How to choose the right EAP: 10 things to consider when purchasing a wellbeing service

While a traditional EAPs’ scope of care is usually limited to mental health, Sonder data shows that more and more people are now reaching out for concerns outside of mental health. In fact, 30% are reaching out for medical support, highlighting the importance of providing a more holistic solution.

In this clip Leanne Naber, Sonder’s Account Executive and Julia Bageski, Sonder’s Head of Customer Success share tips on the kind of support pathways you should be looking for from your provider.

We don’t know when our employees might need support, but it’s likely their hours of need will often occur outside business hours. That’s why it’s important to give your employees access to care that will be accessible when they need it most.

Sonder data shows us that how people are reaching out for help is changing. We see over 60% reaching out after 6pm, when many traditional EAP phone lines are closed. In this clip Leanne shares why this is an important consideration for HR and WHS leaders.

While as an organisation you may not be able to predict the occurrence of critical incidents, such as acts of customer aggression or workplace accidents, you can put services in place to connect with your people with support, confirm their safety, and keep them updated as events unfold.

When considering a wellbeing solution, you should first and foremost ensure that post-incident care is easy to access, as Leanne explains in this clip.

Since different wellbeing providers use different terminology around accreditations and qualifications, when shopping for a solution it’s important to understand what these terms mean. They can make a big difference to the quality of care your people might be receiving.

In this clip Leanne and Dr Jamie Philips, Sonder’s Medical Director, explain the importance and intricacies of health accreditations plus the health professionals that have protected titles, so you know what to look out for.

Read more on why accreditations, qualifications, and registrations can make a difference to the quality of care your employees receive here.

With more wellbeing apps flooding the market, you might be wondering whether self help tools can replace the human support offered by traditional EAP providers. Particularly since these digital solutions improve access and reduce barriers to care, encouraging people to seek help where they may not have previously.

In this clip Leanne and Dr Jamie explain why there needs to be a balance between digital and human support.

For more advice on what to look for when choosing a digital self-help tool for your employees, check out our blog.

If more people are feeling comfortable seeking support with a service, you’ll have higher uptake and be able to help more of your people. However, with traditional EAP providers only able to achieve an average of 5% utilisation rate, what’s the right kind of utilisation goal to strive for?

In this clip Leanne and Julia suggest it could be upward of 40% and share the questions you should be asking your potential provider when it comes to usage rates.

Check out some of the utilisation rates Sonder customers have been able to achieve here.

An equally important consideration to the utilisation rate of an EAP, is the engagement rate of an EAP. How might your people engage with the solution that you are considering? In this stage of the process, you’ll want to think about how the providers you’re evaluating fit into your wellbeing framework. Not only to enhance engagement, but to ensure that your employees know where and how to access support.

In this clip Leanne and Julia suggest asking prospective wellbeing solutions what their ongoing support looks like, to help you reach your engagement goals.

As a leader it’s important to understand the trends and potential risks that might be unfolding in your business. Ensuring your provider offers valuable insights will help you get ahead and identify wellbeing trends will help shape and refine your strategy over time. But not all EAP data is created equal.

In this clip Leanne and Julia share the data and insights your EAP should provide, without compromising employee privacy and confidentiality, and how we’re seeing customers use those insights.

Our dashboard captures anonymous interactions between employees and Sonder in real-time so you know what’s happening with your people, when it’s happening. Read more here.

While it’s hard to put a price on employee health and wellbeing, EAP pricing tends to always be a major consideration when reviewing solutions,

It’s really important for your executive team to understand upfront what the costs will be as Leanne Naber, Sonder’s Account Executive, explains in this clip.

At Sonder, we use fixed pricing. We believe it’s the most attractive way to price our EAP alternative services for organisations that genuinely want high employee uptake and better safety, health, and wellbeing outcomes. Find out more here.

When implementing a new EAP or wellbeing platform, leaders will be hoping the ripple effect will create a happier, healthier workforce, improve staff retention and even make a more attractive employee value proposition (EVP). But when it comes to measuring the ROI of EAPs, what metrics should you be tracking?

In this clip Leanne and Julia share the metrics that’ll allow you to demonstrate early value from an employee wellbeing service.

Ready to experience a modern approach to employee care? Get in touch with Sonder today to discover how our platform can benefit your organisation.