Now techies get a shoulder to cry on
Techies may be a stressed out lot, but they are also a much pampered lot. Read what's new on their platter.
By Savitha V, TNN |
BANGALORE: Techies may be a stressed out lot, but they are also a much pampered lot. All the facilities you could ask for are available on campus: doctors on call, well-equipped gyms, and as a recent trend, counselling.
| Under the employee assistance programmes (EAPs), all the employee has to do is make a phone call, and he has access to psychological or psychiatric counselling, leadership and management tips, financial and legal advice, and what have you. |
While some companies have a counsellor visiting the office regularly, others sign on providers of employee assistance programmes (EAPs). In the latter scenario, all the employee has to do is make a phone call, and he has access to psychological or psychiatric counselling, leadership and management tips, financial and legal advice, and what have you.
“The concept of EAP providers is growing more popular by the day. Many companies have counsellors on board who visit offices, and employees can go and meet them. However, such a service is hardly used because no one wants to be seen visiting a counsellor. EAPs are offered on condition of anonymity and complete confidentiality and hence people are more open to asking for help,” says Supriya Reddy Ray, head of sales and marketing, PPC Worldwide (India), an EAP provider. Apart from counselling and support, PPC offers legal and financial helplines, HIV/AIDS support lines, and manager support services.
The problems could be many — starting from trouble adjusting to a new city, to stress at the workplace, personal problems, or lack of communication skills. Apart from PPC, there are various smaller organisations and non-governmental organisations that offer similar services. And for these providers, the clientele consists predominantly of IT or BPO companies.
A Bangalore-based EAP provider, 1to1Help.net, recently conducted a study of the patterns emerging from the counselling sessions that they hold. According to this, of close to 5,000 counselling sessions held by the organisation for employees of various firms, up to 88% were related to personal problems, and how these were affecting productivity.
“Of course, stress, striking a work-life balance and lack of confidence are major problems, but the majority come to us with problems related to their personal life,” says Karuna Baskar, director, 1to1Help.net.
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Most IT companies offer several services to keep their employees healthy — regular medical check ups, gyms, doctors on call, insurance schemes, and so on. The addition of counselling to the list is the next step, says Anil Kumar, senior HR director, Ness Technologies. “In the IT or BPO space, this is really required, given the levels of stress the employees are put under,” he says.
“The employee’s well-being is closely correlated with their output or productivity and it is imperative that we take care of their well-being,” says KK Davis, head of talent & leadership development, i-flex Solutions.
The system works in two ways — not only does it offer help to the employee, it also helps the employer create a better working atmosphere in the offices. Says Ms Baskar, “If we spot a certain kind of trend or a particular work culture in a certain company, which adversely affects productivity, we give feedback to the company.”
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