How do large companies measure and benchmark the performance of Employee Assistance Program suppliers?
Answers
Hello,
If your goal is to evalute the vendor strictly on performance, depending on your size, you can implement Service Level Agreement (SLAs) where the level of service is formally defined. Generally speaking however, an EAP is a help and assistance line for EE and dependants to call. The real benchmark is if the employees are being helped and given accurate and timely advice. You may want to consider surveying employees to understand their needs and expectations of this service and use this feedback as part of the SLA. Addtionally, it is critical that the employer communicate the benefits of an EAP and that employees understand what it can do for them, or the utilization is likely to be much lower.
The above advice is in reference to vendor who is being paid a fee to deliver this servcie. There are situations where an a life/disability carrier may offer a "free" EAP as part of those premiums. In that case, you should not expect the service to not be as robust as a standalone vendor.
1
thanks. I was thinking more in terms of measuring increases in productivity, but your comments about surveying employees about their experience with the vendor is also helpful.
Measuring productivity outcomes in EAPs seem to be in its infancy. Again, employoee surveys could be useful in terms of trying to understand if an effective EAP program reduces absenteeism, for example. Here is a good article on this topic, which also provides a link to a survey tool. http://www.eapassn.org/files/public/outcomes0110.pdf I hope this addresses your question.