Ben Haddad· Compensation Consultant, Tidewater Utilities
Asked in Benefits & Wellbeing ·
UK professional services firm, roughly 1,800 people, mostly in London, Leeds and Bristol. We have had an employee assistance programme for years and added six funded therapy sessions through a separate provider in 2024.
Utilisation of the therapy benefit was 4% last year. The engagement survey says 31% of people rated their mental health as poor or fair at some point in the year, so there is clearly a gap between need and use.
We have done posters, intranet articles and a webinar. Before I ask for more money I would like to know what actually shifted uptake elsewhere, and whether 4% is as poor as it feels.
2 helpful · 2 agree · 4 replies · 139 views · 5 following
Accepted answer· by Bianca Walsh
Two things moved ours from 5% to 13% in a year at a law firm of 2,200. First, we removed the need to go through a line manager or HR for anything, including the referral, and said so loudly. People assumed their partner would find out. Second, we got four senior people, including one equity partner, to say in a short written piece that they had used it. No video, no campaign branding, just a paragraph each in the weekly email. Bookings tripled in the fortnight after. Posters did nothing for us either.
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Senior Compensation Analyst, Beacon Retail Group
4% for a clinical therapy benefit is not unusual. We sat at 3 to 5% for three years. The EAP helpline number is usually quoted higher because it counts every call, including people asking about parking fines.
Sales Compensation Manager, Lumen Biosciences
A caveat on chasing the percentage. When ours went up we also saw average wait for a first session go from 4 days to 17, and satisfaction dropped. Check the provider's capacity terms before you run a push, or you will advertise something that then lets people down at the worst moment.
Global Mobility Manager, Nordvik Energy
Is the six-session cap part of the problem? Our exit feedback from users said people did not start because they thought six would not be enough and did not want to begin something they would have to pay to continue. We moved to up to twelve with clinical sign-off after six and cost went up less than 20%.
