Abuse of Employee Assistance Programme - my thoughts
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Lots of work-related emotions in the past week and none of them good. All because of the news that Health Assured, an Employee Assistance Provider, considered it acceptable to allow clients to listen in on employees calls to the confidential helpline. Read the BBC Article here.
I was so incensed that vulnerable people’s trust had been abused this way. Knowing how difficult it is to take that step and ask for help when you are really struggling, only to be betrayed in this cruellest of ways.
And I felt real personal guilt, because ever since I first stood up in front of my own team almost a decade ago to begin talking about mental health in the workplace, I have talked about EAPs as part of the solution to so many organisations and groups of people – how they provide another route to professional help and support. And I always talked about confidentiality as a key factor in their services.
Now my guilt drive is hyperactive and can find something to get worked up about with the smallest provocation but this was different. I felt like I had pointed people not towards a system that was flawed, but one that was actively undermining their trust.
But a few days of inward seething and contemplation and I realised that in a way this horrific story only reinforces what has always been at the core of what I have spoken about, advised upon and advocated for.
That there isn’t a single solution to deliver positive mental health support in the workplace.
You have to consider whether the core culture is consistent with a positive mental health message
You have to raise awareness and destigmatise the subject of mental health and make it ok for people to raise their hand if they are struggling
You have to promote ways people can recognise and manage their own stresses and anxieties and work on their own resilience
You have to train managers, senior leaders, and all employees really, to recognise when someone may be struggling and equip them with the skills and tools to really support
You have to properly resource and support any Wellbeing Champions and MHFAs and not just see them as another tick box that you train once and forget about them.
Companies that have told me they don’t need anything else to support mental health because they have an EAP (and yes I have heard that more times than you would believe) really need to reconsider whether they are truly committed to supporting positive workplace mental health or whether they are just concerned with ticking a box. The fact that this abuse of the system goes on means that organisations who are serious about this really need to consider a range of solutions instead of buying an EAP and thinking they are done. Because the usage of EAPs is almost certain to take a big hit as a result of this and it will be the most vulnerable who turn away from their services. Those organisations that don’t will eventually suffer as people look for roles in workplaces that are serious about a positive wellbeing culture.
Anyway, my guilt gland is off to work out why England losing the Euro2024 final was my fault…
