An emerging trend in the employer-of-choice movement is the offer of employer paid confidential counselling for staff and their families.
The cost of this service is minimal but the benefits can be enormous because staff and family members with free and easy access to professional counselling and support are most likely to work through issues successfully and quickly, saving the organisation the disruption of employees moving on or taking numerous days of sick or stress leave.
You could easily argue that it is the brightest organisations that see the value in having a robust, happy and buoyant workforce.
How does it work?
For a set fee per annum, all staff and their family can come for four sessions each in every twelve month period. a year for that fee. Other employers elect for a session by session cost.
The key elements are:
Confidential – no feedback to executive
The company will receive feedback on numbers who used the service
Its presence creates a strong perception of being an employer of choice
Remember, an unhappy staff member or member with family problems is a staff member whose productivity could be affected.