BALANCING work and a personal life is a challenge for most people.

For some, the boundary between the two is non-existent and so they find themselves in conflicts with their co-workers at all times.

The young woman who is in an abusive relationship will find it almost impossible to go to work in a stress-free state. She no doubt will report to work sad and unhappy which will affect the interaction with her co-workers, as well as her level of productivity. The same can be said of the manager who lost his wife after her battle with cancer.

The truth is a number of people carry emotional and psychological “baggage” to the workplace. They are most times unable to manage the issues and so are unproductive as they struggle to strike a balance.

To address this untenable situation, enlightened organisations establish a staff welfare activity known as an employee assistance programme (EAP). This programme is designed to help employees deal with the challenges that usually originate outside of the organisation. Counselling services are offered in areas such as substance abuse, grief and loss, marriage and relationship, emotional/mental health, stress and anger management, health and fitness and workplace conflict.

The service is most times extended to family members who will help to resolve the issues that might be affecting the employee. The man who is abusing his spouse would be invited in to counselling. It could be that the gentleman has problems in managing his anger and needs to learn anger management techniques.

The EAP is usually an outsourced service that is provided by professional counselling agencies and the cost subsidised by the employer. Confidentiality is the hallmark of this service as the counsellors are not supposed to divulge information on the clients’ cases (employees) to management.

The EAP operates on the premise that one cannot compartmentalise one’s life and that a division between work and personal life is not possible. Both overlap and each affects the other. What the EAP attempts to do is to strike the balance so that work performance is not adversely impacted by problems at home.

The following are the benefits of an EAP to the organisation:

. reduced absenteeism as personal issues are addressed and workers are in a better frame of mind to come to work;

. increased productivity as an emotionally well worker performs at his/her optimum;

. reduced staff turnover as work-related conflicts and issues would be addressed before termination is considered;

. high staff morale as employees will feel they are cared for by the management of the organisation;

. increased staff motivation as employees will go the extra mile for the employer;

. less down-time due to sickness as employees will be emotionally and mentally prepared to take on the challenges of work; and

. less interpersonal conflicts, as employees will learn conflict management and communication skills.

There will also be a reduction in the number of hours management has to spend dealing with employee personal and interpersonal issues as employees will have their issues addressed by trained counsellors outside of the organisation.

For a list of counselling agencies that offer EAP services, contact the writer.

Wayne Powell is a human resources professional of more than 10 years. He may be contacted at crisscounsellor@yahoo.com