An EAP (Employee Assistance Programme) is a support scheme that helps employees resolve personal problems and improve their mental health, and in doing so lifts their performance at work. In the United States, more than 97% of large companies with over 5,000 staff offer an EAP, while 80% of mid-sized firms (with 1,001–5,000 staff) do so too.
Unlike conventional corporate training, an EAP does not focus on one or two work-related skills such as leadership or decision-making. An EAP values every individual employee, with the aim of caring for their mental health: through professional support and counselling, it equips employees to better face personal challenges such as family matters and stress. One of the root causes of low productivity within a company is that staff are weighed down by private concerns that get in the way of their work; an EAP is precisely the kind of corporate scheme that can improve employees' mental health and their capacity to cope at the source.
In recent years, society here in Hong Kong has placed growing importance on combining mental health with corporate support. Yet the conventional hotline-style EAP has its limits: take-up has long been low, and some employees, wary of being labelled, choose to avoid it altogether — so the scheme never fully delivers the value it should. MindForest breaks through this limitation with an AI interface, offering a more natural, friendly and always-available form of support that lets employees seek help proactively and at ease.
This innovative model has drawn wide attention. MindForest was even featured on Now TV's Business Front Line, sharing how AI and psychology can become a way out for Hong Kongers' wellbeing — a trusted companion that is always close at hand. After the programme aired, it drew an enthusiastic response and positive reviews from viewers, confirming a belief we have always held: mental health should not be remembered only in a crisis, but something we can hold onto, with ease, every single day.
What an EAP offers
An EAP brings together one-to-one support and corporate training. As with any counselling, an EAP counsellor abides by a confidentiality agreement, giving employees a comfortable space to talk through their personal problems with the counsellor. Naturally, companies also need to understand the mental state of their staff, so an EAP service will also consolidate employees' mental health into a report for the company's reference.
What sets an EAP apart from a general counselling service is that an EAP counsellor will be more familiar with how the company operates. Beyond playing the counsellor's role within the scheme, they can also offer the company longer-term development advice in response to employees' circumstances, looking after both staff wellbeing and the company's future growth at once. For the matters that trouble employees, an EAP can teach staff techniques for handling negative situations on an emotional level, such as managing stress; on a behavioural level, it can help employees understand how to give up bad habits such as smoking and drinking; and on a cognitive level, it can help employees understand themselves better and turn negative thought patterns into positive thinking.
Why should a company set up an EAP?
The practical value of an EAP rests on one premise: that psychological distress leads to lower productivity. Statistics show that employees troubled by personal matters are, on average, productive (Being Productive) for only 62% of their working hours, and take one sick day per month. An EAP exists precisely to address this problem — presenteeism — which refers to employees who, because of a physical or psychological burden, are at work but unable to function normally. If an employee fails to bring any productivity while at work, the loss to the company may be even greater than if that employee had simply stayed home to rest.
Drawing on more than twenty thousand employees who received EAP services, the research findings show that an EAP eased the problems of presenteeism and absenteeism, while also reducing employees' work-related distress. Beyond addressing existing problems, an EAP also raised employees' satisfaction with life and their sense of engagement at work. The research found that after employees received EAP services, their monthly productivity rose by an average of 12.97 hours; if we reckon that each working hour an employee puts in earns the company HK$350 in profit (a figure based on the average US hourly wage in 2018), every employee who received EAP services could generate over $4,500 in profit for the company. The report combined the percentage of a company's employees who took up the EAP with the cost of the EAP, and found that for every $1 invested in an EAP, a company saw an ROI (Return On Investment) of $3.37. This shows that an EAP is not merely a scheme that helps employees — it is one that can turn support for employees into momentum for the company.
How can you set up an EAP? What you need to know about internal and external EAP providers
EAPs can be divided into internal EAPs and external EAPs. An internal EAP is run by staff within the company, who establish a systematic plan that provides employees with suitable support, counselling, training, assessment and outreach. An external EAP, on the other hand, is handed over to an outside professional organisation. In terms of cost, an internal EAP can usually be run more cheaply. However, an internal EAP may run into confidentiality concerns: employees are more likely to feel hesitant or awkward because the counselling staff come from within the company. And without sufficient human resources and experience, a company will find it harder, in the early stages, to rely on internal resources alone to carry out the work of an EAP.
TreeholeHK now offers companies the MindForest EAP programme, combining advanced AI technology with professional psychological services, alongside corporate training and personalised consultation. We want to bring proven psychology to companies as a source of momentum, because we firmly believe that achievement, growth and success all come down to people. To learn more about MindForest EAP services and how psychology can strengthen your corporate training, please get in touch with TreeholeHK (Email [email protected] / or call 95414771).
Comments
No comments yet — share your thoughts.