A comparative study between Employee Assistance Programmes and Occupational Social Work : a quantitative view

Abstract

The world of work has become increasingly competitive, demanding optimal productivity and performance from employees. Concerns regarding job security in a fluctuating social, political and economic climate in South Africa further contribute to pressure being placed on employees and organisations to continuously perform and develop. In viewing the employee as part of a system consisting of both the personal and work domain, it is only natural to assume that difficulties experienced in the individual’s personal or occupational settings could influence their work performance and productivity. Occupational Social Work (OSW) and Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP) both aim to assist the individual employee as well as the organisation in reaching optimal performance and productivity levels. The development of OSW and EAP, on an international level, can be traced back to work organisations alcohol abuse prevention programmes known as Occupational Alcohol Programmes (OAPS) that were established during the 1930s. Since the inception of these programmes, there have been significant growth and development in both fields of practice. Services offered through the programmes include supportive counselling interventions, financial advice, legal advice, managerial referrals, health assessments and training interventions, to name only a few. The goal of this study was to compare Occupational Social Work and Employee Assistance Programmes and subsequently highlight key differences and similarities between the two fields. Limited literature could be found which focused on the similarities and differences between the practices of OSW and EAP. As a result of this, the type of research that was conducted was basic research, as the study aimed to explore and describe the differences and similarities between EAP and OSW. A quantitative research approach was followed and more specifically, a non-experimental design was applied. An electronic, self-developed questionnaire was used as data collection instrument. The questionnaire was compiled by the researcher after the literature review and respondents were invited. Following the pilot testing phase, a link to the survey was sent via email to all identified respondents. This link provided respondents with access to the on-line survey.