Evaluation of Employee Assistance Programs

Marvin D Feit, Michael J Holosko

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2012
• ISBN:
  9781136553110
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

This timely book brings together for the first time critical information about the evaluation of employee assistance programs. Although EAPs have existed for over 40 years, the assessment of their value has been fragmented. Contributors to this new volume--blending practical and academic insights--document concerns, address the newer issues and developments in the field of EAPs, and present case examples of actual evaluations. The range and diversity of topics reflect EAPs in transition, their growth patterns, evaluation needs, and evaluation methods. Overall, this important volume emphasizes that successful evaluations depend not only on methodological expertise but a consideration of much broader salient and societal issues.

A Comparative Analysis of In-House and Contractual Employee Assistance Programs

S. Lala Ashenberg Straussner

SUMMARY. This paper aims to expand the present state of knowledge regarding employee assistance programs (EAPs) through the presentation of the findings of a study which explored the existence and the nature of such programs in the New York Metropolitan Area. The identification of all EAPs in this area allowed for the development of a typology encompassing the identified programs, and for a comparative analysis of in-house and contractual EAPs in the finance/insurance, manufacturing, and service industries.

INTRODUCTION

Empirical research studies of employee assistance programs have traditionally focused either on in-house alcoholism-oriented programs (see Mannello, 1979; Beyer & Trice, 1978; Steel, 1984, etc.), or on cost-benefit and programs outcomes (Foote et al, 1978; Myers, 1984) of broadbrush programs —either in-hoese or contractual. While numerous articles listing the benefits of in-house or contractual programs can be found in the literature (Phillips & Older, 1981; Hellan & Campbell, 1981; Kolben,’ 1982; Minter, 1983; Fleisher & Kaplan, 1984; Stein, 1984; etc.), they are not based on empirical research findings, but purely on the “conventional wisdom,” or in the author’s own practice experience. The single empirical study on this subject (Sudduth, 1984) is limited to six EAPs —only one of which was internal or in-house.

The purpose of this paper is to expand the programs (EAPs) by presenting the findings of a study which examined the scope and nature of all identified EAPs in the New York Metropolitan Area and compared a representative sample of fifteen (15) in-house and eight (8) contractual programs within three industries.

While a preliminary study of EAPs conducted by the author found that the organizations which offer EAP services to their employees in the New York region tend to be larger than in other parts of the country, in this author’s opinion, this sample of EAPs based in the Metro New York area can be considered to be reflective of EAP programs throughout the United States.

METHODOLOGY

This was an exploratory descriptive study whose purpose was (1) to provide an overview of the scope and the models of all identified EAPs in the New York Metropolitan Area, (2) to provide a detailed analysis of a representative sample of in-house and contractual programs.

The first part of the study was the identification of the universe of employee assistance programs operational as of June 1982, in the Metropolitan New York Area (New York City, Long Island, and Westchester County). These programs were identified on the following basis:

1. All programs self-identified as EAPs in specialized literature (EAP Digest, ALMACAN, etc.), and in professional journals (i.e., personnel, social work, sociology, and psychology related literature).

2. All program-members of the Metropolitan New York Chapter of the Association of Labor-Management Administrators and Consultants on Alcoholism (ALMACA).

3. AIL programs identified as EAPs by the staffs of the NYSDAAA/Occupational Branch, and of the Industrial Department of the New York Council on Alcoholism.

4. Through the utilization of key informants who were asked to examine the list of programs which was developed through the above means and to add any additional programs of which they were aware.¹

Any program whose existence or date of inception seemed questionable was contacted by the author for verification. While employee assistance programs were found to be located in both private (both for-profit and voluntary) and public sectors, the special forces operating in the public arena (legal mandates, political factors, civil service regulations, etc.), and the unique nature of union and other membership-sponsored programs mitigated against lumping all of these EAPs together. Therefore,, the second part of this study was limited to examining only those EAPs which were located in the private-sector and which were under management auspices.

The second part of the study consisted of the selection and analysis of a sample of 23 management-sponsored employee assistance programs in the private sector. Fifteen of the programs were based in-house and eight had contracted out for the EAP services. These programs were selected on the basis of a non-probability quota sampling technique stratified according to program model (in-house and contractual²); type of industry of the organization providing the program (finance/insurance, manufacturing, and service); and size of the company (small, medium, and large). They represented 45% of all EAPs under management auspices in the three industries under study, i.e. finance/insurance, manufacturing, and service (see Table 1).

The research instrument utilized consisted of both structured and open-ended questions examining over 200 different variables under 15 categories (see Straussner, 1986). Data were obtained from 67 respondents including program administrators and representatives of top management of the companies and of contracting firms.

Data were collected during the years 1983 and 1984 and are based on 1982/1983 figures. The information was analyzed utilizing the Statistical Package for Social Sciences. Frequency tables and cross tabulations were done on all the variables by the three independent variables which were controlled in the sampling process: program model, company size, and nature of industry. Chi-square tests of association, Kruskal-Wallis one way analysis of variance by ranks, and t-test for two dependent samples in matched group design were utilized.

...

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright
• CONTENTS
• ABOUT THE EDITORS
• PREFACE
• SECTION I: “STATE-OF-THE-ART” OF THE EAP FIELD
• Economic Change and Social Welfares Implications for Employees’ Assistance
• EAPs in Transition: Purpose and Scope of Services
• A Comparative Analysis of In-House and Contractual Employee Assistance Programs
• SECTION II: THE CONTEXT OF EAP EVALUATIONS
• Prerequisites for EAP Evaluations: A Case for More. Thoughtful Evaluation Planning
• Paving the Way for EAP Evaluations: Implications for Social Work
• Issues to Consider in Planning Employee Assistance Program Evaluations
• Evaluating Employee Assistance Programs: Obstacles, Issues and Strategies
• Evaluating Organizations Through an Employee Assistance Program Using an Organiiation Development Model
• Formative Evaluation of EAPs by Studying Role Perceptions and Organizational Cultures
• EAP Benefit and Cost Structure Analysis:’ A Suggested Estimation Method
• A Framework for Evaluating Employee Assistance Programs
• Assessing Employment Assistance Programs: Evaluation Typology and Models
• SECTION III: CASE EXAMPLES OF EAP EVALUATIONS
• Employee Assistance Program Evaluation in a Federal Government Agency
• A Brief Overview of Research Techniques Usei to Evaluate Three Employee Assistance Programs Through the Family Service Association of Metropolitan Toronto Experience
• The Development and Evaluation of a Case Management System in an Employee Assistance Program
• One Organization’s Experience in a Case Management/ EAP Program: Implications for Monitoring and Evaluation
• Establishing and Evaluating an Industrial Social Work Programme: The Seagram, Amherstburg Experience
• Evaluating the Development of Employee Assistance Programs In Rural Communities
• Employee Drug and Alcohol Use Estimates: Assessment Styles and Issues
• SECTION IV: EPILOGUE
• Onward and Upward