August 22, 2007

Does stress have you down?

Stress management is increasingly a hot button for employers as they look for ways to lower healthcare costs and engage the consumer in the health care equation. Stress management programs are available on a stand alone basis or in conjunction with an Employee Assistance Program (EAP).

Stress affects health care costs, worker’s compensation costs and overall business productivity. Stress affects employee’s families and impacts the work-life combination. With today’s pace of life quickening through rapid technological advances, workers are expected to do more in less time.

Stress affects your business in a variety of ways due to higher levels of absenteeism, lower employee productivity or “presenteeism”, missed time due to medical needs, increased accidents and poor decisions on the job and much more.

At a time when health care costs are continuing to rise while many employers are increasing the liability of the employee, stress management has never been a more beneficial offering. According to the American Psychological Association 2001 August Study, when EAP services are offered work loss was avoided 60% of the time and productivity improved by 43%.

How do employers implement stress management programs?

Stress management has been a critical topic for employers for many years. Through the development of stand-alone stress management plans, employers have developed their own plan or contracted out with local resources.

Many health insurers offer an Employee Assistance Program which has stress management offerings.

Typically, an employer is charged per employee per month for stress management services. Employees have access to counselors who advise the employee about their stress management needs. If an employee requires mental health intervention, the counselor will refer the employee or their family member to a local mental health professional with a background suitable to the needs of patient.

Cost and ROI of EAP Stress Management Program

If your EAP costs $30 per employee per year and your company has 100 employees you are shelling out $3,000 per year for EAP and its’ services. When you look at the cost of work-life issues that may affect your company these figures are much greater than the $3,000 EAP investment.

For example, if 15% of your employees are having problems due to stress and their annual payroll represents $500,000 per year and productivity drops 25% so they can manage the stress issues in their life, the affect on productivity for your company is $125,000 per year.

With the resources offered for stress management through the EAP, your employees will have resources available to manage their stress more effectively. If productivity only dropped 12.5% your company would only lose $62,500 because the EAP’s stress management program enabled employees to more effectively handle the stress. The EAP cost of $3,000 but saved the company $62,500 for an ROI of $20.83 per $1.00 invested.

Communication of EAP/Stress Management Plans

The employer must be proactive to communicate the scope of the stress management program. An initial memorandum to discuss the overall plan will initiate the stress management programs.

Once the stress management plan has been communicated and is in place, set up periodic brown bag lunches. These lunches are a low-key way to help explain the different components of the stress management program. For example, the employer can offer lunch time stress management sessions that are designed to help employees understand and control the pressures of their life. Stress management workshops provide the building blocks for understanding stress and the things that cause stress.

Does your EAP offer stress management programs?

Chances are the answer is “yes” to this question. Most EAP offerings have a wide scope of services that provide resources for financial, legal, stress and mental health issues. Employee Assistance Programs in many ways could be called Stress Management Programs because EAP plans broadly address the many things that may cause stress and then provide tools or resources to cope with stress. Check with your health insurer, they either offer an EAP or have an alliance with some EAP services.

EAP offerings generally are either a nationally offered service or a local EAP. In Central Ohio, there are a number of EAP offerings affiliated with the four hospital systems or independent EAPs.

Stress management programs are likely offered through these EAP organizations and already have the infrastructure to help your company build a suitable stress management program that meets your companies’ goals and objectives.

In conclusion, stress management programs provide resources for employers to offer employees access to professionals who can help with stress and its’ wide angle lens that encompasses virtually anything in one’s work-life situation. Your health insurer could offer an EAP that provides stress management planning.

Any way we slice it, stress impacts your business. Employees miss work due to stress, employees are not productive due to stress, employees can’t cope with the rapidly changing technology of work causes stress and the list goes on. It makes sense to give your employees a way to help themselves deal with the pressures of today.

Filed under Employer Health Plans, Wellness, Health Insurance by Scott Cooper