Banking on an in-house EAP

Workforce, April, 2003 by Maryann Hammers

Everyone faces personal problems, crises, and conflicts. Rather than muddling through difficult times on their own, however, employees at Toronto-based BMO Financial Group are likely to turn to the company's proactive and comprehensive in-house employee assistance program.

Unlike most other Canadian banks, BMO doesn't outsource its EAP. "It makes strategic sense to maintain and manage a key program such as our EAP internally," says Rose Patten, executive vice president of human resources. "The counselors, therapists, and other professionals staffing the program are employees themselves, so they know our company firsthand, are attuned to our issues, and understand our culture. Because we keep the EAP embedded in the organization, it has our stamp on it and we can ensure its quality."

The program is a cornerstone of the company's holistic philosophy, which focuses on employee wellness and work-life balance. "Many of our supporting programs, including PeopleCare days [short paid leaves of absence], flextime, work sharing, and work from home, have grown out of the EAP," Patten says.

More than a quarter of the bank's 34,000 employees have used the service, which provides counseling, information, and referral; child and eldercare advice and resources; trauma response and intervention; manager support and training; and education, workshops, and programs on a variety of wellness, lifestyle, and work topics. Of employees who have used the EAP, 62 percent said that without the service, they would have had to take time off from work to resolve their problem. BMO believes that its EAP has brought bottom-line benefits to the company. "It's not just 'bells and whistles,"' Patten says. "We correlate our EAP with higher productivity and reduced absenteeism as well as our ability to attract and retain workers. In order to engage people in an organization, you have to understand their personal needs."

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