Employee Assistance Programs in South Africa

R Paul Maiden

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9781317940012
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) are a relatively new development in South Africa, having emerged in the 1980s, and this groundbreaking book provides a comprehensive overview of these EAPs in South Africa. It gives readers a first-hand view of the myriad issues encountered by South African practitioners. Employee Assistance Programs in South Africa provides EAP professionals, human resources managers, social workers, psychologists, and other mental health professionals with startling insight into the significant clinical, cultural, and ethical problems that their South African colleagues face in the workplace. It begins to fill the gap in the literature on professional practice in an apartheid society and can help develop opportunities for dialogue and an exchange of ideas between all EAP workers to help educate them and bring them together. This enlightening and potentially controversial book addresses a variety of pertinent topics, including:

• the conceptual sophistication of EAPs currently operating in the South African business community
• an evaluation of the macro model EAP in South Africa in light of the country's sociopolitical, economic, and social problems
• cultural concerns facing black and white EAP practitioners and clients
• ethical conflicts inherent in working in an environment sanctioned by apartheid
• widespread alcohol and drug problems in South Africa
• the development of a post-traumatic stress and accident involvement program
• current educational developments in the EAP field in South AfricaProviding a thorough, clear understanding of South Africa's EAPs, this is an ideal book for all professionals and advanced students interested in the effects of political, societal, and cultural values on the operations of EAPs in a foreign country.

EAPs in South Africa: A Macro Model

Angela du Plessis

SUMMARY. EAPs in South Africa are best characterized as macro model as opposed to the U.S. micro model EAP. Although EAPs in South Africa were initially modeled after U.S. programs, they have evolved into something quite different. This article examines the rationale for the evolution of the macro model EAP in South Africa in light of the country's socio-political, economic and racial problems.

The assumption underlying this article is that it is both desirable and natural that EAPs evolve, over time, to embrace macro practice. Micro practice is understood largely as one-to-one or one-to-family clinical counseling or casework the focus of which is a personal problem orientation, or an emphasis on the "employee-as-person." Macro practice, on the other hand, includes collective and organizational problems which have a workplace and/or systemic orientation-a focus on the "person-as-employee." Of course some problems may have aspects of both. It is not the contention of the writer that micro practice be abandoned; rather that good EAP practice will include both micro and macro practice.

The argument is not necessarily that EAP practitioners become organization development specialists immediately, viewing themselves as the panacea for every organizational problem. However, Googins (1986) has pointed to the problem of "EAP foreclosure." By this he means the limitations arising from EAPs based on the psychiatric/medical model which tends to highlight individual causation in problem aetiology. This can lead to efforts aimed at changing the person, with a concomitant lack of attention to environmental and systemic stressors. Such an approach may result in misdiagnosis of problems, ineffective intervention and the EAP remaining on the periphery of the organization.

It is interesting to contrast tins approach with mat of Kurzman and Akabas (1981), two pioneers in occupational social work, although their argument does not necessarily contradict the ideas in this article. They believe that excellence in occupational social work practice is achieved by sticking to the "core competencies" and "authenticity" of social work. This they see as seeking out and dealing with people problems. Indeed, the clinical/counseling set of skills is often what defines the "specialness" of social work input at the workplace. They believe that social workers should only move onto "indirect" macro tasks such as consultation to management once they have earned this evolvement through people oriented intervention. It would thus be from a solid practice base that social workers move to macro services.

Nevertheless, evolvement in services from micro to macro practice is inherent in basic social work theory. The current metaphor here is the ecological model which views man always in relation to his environment or context. It is within the interactions between man and his environment that problems occur. Environmental change is therefore an important element in practice interventions. The three main social work methods-casework, groupwork and community work-beg that the social worker look upstream from the individual to broader social units and systems. The workplace is an excellent example of a functional/geographic community which impacts directly on individuals and groups, with a great deal of opportunity for community work with task, process and relationship goals. Finally, inherent in good social work practice should be a move away from tertiary to primary prevention. Such a commitment demands a repertoire of practice skills that goes beyond personal counseling on an individual or micro level. When we talk about evolvement from micro to macro practice we are talking about two related aspects. The first is the way we diagnose problem causation and the second is the way we plan to intervene. Thus there are both ideological/philosophical implications as well as practical/logistical implications of one's micro/macro frame of reference.

There are some special circumstances in the South African workplace which highlight even more the need to have a "macro" perspective. These relate to systemic and environmental issues which impact on workers and thus come to the attention of the EAP practitioner. Problems here include those rooted in socio-political circumstances beyond the control of individual workers. One example is the migrant labor system which gave rise to the single sex hostels found in the mining industry. Alcohol abuse is a common problem in these hostels. A micro approach-offering, say, counseling to individual employees-will only ever have limited impact. Issues which need to be addressed include employee housing schemes, systems governing hostel life, safety in the workplace, recreation and patterns of family visits.

An example of a problem begging a more macro approach is violence in the townships and the company's response to it. Many problems brought to the EAP by black workers have their roots in racial discrimination and lack of cross-cultural awareness and contact. Micro-oriented individuals working to deal with collective and systemic issues may not be appropriate. However, problems found universally in workplaces may require a more macro approach if one is alert to the way the work process, nature of work, and organization of work impact on individuals and groups of workers. Examples are the effects of shift work and the effects of spending many hours traveling to and from the workplace. The latter is a major problem in South Africa where townships are often in isolated areas. Work accidents, workplace violence, and aspects of safety are also examples. Organizational policies, procedures and culture impact on workers as well. One female single parent with a financial problem may highlight an anachronistic policy inconsistently which allows only men to obtain housing loans from the company.

With their emphasis on the "troubled employee" EAPs grounded in the medical/psychiatric model may cause practitioners to miss the "troubled department." Or indeed, the "troubled organization." On analyzing her counseling statistics, one local social worker noted a high number of referrals from one department. On investigation it was found that this department was the only one to work a 24 hour shift and have strict deadlines. In such cases, individuals may not require intervention; instead the following may be appropriate targets for change: patterns of reward, communication styles, discriminatory workplace practices, unrealistic production expectations, safety policies and unfair personnel practices.

In an article written in 1984, Winkelpleck (1986) looks at the directions EAPs are taking highlighting evolvement towards organizational methods, Winkelpleck introduces into the concept of the "organization as client," pointing out that in many cases, "The EAP is, in reality, an organizational assistance program," Winkelpleck argues that individuals cannot be dealt with without looking at the entire organization in which they function-an ecological perspective. Winkelpleck asserts that organizational development is a legitimate function of the EAP. She describes this function as involving "an assessment of how the organization could be 'treated' to heal itself." She states that:

EAP staff are in a unique position to encourage organizational development (OD). EAP staff have the greatest access to the widest variety of employees in the least authoritarian manner of anyone in the entire organization. EAP staff, especially in-house, speak to all levels of employees and, thus, develop a view of the organization as a social system. While organizational administrators are ultimately the decision-makers and movers of OD ideas, EAPs can serve to analyze the organization and propose specific development ideas.

Examples of ideas given are post trauma intervention and introducing new employees to the organization utilizing time-limited, cross-department support groups.

Ford et al. (1985) address organizational wellness, which they describe as a new slant for EAPs. The writers purport that "there are several signs of organizational dysfunction that EAPs are in a unique position to detect... taking an OD perspective can increase the constructive options available to the EAP in such contexts." However, as is pointed out by the writers, OD has often been avoided by both management and unions-by management because of fear that OD will lead to adversarial conflicts and rebellion and by unions because of an association of OD with the time and motion efficiency programs for the 1930s. Ford et al., call for EAPs to "incorporate approaches to OD which promote organizational wellness hand in hand with employee wellness." In their article, the writers give five primary interfaces between the EAP and the organization which provide entry points for EAP-based OD since they can highlight organizational problems.

These are counseling and referral of employees, referral-oriented consultation with supervisors, managers and union officials as well as the submission of EAP reports. Examples of OD interventions arising from traditional EAP functions provided practitioners have a macro perspective are given. One relates to a sergeant in the police department who refers an officer without initially confronting that person because he thinks "the officer works well only if given complete free reign." In the words of Ford et al., "discussion with the sergeant revealed that other police supervisors feel a similar conflict between direct and laissez-faire leadership. They are uncertain about how to best mould a cohesive work team with their 'lone ranger' officers. Discussion of tins issue with the police chief sparks his decision to bring in an OD consultant who can conduct leadership, stress management and team building workshops." This example illustrates the contention that the EAP can serve as an OD catalyst. The meeting of the core mission of the EAP-to enhance employees' resources for self improvement-is facilitated by this OD perspective.

Santa-Barbara and Coshan (1988) also write about "the workplace as a source of stress." They report that 25-30% of employees they see as EAP service providers have work-related problems which contribute to their distress. If one has only a "micro" perspective, such problems may be misdiagnosed or lead to superficial treatment of symptoms. What is needed is competent assessment of workplace (environmental) stressors. Santa-Barbara and Coshan identify three categories of work stressors: informal aspects of the workplace, pseudoformal stressors and formal aspects of the workplace. The intervention for workplace stressors may only seldom be individually-based. Here, EAP providers may have to play roles in management consulting, job design and organizational effectiveness.

In all writings dealing with evolvement of EAP intervention from micro to macro or individual to the organization, the central issue of sanction is mentioned. Of course broader intervention would require the sanction of management-but also the sanction of employees who may feel confidentiality will be compromised should their grievances be known. Such issues must be addressed in the process of making private troubles public issues and of making individual problems collective ones.

Two Models: Micro to Macro

There are a few "models" showing the evolvement of occupational social work from micro to macro intervention (Frank & Streeter, 1985). Two will be presented here. The first model comes from Ozawa (1980) and consists of four "stages" of practice.

Model One

Stage 1: Single Service Orientation

Here, social services are organized around one or two specific problems. Examples could be alcohol abuse or AIDS. The focus is often on the "employee-as-person."

Stage 2: Comprehensive Services

More comprehensive services may be developed as it becomes recognized that problems dealt with in Stage 1 are symptoms of underlying concerns. Thus intervention is broadened to embrace educational programs and consultation with management. Although the use of the group as an intervention strategy may be adopted, the orientation, as Ozawa points out, remains towards the individual as the unit of need.

Stage 3: Organizational Intervention

Here, a focus on the "person-as-employee" is introduced. In the words of Ozawa, attention is given to the human relations and motivational needs of workers. Results of interventions may be job reorganization and adaptation in relationships between workers. Changes in production lines, work groups and job design are examples as well. Ozawa notes that a primary limitation is that intervention would have to be management sanctioned and thus would probably only happen if it appears cost effective and has a positive impact on productivity.

Stage 4: Community Building

Here, common objectives of employees and management are emphasized. Intervention is represented by social services which promote a sense of "community" in the workplace. Thus community development skills would be used to enhance employer participation and decision-making.

According to Ozawa, each stage represents:

1. a development in the knowledge and skills base of the social worker
2. a developing value orientation
3. an evolvement in the level of change which may be obtained (micro to macro)

Each stage also represents potential for further integration of the social work function into the organization-from a fairly peripheral role to one much more enmeshed with organizational dynamics, power and resources.

The second "model" traces the development of occupational social work (Googins, 1987). Googins writes that "the more occupational social work takes root and matures, the more complex becomes the practice." He further outlines 5 stages:

Model Two

Stage 1: Welfare Capitalism

This period has been viewed as representing the roots of occupational social work. Paternalism and anti-union sentiments abounded. Basic employee needs covering a wide spectrum were addressed.

Stage 2: Personal Problem Orientation

Here the individual was at the center of activities. This reflected the predominant casework orientation of social work and focused primarily on alcoholism in the workplace. There was only some conceptual acknowledgment of any larger context. Employee assistance programs were the major vehicle for service delivery.

Stage 3: Service Model

The major development in this stage is giving attention to systemic problems. Organizational problems are addressed, which represents a marked ideological shift and could result in conflict between occupational social workers and EAP practitioners who expounded a narrower focus. Influenced by the ecological model and systems theory, analysis of problem causation extends beyond the individual to incorporate the context-both the organization and the larger environment. Programs do not get defined from a particular problem, but adapt to changing needs of employees and their environment, thus creating a service model, responsive to a broad range of dynamic employees' needs. Both the concepts of client and service expanded beyond traditional counseling. Proactive interventions are encouraged; for example, easing the stress of lay-offs; needs assessments; retirement seminars and responding to those problems generated within the workplace. Googins does point out that this st...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Foreword
• Returning to Africa
• First World EAPs Serving Third World Clients: A U.S. Perspective of the South African Experience
• The State of the Art of EAPs in South Africa: A Critical Analysis
• EAPs in South Africa: A Macro Model
• Cultural Issues in South African EAPs: The Perspective of the Black Client
• Ethical Issues in the South African Workplace
• Alcohol and Drug Abuse: Treatment Alternatives in South Africa
• Minimizing Post Traumatic Stress in Critical Mining Incidents
• Enuresis Among Black Mining Employees: A Preliminary Study
• Cost Effective Quality Services in the Context of the Health Care Crisis: Implications and Opportunities for South African EAPs
• Occupational Social Work Education in South Africa