A qualitative assessment of the development of employee assistance practice in South Africa

Abstract

The South African government continues to emphasise the importance of the health, well-being and safety of both employees and organisations. From a management perspective, an employee assitance programme (EAP) is a valuable strategy for promoting and manage organisational and employee health and well-being. Some people believe that South African companies are not yet efficiently utilising EAPs to manage their employees' well-being, while others believe that EAP in South Africa are growing at an unprecendented rate. Despite the fact that there is little evidence of and opposing views on developments in employees and corporate heath and well-being, seen against the backdrop of the limited focus on EAPs as a strategic business issue in South Africa, emphasised the need to explore the development of EA practice in this country. This research outlines a qualitative exploration of developments in the field of EA practice in South Africa, based on data obtained from a focus group where the participants all have provided in this research shows that EAPs in South Africa seem to have developed to such an extent that they now address a variety of work-related problems which include a comprehensive range of services, such as the initiation of some organisational interventions based on the recognition of the systemic oriins of employee problems.