Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) are programs that offer services to employees to enable them to manage a range of both personal and professional issues. The reasons an organisation might engage in this, is to help their employees reach better outcomes and by doing so, increase the organisational capacity. EAPs can reduce organisational costs by reducing absenteeism, turnover rates, complaints and reducing the likelihood of employee claims around harassment and bullying. Additionally EAPs can increase productivity, staff engagement, and organisational commitment. They can be seen as a retention strategy and communicate a level of care from organisation to worker.

Many SME’s believe that EAPs are the realm of big business only, and a small business could never offer this kind of support. Most employers value their team and would wish to offer support to workers undergoing professional or personal changes. The issue is that these days, our professional and personal lives are so closely intertwined, that what happens away from work can have profound impact on what happens at work and visa versa.

Under an EAP the organisation pays the cost of the support, and the fact that this support is free to the worker is an added advantage and can encourage the worker to be engaged in gaining some assistance. Generally for larger organisations the EAP is charged in a subscription fee basis and then utilised when needed.

For SME’s CIRCLE Recruitment & HR has a wonderful service of being able to supply EAP support for workers on a pay per use basis.  This counselling can be utilised for either professional or personal issues and generally include 3-6 sessions per employee.

At CIRCLE Recruitment & HR our Career Coach Maria Cordi is a fabulous person to assist with employee issues. Maria holds a Bachelor of Science, with a Psychology major and a Master of Applied Science (Psychology of Coaching) from the University of Sydney. She has a background with Human Resources and Career Planning with Westpac, worked as a Training & Development Consultant with Psychological Assessments Australia and has worked for many years previously with CIRCLE Recruitment & HR. Additionally we have a clinical psychologist who assists with more serious cases where required.

Should you feel that your team would benefit from an Employee Assistance Program contact CIRCLE Recruitment & HR to discuss on 1300 923 000 or

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