A number of years ago,BenefitsPRO (then known as Benefits Selling) published an articletitled: “EAPs: the secret weapon.” The gist was captured in thelede: “Employee assistance programs are often overlooked bybenefits brokers, but they can be a valuable sales tool thatcements your relationship to your client. Of all the benefitsavailable to independent brokers, the employee assistance programseems to be the most neglected.”

Back then, part of the problem when it came to to brokers andEAPs was the dearth of solid evidence on theefficacy of EAPs regarding key workplace outcomes such asproductivity, engagement, etc. Today, we have ample evidence tosupport the correlation, but the problem now is the emphasis amongpurchasers on reaching more people at lower costs, which isproblematic on several levels. It focuses on utilization versusoutcomes, where the latter is a far more meaningful indicator ofROI, and it squeezes both EAPs and brokers who have the narrowestof margins to work with.

It's no secret that “traditional” EAPs are under threat fromlarge outfits that offer low cost, low touch solutions ortechnology solutions promising higher utilization, but at asignificantly higher price to employers.  In order tobring EAPs in at the lowest price points, many of the leadingproviders have shunted their services to phone lines or onlineself-service websites where users are offered little support orguidance.