When it comes to a healthy company culture, health quite literally should play a role. And a great place to start is ensuring your employees have access to health resources. Aside from a safe and pleasant work environment that fosters good relationships among employees and a good laugh each day, playing a role in the well-being of a company’s greatest assets (its employees) is important. Often times when we think of healthcare resources, we think of medical plans and doctor’s visits. While those are very important to offer to employees, there’s one plan many overlook.
As the pandemic changed almost every aspect of the way we work and catapulted telework’s popularity, a new light was shed on mental health as working from home, often with children who were going to school online and were home as well, seemed to increase stress for some. Suddenly, the comradery around the water cooler was gone and work hours stretched into the evenings as the home office always seemed to be open, the glow of the computer light beckoning to its owner to check the latest message. We learned that resources, almost any resource, were now more important than ever. For companies like Zapata who offer an Employee Assistance Program (EAP), the task of getting guidance/assistance to our employees was made easy. Zapata utilizes LifeCare, via our HR platform with ADP which makes finding and requesting assistance for various matters such as parenting, wellness, home services and legal issues, available to our people with a quick phone call 24 hours a day.
An EAP is probably new to most people but should be something every employee has access to and is familiar with in their company’s offerings. Zapata considers it so important that it’s offered free of charge to both our full and part-time employees. Life can unload unexpected stressors and sometimes a simple phone call to ask questions is all that is needed to alleviate the weight of those life events. As parents age, many employees may now find themselves wondering how senior care works, or a divorce occurs and you’re not sure what your next step should be. An EAP provides guidance on this if needed, and much more. A real perk to having this LifeCare EAP is the addition of our discount program. LifeCare also makes available thousands of discounts to our employees from deals on travel to retail to theme parks and more.
Having an EAP in a company’s suite of available resources is vital, but it’s also important to include insurance/medical coverage options as well. The EAP and medical coverage may work hand in hand depending on the employee’s need, so a well-balanced offering of coverage/plans at various price points is recommended so each employee can choose what’s best for them.
Knowing the importance of work-life balance, a healthy company culture must be well rounded. It must include a healthy work environment, whether it be in person or virtual, access to resources when needed, and ample time off for self-care. At Zapata, we like to think we’ve found the perfect combination for the healthiest culture: ample resources available to our employees, including time off to utilize them.
Author – Christina Hall
August 2022