The GIC offers Employee Assistance Program (EAP) benefits as a resource to all agencies. United Behavioral Health, the mental health and substance abuse carrier for the Commonwealth Indemnity plans and Navigator by Tufts Health Plan, provides these services.  All state agencies can access critical incident debriefing services at no cost. Managers and supervisors can also receive confidential supervisory training, resource recommendations, and customized seminars for dealing with work place issues such as stress management, low morale, disruptive workplace behavior, and substance abuse. Employees can access individual counseling through their benefit plan.

Morale Issues?
Help Is Only a Call Away

If morale at your agency isn’t what it could be, take advantage of the GIC’s Employee Assistance Program (EAP), which is free to state agencies.  The GIC’s EAP Coordinator, Sue Cooper, a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker for United Behavioral Health, can tailor a program to your agency’s needs.  Presentations are given on a one-on-one or group basis, depending on your needs.  Managers or Supervisors just need to call to take advantage of this popular program.

Other issues that the EAP program can address include:

Tough Things Happen at Work
But There's Help
(fall 2004)

You could cut the tension with a knife. One group of employees was not speaking to another. Staff meetings were unproductive with snide comments exchanged. Employees repeatedly bombarded the supervisor with complaints about other staff members. Productivity had plummeted. No one was happy to come to work and absences increased. The agency supervisor was at wit's end. Fortunately, the supervisor could get help -- and, at no cost to the agency.

The GIC's Employee Assistance Program (EAP) Coordinator, Sue Cooper, does not go by the name, Super Sue, but she does help agencies with crises. She came to the rescue of this agency. She met with the supervisor to discuss the potential reasons behind the unrest. With this information, she helped the supervisor develop an action plan for resolving these issues. She also held a seminar for the employees to provide stress management assistance and help them improve communication with one another.

Low morale and stress management are just some of the issues that adversely affect agencies. A delicate issue that arises all too frequently is poor employee hygiene. Supervisors and managers are often reluctant to approach the offending employee, or are not sure how to do so. In these situations, Sue helps managers and supervisors develop language to discuss the issue in a sensitive, yet productive manner. She works with the supervisor to prepare for the discussion, and develop firm yet compassionate responses to potential questions that might arise.

Tragically, public agencies experience more traumatic problems than poor hygiene and employee morale. Suicides and sudden deaths of clients or coworkers occasionally occur. For employees who have witnessed traumatic events, Sue's help has been particularly valuable. She has met with agency managers to determine how to help affected staff. She has led support groups to help employees work through feelings of guilt and blame, and provided educational information on the stages of grief, so that employees are better prepared to deal with them. For critical incident debriefings, Sue also provides individual counseling.

Sue Cooper is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker for United Behavioral Health. The GIC has received rave reviews over the last 11 years for her down-to-earth manner, compassion and sense of humor, which agencies and employees alike find refreshing and effective. If you are a manager or supervisor and need help with supervisory training, resource recommendations, or customized seminars for dealing with employee issues such as stress management, low morale, disruptive workplace behavior, mental illness, and substance abuse, contact Sue Cooper at 617-558-3412. All state employees can access critical incident debriefing services at no cost to the individual. If you are an individual needing employee assistance program services, contact your Plan (United Behavioral Health for Indemnity and Tufts Navigator members, or Harvard Pilgrim Health Care for Harvard Independence Plan members.)

EAP Helps Agencies

"Thank you for taking the time to meet with my staff at the Call Center. I received very positive feedback. They found you to be congenial, down to earth, inclusive and responsive to their questions. My fabulous staff stated that they got good tips on how to effectively handle stress on the job front. Dealing with the public on a daily basis is not always pleasant, but (my staff) does so without hesitation. If other agencies understood the importance of your program, they would better be prepared to effectively deal with the public. Thank you for your (assistance)."
Warm regards, Claudette Houle, External Relations Manager, Board of Registration in Medicine.

"I have had the pleasure of working with Susan Cooper, EAP Coordinator. She has been a valuable asset to me in the implementation of workshops. Her expertise in communication, and stress management has been an important resource for the support staff of the Massachusetts Trial Court. She presents information in such a fashion that allows each of the attendees to see that there is a solution to their difficulties. As you can see from the evaluation summaries, Ms. Cooper has received many accolades for her work. I would like to extend mine as well."
Sincerely, Jennifer A. Terminesi, Program Manager, Administrative Office of the Trial Court

The Hampshire County Probate and Family Court utilized the GIC's EAP benefits after a terrible trauma. The staff was terribly shaken after a woman seeking a restraining order was murdered by her husband after she left the court. They called on Susan Cooper at United Behavioral Health for traumatic incident services.