Workplace Outcome Suite© (WOS) Annual Report 2018: Understanding EAP Counseling Use, Longitudinal Outcomes and ROI, and Profiles of EAPs that Collect WOS Data.

Abstract

The Workplace Outcome Suite is made up of data contributed by multiple employee assistance providers worldwide. The study looks at the utilization and effectiveness of Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) with regards to five specific outcomes: (1) Work Presenteeism (2) Life Satisfaction (3) Work Absenteeism (4) Work Engagement, (5) Workplace Distress, and analyzes the level of each, both before and after intervention through an EAP. This 2018 report updates Employee Assistance Professionals Association (EAPA) members and other stakeholders in the field of EAP regarding the latest Workplace Outcome Suite data. SAMPLE: 24,363 counseling cases from year 2010 to 2018 with Pre and Post data on WOS. A total of 28 countries were represented, with 79% from the United States, 15% from China, and 6% from 26 other countries. RESULTS: Positive results were obtained that were statistically significant at beyond chance levels (p < .05) for all five WOS measures but the statistical effect sizes differed by measure. Work presenteeism decreased by 26% and was a large size statistical effect. Life satisfaction was increased by 22% and was a large size statistical effect. The new measure of work absenteeism with 1-5 range decreased by 27% and was a medium size effect. Workplace distress decreased by 14% and was a small size effect. Work engagement increased by 8% and was a small size effect. The combined SuperScore measure had a 16% level of improvement and was a large size effect. ROI FOR EAP: The results from the WOS global norms for reductions in absenteeism and presenteeism were used to estimate the return on investment (ROI) for employee assistance programs. Typical ROI result of $3.37:1. PROFILE OF EAPS: To better understand the kinds of EAPs who provided WOS data, 13 providers and large employers are also profiled for how and why they collect WOS data from their counseling cases. These include a mix of vendor and internal delivery models from the United States and four other countries.