Expectations, Perceptions and Experience of EAP services in the SAPS

Abstract

The objective of this research is to determine the expectations, perceptions as well as the experience the South African Police Service (SAPS) employees have regarding the Employee Assistance Services (EAS). No sampling strategy was used, with the result that all available employees (and EAS professionals as administrators) were included in the study (N=37 816). The questionnaire was designed using eight cross-cutting principles in the EAS (referred to as factors), namely (i) information; (ii) support and understanding; (iii) accessibility; (iv) availability; (v) responsiveness; (vi) confidentiality; (vii) credibility, and (viii) the proactive/empowerment approach. The measuring scale is a 5-point Likert scale. The experience was measured by isolating the responses of those employees who have used the services of the EAS in the past year. The results indicated a high overall expectation of the EAS regarding all eight principles (combined average of 4.5), followed by a slightly lower overall perception (combined average of 3.2), and a combined average of 3.5 regarding the overall experience of participants who have used the services of the EAS in the past year. Key phrases: chaplains, Employee Assistance Services, productivity, social workers, South African Police Services