Human Resources / Manager

A Valuable Partnership

Optima EAP provides organizations and employers with solutions for unique challenges in the workplace. Serving organizations in the private, nonprofit, and government sectors, we have the experience needed to help effectively address issues impacting employee performance and satisfaction. Through our robust EAP services, we strengthen organizations and support employees.

Optima EAP works collaboratively with Human Resources Departments and individual leaders to address employee issues and drive employee effectiveness. As your partner, Optima EAP offers a variety of tools for manager and supervisors to leverage.

How an Employee Can Be Referred for Care

Employees are not always able to keep their personal problems from taking their attention while they are at work. Likewise, employees can’t always keep their professional stress from carrying over into their home life. From family and relationship concerns, to grief issues, episodes of anxiety and depression, financial and legal problems, to caregiving demands and job pressures, life’s challenges are varied. Unresolved issues often can have devastating and unexpected impacts on one’s quality of life both in and outside of the workplace.

There are several ways for employees to access Optima EAP services, broken into the following three referral categories:

Self-Referral

Most employees who receive assistance from Optima EAP contact us directly to schedule an appointment. This is known as a “self-referral.” With a self-referral, employees are not required to notify their manager/HR Department about their use of the EAP benefit.

NOTE: To make self-referrals possible, managers should be sure to regularly promote the EAP program and make EAP materials readily available for employees to access and review on their own.

Informal Referral

Some employees contact Optima EAP at the suggestion of a coworker or manager. This is called an “informal referral.” In this case, the employee is reminded of the EAP benefit and is given contact information for Optima EAP. The employee can then contact Optima EAP on his/her own and is not required to discuss it further with the coworker or manager who informally recommended the service.

Formal Referral

“Formal referrals” are used to address more serious issues affecting work performance. With a formal referral, the employee’s supervisor, manager, or Human Resources representative directly refers the employee to Optima EAP for assistance. Formal referral paperwork is completed to begin the counseling services.

Keep in mind that formal referrals are not disciplinary actions or forms of punishment, but rather a way to get an employee the help they need and provide resources to address the issue that is negatively impacting work performance.

NOTE: Contact your Human Resources Department to review your company’s formal referral procedures.

Formal Referral Paperwork

View the PDF of the Formal Referral Paperwork.

Management Consultations

Sometimes employees – even typically high performing ones – experience personal or professional challenges that affect their job performance and impact the workplace. As a manager, knowing how and when to help can be a real challenge.

Optima EAP can help you address these challenges by partnering with you to help employees in need. Through our management consultations, we offer managers and supervisors support such as:

  • assessment of a troubled employee;
  • recommendation on how to refer an employee to Optima EAP;
  • guidance on speaking with a difficult or resistant employee;
  • assistance with effectively documenting employee issues;
  • support with creating a performance improvement plan; and
  • answers about Optima EAP services.

Management consultations provide leaders with direct access to Optima EAP professionals. These consultations provide timely and objective guidance for employee issues that often consume leaders’ time and attention. By helping managers and supervisors to identify a plan of action in response to employee issues, consultations enable leaders to return their focus to organizational goals.

Most management consultations can be conducted over the phone and can be initiated simply by calling our main office at 1-800-899-8174 or 757-363-6777.

Workplace Trauma Response Services

Optima EAP provides support to organizations that experience unusual and traumatic circumstances in the workplace. Through its workplace trauma response services, Optima EAP professionals help employees deal with the emotions and stressors that are experienced in the aftermath of a traumatic event or critical incident.

From incidents of violence in the workplace, to the untimely death of an employee, to a natural disaster, to a downsizing initiative, Optima EAP offers support to affected employees and helps them to move forward with the healing process. We partner with organizational leaders to identify and provide the intervention that best meets employee needs during a sensitive time.

Workplace trauma response services are:

  • Offered at the workplace or at another location desired by the organization, and
  • Structured, one-on-one or group counseling sessions.

To request workplace trauma response services, contact Optima EAP at 1-800-899-8174 or 757-363-6777.

Training & Education

The Optima EAP Training and Employee Development Team works with your organization to help develop the power of your most important asset – your employees.

Training packages can differ with based on your company’s contract with Optima EAP. Please review your company’s benefit or contact your Human Resources Department to verify the training benefit available for your employees. If training classes are not offered through your EAP benefit, you are welcome to purchase them.

Optima EAP training classes are designed to build skills and develop capabilities that impact job performance and enhance employee effectiveness. We support organizations’ commitment to professional development and serve as a valuable complement to existing learning and development initiatives.

When you express interest in training, a member of the Training Team will conduct a training needs analysis in order to understand your training goals and desired outcomes. He/she will strive to understand your organization’s culture and priorities so that training is applicable to participants and supportive of your organization’s mission.

Optima EAP training sessions:

  • are delivered at your organization’s work site, utilizing classroom style training;
  • are typically conducted in one-hour sessions;
  • use effective methods of instruction for the adult learner;
  • include interactive activities that encourage participant involvement;
  • include participant materials to facilitate learning and reinforce key concepts; and
  • drive positive results in employees.

Below is a listing of some of our current training offerings:

  • Orientations for Employees or Manager/Supervisor Orientation
  • Anxiety Disorders
  • Change Management
  • Communication
  • Conflict Management
  • Customer Service
  • Disrespectful Behaviors
  • Financial Wellness
  • Harassment
  • Robbery Recovery
  • Stress Management
  • Time Management
  • Workplace Etiquette
  • Workplace Violence

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