The idea that the only thing companies should provide for their workers is an income stream is totally outdated today.

And it’s not just a question of fads, or pure corporate image: it is known that the organizations in which you work every day have an important potential to improve the welfare of employees, beyond the monetary. And that, if applied correctly, this potential is profitable and has a positive impact on the performance of the entire company.

This is why more and more organisations are taking an active role in this issue and include in their operations the so-called Employee Assistance Programmes , a type of initiative in which psychologists are of fundamental importance and which is not only in the largest and most innovative multinationals, but is also becoming consolidated in the national business fabric.

What are Employee Assistance Programs?

The Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP) are a set of free services and protocols designed to offer assistance to workers , within the scope of the company, to address problems that do not necessarily have to be limited to the context of the organisation and that nevertheless affect the behaviour of the worker in his/her work. In addition, these services are free and confidential, so that each worker can talk about his or her personal problems without fear of being vulnerable in a competitive environment.

On the other hand, these kinds of aids of different types do not only encompass physical or psychological health. For example, it may include the option of seeking alternative schedules to allow more time to care for a sick family member, or legal consulting services, management of communication problems between the employee and another co-worker, etc.

However, it is clear that many of the needs of workers have to do with psychological distress . In this last category there are several frequent problems that we will see below.

The role of the psychologist in ECPs

What do psychology professionals do to cover the flank of Employee Assistance Programs that deal with mental health or psychological well-being? Below we will look at some of the functions that employees most often use.

1. Help in stress or burnout management

In many work environments, there are workers who for one reason or another experience too much stress and anxiety . Sometimes, this discomfort reaches the extreme of becoming burnout syndrome, in which the employee, in addition to experiencing an accumulation of anxiety, feels emotionally disconnected from his or her work and only sees it as a means to avoid being left without pay.

Sometimes, much of the problem is in the place where you work, the offices; in others, the root is in the family home. But what is clear is that this discomfort affects work performance, making the person feel even worse about not being able to reach their goals.

In any case, psychologists are trained to help a lot in this, as agents of change (for the better) who are between the limits of the work context and the personal context. We can train workers in stress reduction techniques and, if necessary, communicate with the appropriate section of Human Resources to try to adapt the working conditions of that person, directing them towards a more optimal way of working.

2. Professional grief support

The death of loved ones is one more example that the line dividing personal life, on the one hand, and work life, on the other, is nothing more than an illusion, or at least a social convention. We may compartmentalize our way of offering an image about who we are to adapt to different contexts, but emotions do not understand compartments, and a worker who feels bad at home will also feel bad at the office, which will be reflected in his work.

3. Conflicts

The very nature of most work spaces is prone to fuel conflict between people if they are not able to mediate and perform psychological interventions for emotional regulation.

Therefore, psychologists can also take a broader view of the groups that make up the organization, going beyond the individual patient, and favor a good management of these misunderstandings or clashes of interests . That in a company there is a philosophy based on the competitive spirit does not necessarily imply that bad management of anger or normalization of hostility prevails.

4. Time management problems

In some Spanish companies, especially in those where there is no clearly established timetable for many of the sections of the organisation chart, cases arise of people who, without knowing very well how, spend the day in the office , despite knowing that they could be much more efficient. Psychologists can help in these cases, helping these people to adopt more structured work habits with less distraction.

5. Integration of foreign workers

People who go to live and work in other countries may have problems due to the culture shock of being surrounded 24 hours a day by ways of thinking and behaving significantly different from those to which one has become accustomed. This can make work unpleasant by simple association of experiences : if living in another country is not liked, it is difficult to like the work space inserted in that country.

Therefore, having psychologists involved in the Employee Assistance Programs is a good way to offer psychological assistance on site, so that adaptation to this new environment is made as quickly and harmoniously as possible.

Bibliographic references:

  • Maslach, C., Schaufeli, W.B. and Leiter, M.P. (2001) Job Burnout. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 397,422.
  • Rodríguez Fernández, A. (2004). Psychology of organizations. Barcelona: Editorial UOC.