Return on investment (ROI) for employee assistance programs has been studied repeatedly, yet definitive proof of its benefit remains difficult to demonstrate. For companies and managers seeking hard evidence to justify expending company resources, they may be somewhat frustrated in their search.

Companies do make claims of positive return on investment such as reported in the Personnel Journal, February 1993, Vol.72, No.2 where McDonnell Douglas Corp. is quoted as saying:

“We have data for the cost of troubled employees, based upon productivity, health care use, disability and worker’s compensation costs, and we have data for their impact on the bottom line. We factor in the cost of the (EAP) program and the cost of treatment. We subtract the cost savings revealed by people who have used EAR (their internal EAP). We’ve tracked the cost of the (EAP) program and we know that we have saved money.”

The return on investment has been identified as varying between $2 to (as high as) $64 for every dollar spent. However, the human resource costs and other business indicators used to studies to demonstrate ROI are not consistent. Factors for consideration can include absenteeism, health care costs, litigation, damage, theft, productivity, turnover, retraining, accidents, lost business, customer relations, short and long term disability, conflict, team functioning, or morale. EAPs could be seen as having some impact upon all of these.

Most successful organizations view EAP as an important contributor to the success of their business and a valuable benefit for their employees. Employers are convinced that EAP makes a difference. Why? Organizations recognize that having the ability to provide a troubled employee with timely and appropriate services results in reducing the financial and human costs associated with an employee who is not fully functioning. Valuable employees have been assisted in dealing successfully with issues that threatened their health, relationships, energy and ability to contribute strongly in the workplace.

An EAP that is successfully integrated into the organization’s other employee support systems with programs and services that include wellness, team building, coaching, conflict resolution, critical incident response, assessment, counseling and referral can, and does, add value to your company. Employees welcome this benefit, they use it, and they report consistently in impact surveys that the EAP made a difference in their lives, and in the quality of their work.