Top Trends EAP Managers:
What You Can Expect in the Months Ahead
From high-tech to high-touch issues, to work/life and diversity issues, the new year will bring with it new trends in EAPs, and some old trends will continue to be of importance in the industry.
Employee Assistance Program Management Letter made note of the top trends for 2001 based on expertsÍ predictions, survey results and our own forecasts.
Technology " the Internet and EAP. The Internet offers a whole new dimension to the EAP, and the options seem endless due to the array of service providers already available in this emerging industry.
The Internet can allow EA professionals to access employeesÍ referral and benefit information; gain a wide range of information on health and personal development issues; perform self-assessments; access chat rooms for support groups; join online discussions/message boards; produce an e-zine; create a portfolio; and take advantage of a range of administrative features (see article, p.4).
Balancing work/life. One of the biggest struggles employees face has more to do with family than the office. Finding the right balance between work and oneÍs family life is an issue that often provokes internal conflict and feelings of resentment.
A Cornell University study revealed:
! Women tend to be more invested in their jobs than men, even though women work, and prefer to work, fewer hours than do men.
! Spillover of stress from work to family is greatest among couples in which both spouses are managers and among employees with no children. The presence
children at home appears to buffer employees from workplace stress.
children at home appears to buffer employees from workplace stress.
! Men are more likely to plan to stay with their current employer if they have control over their work schedule and have a relatively low workload. Employees with children also are more likely to plan to stay with their current employer if they telecommute (men only), take advantage of a flexible time schedule and do not do shift work.
! Among women, supervisor support in the workplace is related to greater personal growth, lower spillover of stress from work to family and higher spillover of positive feelings from work to family.
With the U.S. work force putting in longer hours and taking less time for vacation and their personal lives, EAPs are on damage-control duty. Many factors contribute to a healthy work/life balance, especially too much work and no life. Therefore, EA professionals need to stress the relevance of long hours and their negative effect on employees.