pioneered the use of the Program Acceleration Office (PAO) whose role is to work with individual project managers to align, connect, and optimise resources across the whole team. In doing so the PAO creates a shared ‘big picture’ vision for the HR function based on a common roadmap, defined dependencies and impacts, and agreed outcomes. And once the organization’s in-house HR practitioners are optimally deployed, the PAO can objectively identify those areas where external resources are required.

We offer a range of services and expertise across all areas of HR, including fractional HR generalist and specialist support to bolster your team. So, if you would like to discuss how we can help with your capability and capacity needs, please get in touch with us today.

Supporting an employee through grief is always difficult; we all grieve differently. But it can feel particularly daunting to support the aching grief of a recently bereaved parent.

It’s important for employers to consider that a parent’s journey with their bereavement doesn’t always begin post-mortem. For parents who lose their children to illness, this process would have started long before. And in some ways, this part can be even harder to manage, as a parent will still be juggling work alongside this traumatic process.

During this period, flexibility is of the utmost importance. Employers who can offer as much flexibility as possible to a parent going through that process will allow them to have the time they need to prepare for what will inevitably be an intensely emotional time. It wouldn’t be surprising to see performance slip in these employees, but employers should acknowledge that this is temporary and heavily influenced by the nature of the circumstances.

Once a parent has lost a child, there are a few things employers can do to help them:

• Support Programs – employers should ensure that they make recently bereaved parents aware of the support programs that are available to them. While 79% of employers provide an Employee Assistance Program, only 27% of employees realise this exists as an option. It is therefore important to highlight the counselling and support services they offer, as this could be instrumental in helping a parent going through such a loss.
• Send a Token of Support – sending a small token, even just a card, can go a long way. As an employer, it’s important to focus on the human aspect of your employees when they go through a loss like this – and what they need more than anything is to know that you are there, you are supportive, and you are happy to give them the time they need to process. Receiving a card or flowers shows that you care and, in doing so, will help to alleviate any feelings of guilt the employee might have about being away from work.
• Keep Connected – a sense of connection with work and colleagues can be valuable when someone may feel very disconnected from everything else. That’s why it’s important that managers regularly check in with the employee whilst they are grieving. Fostering this bond can help managers discover any hardships that employees may be going through and need support with. In doing so, managers will help the employee feel valued as a worker, in the process building loyalty and trust.

It all comes down to emphasizing the ‘human’ in human resources. When an employee goes through something as unimaginable as the loss of a child, what they need more than anything is to be seen as more than just an employee, but a three-dimensional person. By doing this, employers will be better able to offer the support the employee may need during this time, aiding in their eventual assimilation back into working life when the time comes.

To discuss how we can help strengthen your bereavement support strategies, please get in touch with me directly at karen.cerrato@orgshakers.com

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that is caused by experiencing very stressful, frightening or distressing events. Most of us will experience at least one trauma in our lifetime that could lead to PTSD, although not all experiences with trauma lead to this disorder.

While often associated with military veterans, PTSD affects a wide range of individuals, including survivors of accidents, natural disasters, assaults, and other life-altering events. It is estimated that around 6% of the US population suffer from PTSD, and around 4% of the UK population. It is therefore very likely that employers will have team members who struggle with the disorder, and considering its delicate nature, it is important for them to know the best ways of supporting the mental health of these employees:

• Provide Access to Resources – it’s always important to ensure that your company has an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) that can offer services such as confidential counselling and crisis intervention. It’s also important to review health insurance policies to determine whether they include therapy and medication for PTSD treatment.
• Offer Specialized Training – offer training and workshops that help managers and supervisors recognize signs of PTSD and understand the best ways to support an affected employee. It is also important to train leaders to have the necessary soft skills in order to communicate empathetically and compassionately around the topic of mental health.
• Flexible Working – offering employees with PTSD the ability to work flexibly can really help in the management of their symptoms, as well as enable them to attend therapy sessions without feeling pressured by time constraints. Employers can even consider certain job modifications to reduce stressors, such as reassigning certain tasks or adjusting performance expectations.
• Crisis Management Plan – have a clear plan in place for employees to reach out for help during a mental health crisis. This should include contact information for EAPs, mental health hotlines, and on-site mental health professionals if available.
• Foster an Open Culture – create a culture where employees feel comfortable discussing their mental health. This can be done by actively educating employees around mental health disorders such as PTSD through regular workshops and seminars. This will help challenge the taboos around mental health at work and equip employees with the skills to be able to identify when a fellow peer may be struggling.

Supporting employees with PTSD requires a multi-faceted approach. With each person’s experience with PTSD varying significantly, there is no one-size-fits-all way of supporting someone. So, educating managers and employees, training them on how to communicate and actively listen, and making employees aware of the resources available to them can all lend to optimizing the productivity of those that suffer with a mental health disorder and allow them to thrive in their working environment.

If you would like to discuss how we can help strengthen your mental health support strategies, please get in touch with us.

According to The Harris Poll’s Out of Office Culture Report, 37% of millennial workers have admitted to ‘quiet vacationing’ – that is, taking time off without telling their managers under the guise of working remotely.

For those getting flashbacks to the days of ‘quiet quitting’, they may be appropriately timed. Much like how quiet quitting was found to be a misnomer for employees wanting clear work-life boundaries and balance, ‘quiet vacationing’ may also be misleading.

This is because the report includes other findings which can help shed some light on why ‘quiet vacationing’ has emerged as a trend – particularly amongst Millennials.

Why Millennials? The most probable answer is that people in this age group are likely to have school-aged children, and they are likely to ‘quiet vacation’ as a means of attaining the flexibility they need but maybe aren’t being offered by their employer.

‘Quiet vacationing’ may also be a symptom of employees who don’t feel they have a proper work-life balance, as the research also discovered that 78% of employees who get paid vacations don’t take all the vacation days they are allocated. The reasons cited for this are to do with demands from work and pressure from managers not to take time off.

Work-life balance is quickly becoming a pivotal factor for many employees, with one study finding that more than half (56%) of employees would be willing to accept a lower-paid job in exchange for a better work-life balance.

So, what ‘quite vacationing’ and ‘quiet quitting’ have in common is that if employees are not getting the work-life balance they need, then they will find innovative ways to create it for themselves.

With the increase of hybrid and remote working styles, employers have been forced to adopt a new mindset of managing employee output (tasks completed) rather than input (showing up 9-5 five days a week). And the fact that the existence of ‘quiet vacationing’ has only been revealed through this latest study highlights that employees are still getting their jobs done – albeit at times which better meet their personal circumstances.

If there had been noticeable and consistent dips in productivity, this phenomenon would have been identified already. But if deadlines are being met on time and the work is getting done, then maybe this is just a case of recognizing that as long as employees can do what is expected of them, it shouldn’t really matter when they do it.

Now, this isn’t going to be applicable to every type of role, but for the most part, employers should be focused on managing the output of their employees, especially in a hybrid and remote working world. After all, someone can sit in an office all day and appear busy. But if the productivity of someone periodically ‘quiet vacationing’ from home remains consistent, is there really a problem?

If you are based in the UK, you may have heard the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, declaring that there is a ‘sick note culture’– that is, that too many people are being formally recognized by their family doctors as being too ill to work.

But is this true? And if it is, are workers genuinely becoming less healthy – or are they simply less resilient to everyday ailments?

Well, the evidence suggests that we can rule out resilience as an issue. Recent research has found that almost 3 in 5 (59%) of UK employees say they haven’t taken time off work sick, either due to illness or injury, despite needing to.

What’s even more striking is that there has been a noticeably lower rate of absence from sickness from those who work from home.

Indeed, it could be argued that rather than witnessing the emergence of a ‘sick note culture’, what we are seeing is a culture of presenteeism beginning to rear its head again. But this time it has taken on a new form – a form that has adapted to remote working styles.

One of the main concerns around remote working has always been the fact that this style of work can blur the line between the home as a place of comfort and as a place of work.

The home symbolises solace and relaxation for many, but with a lot of us now working from home, it can sometimes feel hard to fully switch off from ‘work mode’ and switch on to ‘home mode’. And it now appears that we are starting to see this blurring of boundaries with sickness, too.

Pre-pandemic, if you didn’t feel well, you would be advised to take the day off, rest up, and then return when you felt better. But this notion has changed with the ‘normalization’ of remote working. Now, if an office-based or hybrid employee wakes up and isn’t feeling well, they may ask themselves – or sometimes even be asked – to work from home for a few days whilst they recover.

It’s important for employers to keep this in mind when a remote employee is unwell. Just because they now have the means to do their job from home, doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be taking the appropriate time to rest and recover. After all, it is very likely they won’t be working at an optimum when unwell anyway, so it can be best to advise they take the time to heal so not to compromise the quality of their output.

And contrary to the Prime Minister’s claims, hybrid and remote employees may actually need to be encouraged to take sick days!

If you would like to discuss how we can help develop wellbeing strategies geared towards hybrid and remote working, please get in touch with us.

Every year, 12 billion working days are lost worldwide to depression and anxiety, costing the global economy $1 trillion, predominantly due to the debilitating effects they have on productivity.

As we continue to see employers make strides towards creating psychologically safe workplace cultures, a key component for supporting the immediate needs of employee wellbeing is an employee assistance program (EAP). EAPs are outsourced mental wellbeing services that are designed to support employees who are facing personal or professional issues, and will tend to offer services such as counselling, a 24/7 support line, work-life balance support, legal and financial advice, referral services, and manager training.

With the importance of mental wellbeing continuing to rise, what should HR consider when selecting an EAP for their organization?

Firstly, it’s essential to assess the scope of services offered by the EAP, which should be as broad as possible to include more complex support such as substance abuse assistance and crisis intervention services. By offering diverse services, employees are more likely to find the support they need, enhancing their overall wellbeing and, in turn, reducing absenteeism.

In addition, HR needs to consider the accessibility of the service. Employees should be able to easily access the support they need when needed, whether through phone consultations, online resources, or in-person counselling sessions. Having this user-friendly platform and streamlined referral process will encourage employees to utilize the program and seek assistance without hesitation.

The privacy and confidentiality policies of the EAP provider should also be considered. It’s important that employees feel comfortable seeking help without fear of their personal information being disclosed to employers or team members, as this will help to build trust with the program and ensure that it is properly utilized.

Another consideration would be the cultural competence of the provider. A diverse workforce requires culturally sensitive support services that are inclusive and respectful of different backgrounds and beliefs. Partnering with an EAP provider that understands and respects these cultural nuances ensures that all employees are receiving appropriate and effective assistance tailored to their unique needs.

Lastly, HR needs to be cost-effective when choosing an EAP. While investing in employee wellbeing yields long-term benefits (such as improved productivity and engagement), it’s essential to evaluate the return on investment of different program options.

Once a program has been selected, don’t hesitate to gauge employee satisfaction with it. Ask those employees who have used the services and get a sense of whether it is making a difference for them – and identify areas where it could be improved. An EAP should evolve and adapt to meet the changing needs of the workforce, and having consistent feedback helps to ensure it remains a valuable investment.

If you would like to discuss how we can support your company with choosing the best EAP – or any other wellbeing support you may need – please get in touch with us.