“If I could hold onto just one service for employees within the Trust, it would be the Employee Assistance Programme (EAP),” says David Cooper, HR Director at the East London and The City Mental Health NHS Trust. “I’d fight tooth and nail for it.”

“In the past, the HR function in organisations has been tasked with looking after employees’ wellbeing,” he continued. “Now there is a much greater focus on demonstrating HR’s value to the bottom line, and the welfare role has become secondary to this. The welfare role must still be fulfilled, and one of the most effective ways to do this is through an EAP.”

“A lot of Trusts have had an occupational health provider in place,” Cooper explained. “However, occupational health providers have a history of being a management tool, associated with the performance and appraisal system. If an employee goes to see an occupational health provider, it is assumed that it is a prelude to disciplinary action. An EAP provides a truly confidential service where the wellbeing of individual employees is key.”

Frequently, individuals experience difficulties that can impact on work performance or personal relationships. An EAP provides support for staff through a 24-hour confidential freephone telephone advice line, to deliver information, support and guidance on a wide range of issues, together with personal, face-to-face counselling from fully qualified and local counsellors where required.

Until 2000, the Trust used two EAP providers. In order to ensure consistency, the Trust decided to opt for one supplier, Right Corecare through a re-tendering process.

A confidential service

Key to any EAP provision is the guarantee of a totally confidential service. For any EAP to be truly embraced and used effectively, confidentiality is critical. The EAP has provided advice to employees on a whole range of issues, from legal to emotional support; interpersonal skills and career development decisions. The Trust has recently launched an internal audit, initiating the ‘Quality of Working Life’ survey. “I think the positive feelings described by employees in our survey is partly due to the presence of the scheme,” said Cooper.

Tackling bullying and harassment

Bullying and harassment in the workplace is an issue that has had widespread coverage recently. It is a problem affecting organisations both economically and psychologically, and as tribunal applications spiral, it is one of the biggest challenges facing HR practitioners today. Furthermore, recent studies have identified that one in four people claim to have been bullied at work in the last five years. Research also indicates that six million working days are lost each year because of stress and stress related illness, with an estimated cost to businesses of between £5 billion (TUC) and £12 billion (CBI).

The Government is committed to the Improving Working Lives agenda, which aims to provide a positive working environment for employees, promoting a zero tolerance policy towards harassment and bullying. In line with this, the Trust identified harassment and bullying as a key priority to address, tackling it from a preventative and reactive stance. This includes effectively communicating a zero tolerance policy whilst ensuring that policies and procedures are in place and adhered to should a situation arise.

The EAP plays a strategic role in dealing with harassment and bullying cases by offering support and counselling to the victim, and the bully. Often there is a third party involved who is blamed for the harassment, but is the ‘middle man’ and not intentionally perpetuating a negative environment. He or she may also feel bullied or victimised. An EAP provision provides an essential release in a confidential setting to off load anxieties and offer a positive response which can be fed back into the situation.

Harassment Support Adviser Scheme

To support this the Trust decided to introduce a further support mechanism for employees in the shape of a Harassment Support Adviser Scheme. The role of Harassment Support Adviser would be in addition to employees’ existing responsibilities. Sonia Harding, Equalities Adviser, said: “We felt that there was a role for employees within the Trust who could be trained to provide support, and would be in a position to meet face-to-face with those affected. This would provide an informal way to deal with the situation.”

Currently, employees who are affected by harassment can talk to EAP counsellors through the advice line and be referred to a qualified counsellor for a meeting if appropriate; or they can report the incident via the formal procedures in place. “Employees will perhaps approach a colleague they respect if they know they have been appropriately trained and developed, and have an understanding of harassment issues. It will be a complementary service running alongside the EAP.” Cooper added.

In order to train the advisers, the first step was to ask for volunteers who would be interested in becoming Harassment Advisers. Thirty employees initially responded. They then received further information about the role and the skills that would be required. The volunteers were then interviewed before eight were finally selected. Harding explained: “We had defined the behaviours and skills that we were looking for from the Harassment Advisers. These included active listening skills; the ability to be empathetic; patience; non judgmental; open minded; and capable of staying calm under pressure.”

Harassment Adviser Training

The eight Harassment Advisers attended a training course in September 2002. The course objectives were to develop a common understanding of harassment in the workplace, including the legal aspects; an appreciation of the effects of harassment and the subsequent needs of those affected; an understanding of the role and the difference between the advisers and counsellors.

The training course was highly interactive and included role plays and practical exercises which helped the advisers to hone their active listening and empathetic skills, as well as some counselling skills to help others talk to them. The role-plays also demonstrated potential difficult situations, and how to handle them. An important aspect of the training was for the advisers to get to know one another better, so that they would be able to support each other through the process. The advisers themselves will need coping strategies as the role can be emotionally challenging.

Feedback from the advisers has been extremely positive and all felt prepared to take on their new responsibilities from October 2002. Harding said: “We hope the Harassment Advisers will provide an additional support service to our employees, running alongside the EAP. We will be assessing the effectiveness of this scheme over the next few months.”