The increased globalisation of business has created a marketplace without borders. This has increasingly led to multi-national companies envisioning a strategic ideal of employee benefit programmes that are created globally, yet implemented locally with the appropriate balance of country, culture and workforce sensitivity.

Employee assistance programmes (EAPs) are one of the easier benefits to globalise, according to Stuart Creasey, EMEA Sales & Account Services Manager for ComPsych. “Whether simple or complex stressors we tend to see the same spectrum of stressors impacting employees regardless of where they work,” he says. “EAPs are proven to be very effective solutions in addressing these issues. In addition to improving workforce productivity, cost-efficiencies and mitigating risk, a key benefit to globalising employee assistance programmes is to enhance an organisation’s brand, strengthen ties between its offices worldwide, and ensure international assignees posted abroad receive a consistent programme wherever their job takes them.”

Global Stressors

However, the success of a global EAP is dependent on a number of factors best addressed by a provider with true global scope, expertise and experience. A single vendor, such as ComPsych, is much more likely to have the industry expertise, apply global standards for quality, performance and value, and have the same service processes and technology tools to facilitate programme consistency across countries and regions.

“It can be very difficult to manage multiple vendors in multiple countries,” Creasey explains. “Different vendors will have varying quality standards, different intake protocols, different technology platforms, and different approaches to managing quality and reporting utilisation. Patching this together to ensure a consistent experience for all employees, as well as efficiently managing all these moving parts, creates real challenges in maximising the benefits of a global EAP programme.”

When considering a vendor for global EAP programmes, take a close look at the following criteria:

Programme Offerings and Design. While most vendors offer some customisation, be sure your vendor has the expertise and experience to understand your business needs and apply them to programme designs that address and resolve employee issues blocking optimal performance and productivity, and are adapted to local culture, laws and practice. For example, ComPsych designs global EAP programmes in close partnership with its customers to establish an umbrella framework that addresses global goals and expectations while deploying its “Build-to-Suit” approach to customise as necessary at the local country level.

Quality and Effectiveness of Service Delivery. When assessing a provider’s service delivery and quality, you will want to keep in mind several aspects.

> Quality of intake professionals – The provider should have qualified and experienced people answering calls from your employees. Some vendor’s offer highly-credentialed clinicians; others staff their call centers with anyone who has completed a two-week training programme. For example, in the UK, The ComPsych intake centre is staffed with licensed nurses with clinical experience and extensive years of telephonic counselling.

> Intake protocol – does the provider use a centralised, regional or local intake protocol to answer calls from employee? Because of the personal nature of an employee reaching out for help, issues may be more effectively identified, triaged and resolved if the initial call is answered by a trained, local professional.

> Quality monitoring – how frequently and what documentation is used by the provider to monitor quality of its intake professionals as well as its provider network?

> Strategic account support.. Your account management team should be the caliber needed to provide you and your global benefits organisation guidance on how to appropriately adapt programmes and activities to the regions/businesses in which you operate, monitor results and proactively recommend changes to maximise utilisation.

Provider Network Accessibility. The global provider should have broad network coverage with responsive care available at the level of interaction your employees prefer – whether in person, by phone, by Internet or any combination of the three. Services should be accessible by a single phone number and/or a single Internet site to avoid confusion, maximise programme awareness and increase utilisation.

Crisis Management. Traumatic events such as the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, or the political unrest in the Middle East , along with work-place or domestic violence, fatal accidents and untimely deaths of co-workers, all put an employer at risk for decreased productivity and even suspended operations. Your global provider should be able to draw on a comprehensive worldwide network of qualified experts to offer immediate crisis consultations to HR managers, on-site crisis debriefings to groups of employees or individual face to face, telephonic of web based counselling.

Online Options. Many employees today expect 24/7 access to information and resources, and younger employees may prefer to self-serve using online resources before directly contacting a counsellor. ComPsych’s award winning GuidanceResources Online tool provides extensive culturally and language appropriate content and links to local country government and public domain sites in 25 countries.

Technology. In addition to having a disaster recovery plan, your global vendor should have a core competency in safeguarding employees’ personal information according to the confidentiality, privacy rules and practices of the country in which they work.