TaskHuman vs. Employee Assistance Programs (EAP): Redefining The Future of Employee Wellness

What is an EAP?

An Employee Assistance Program (EAP) connects employees with counselors and other healthcare providers to address clinical mental health concerns. 

What is TaskHuman? 

TaskHuman is a whole person well-being solution that amplifies your employees’ daily work and personal life. We connect users to specialists across over 1,300 categories via 1:1 video calls where, when, and how users want support. While an EAP can provide critical assistance to employees in moments of clinical mental health distress, TaskHuman can proactively contribute to your team’s mental health & well-being by offering preventative support for burnout, managing stress, and building emotional resilience. TaskHuman is not a substitute for clinical mental health services & support for employees in distress, we’re a resource to ensure your team has proactive support to build a strong baseline of mental wellbeing.

Quick Guide: 

Lack Of Awareness

‘Call Center’ Functionality

Misunderstanding ‘Wellness’

Privacy Concerns 

Lack Of Reporting 

Investing In Your Team

EAP utilization has and continues to remain under 10%. The National Business Group on Health found that median utilization in 2018 was only 5.5 percent. With stress, workplace anxiety, and lack of personal wellness priorities being at an all-time high, organizations have to ask themselves: where are the pitfalls in today’s EAPs, how is TaskHuman different, and when should we pivot?  

Current EAPs: Lack Of Awareness & Poor Communication

One of the simplest challenges with existing EAP’s is that they consistently fly under the radar. Employees don’t know what it is, who it’s for, or how it works. All information and education on these programs are generally skimmed over within an oversized HR onboarding packet, rarely referenced again. 

Many EAP’s don’t have a strategic launch process set in place for new clients or additional tools to help HR teams educate and engage new and existing employees. Proper relationships with HR contacts also fall short, as teams aren’t being utilized to help assist within the overall success and awareness of their company’s EAP. 

The TaskHuman Way

TaskHuman takes care of all the heavy lifting when it comes to awareness and launch. Each of our clients is partnered with a dedicated Customer Service Manager (CSM) to make sure their points of contact (and the organization) have the key support needed for a successful rollout and ongoing  partnership. We prep all of our clients on what to expect within our launch process, the cadence of communication between their company, TaskHuman, and their employees, and how our relationship will continue to evolve throughout. We work with your team to build custom programs to drive company-wide engagement – these may include wellness challenges, group sessions with TaskHuman specialists, live demo calls, and more. We believe in keeping communication consistent and exciting with incentives, team-building programs, and regular reporting on program utilization. 

Our app keeps employees aware and inspired through personalized home screens, smart notifications based on their app usage, and introductory emails explaining how to get started, what they can expect when calling a specialist, and common FAQ’s to ensure they’re as comfortable and prepared as possible before they make their first call. Once in the app, employees can get support through our Concierge service for any extra guidance, reassurance, and questions they may have. 

Our CSM’s ensure all HR points of contact are equipped with a new hire toolkit and additional resources that would resonate with their workforce to ensure a successful rollout. 

Current EAPS: No One Likes A Call Center

Say your workforce is actively aware of your company’s EAP. However, more than likely, your employees are still not utilizing this resource due to the nature of the program itself. It’s outdated, impersonal, and incredibly inconvenient to navigate. 

A study done by Dialogue uncovered that extended wait times were the top reason for EAP dissatisfaction. When calling into an EAP hotline, information and introductions have to be repeated multiple times throughout the process. Employees wait for someone to answer their call, wait for someone to call them back, wait again for a first appointment to be available, and then wait for when they can get squeezed in for a follow-up appointment. This creates a process that is not only taxing on the employee, but overall attending to their stress.

In the age of instant connection, high-speed internet, and a less taboo approach to mental wellness, calling a 1-800 number to get transferred around and read a script by a monotone agent is disappointing. Reaching out to someone when you need support Should be simple, personable, and leave you feeling supported — not stale and full of regurgitated information. 

Corporate decision-makers can and should do better for themselves, their team, and their company.

The TaskHuman Way

There’s power in on-demand human to human connection. TaskHuman takes all complications away, getting employees directly in front of a global network of specialists instantly, anytime, anywhere. No more call centers, generic articles, or endless scrolling. TaskHuman was founded with the belief that wellness is a  fundamental human right & there is magic in creating meaningful person to person connections. 

TaskHuman provides mobile access to 1:1 guidance from hundreds of specialists via video call. Employees can kick start their daily personal and professional goals instantly with specialists available 24/7, providing them with a world of guidance from their pocket. With topics in nearly 1000 aspects of their daily life, employees enjoy the freedom of a limitless team to give 1:1 guidance and support on topics ranging from traditional wellness—like fitness, mindfulness, and nutrition—to soft skills and day-to-day personal & professional needs, like emotional intelligence and leadership coaching. 

Current EAP’s: Limited Approach To Employee Wellness

All employees are different and have unique needs when it comes to their health and well-being. An EAP provides clinical mental health support for employees in moments of distress or crisis, but while that’s incredibly valuable, they miss a bigger opportunity to provide resources that support the full range of employee needs. A reactive approach to mental health that only addresses employees in crisis may have been sufficient in the past, but today employers can offer a more robust set of benefits to provide proactive and preventative support for their workforce, helping employees manage stress, build emotional resilience, and create a strong baseline for their all around wellness. 

The TaskHuman Way

TaskHuman supports employees by giving them instant support and covering wellness in every sense of the word. TaskHuman is not a resource for acute mental health distress or crisis. We offer proactive solutions through all stages of wellness, throughout all areas of life, both personal and professional

We allow employees to work off stress through exercise, clean eating, personal growth, spiritual enlightenment, and overall physical well-being, as well as nearly 1000 other topics. We grant them a safe space to dive into their mental health, building confidence, clarity, and coping strategies no matter where they feel challenged. We also give them the freedom to explore different genres of personal growth and well-being to support their totality of a wellness journey in areas ranging from , reiki, breath work, pre/postnatal needs, family relationships, language support/practice, spiritual (non-denominational) coaching, and so much more. 

Effective employee wellness resources programs, like TaskHuman, understand the value of preventative efforts and sustainable growth, while also being equitable to your entire organization. Employees want their professional career to seamlessly and effortlessly fit within their own personal goals and lifestyle. Being a company that values individual wellness from all angles (physical, mental, spiritual) and empowers their employees to better themselves with their own goals on their own time creates an entire workforce who views your company as an invaluable resource that wholeheartedly supports their lifestyle. Employees are supported and empowered while companies retain top talent, lower employee turnover, and improve morale. A win-win. 

Current EAPS: Privacy & Confidentiality Concerns

While HR teams know that employee utilization of EAP & clinical mental health resources is confidential, employees may have concerns regarding the privacy of their engagements with EAP & similar programs. Transparent & frequent communication regarding privacy policies of all mental health resources is critical to ensure employees feel safe to engage without fear of retribution and address any potential concern regarding confidential information being shared back to their employer.

The TaskHuman Way

Privacy is at the core of the TaskHuman user experience.TaskHuman calls and in-app chats are 100% private and confidential between the employee and the specialist. Through transparent communication, relationship development, and education to our user base, we can ensure employees feel safe to access TaskHuman resources however, wherever, and whenever they need. Unlike an EAP,  our expanded concept of wellness creates a space of self-improvement and overall growth for employees. Employees not only use TaskHuman within their day-to-day life but see its integral value across all areas of personal and professional life.

Our client point of contact is made aware of how TaskHuman reporting works and what data will be shared with them through the initial sales and subsequent launch conversations. Through the rollout of TaskHuman, employees are given a breakdown of introductory emails with information to make them aware, educated, and empowered to dive into the app. One of the points explained first and foremost is the privacy and confidentiality built into the core of our user experience. 

Current EAPS:  Lack of Reporting & Corporate Partnership 

Another EAP pitfall is the ‘set it and forget it’ attitude that comes along with them. As soon as an EAP is added to a list of employee resources, the ‘wellness’ box is checked off entirely. What are companies looking to achieve here? What statistics, reporting, and data are organizations analyzing to show the continuous improvements an EAP brings to their company? Three employees making a call holds value in that they are (hopefully) getting the support they need; however, could you imagine the heights you’d reach if you worked with your partner to engage an average of 65% of your organization, enforce company-wide group sessions, and create wellness curriculums to get employees started? This overall mindset when thinking about where your corporate investments lie are crucial. 

Unfortunately, today’s EAPs aren’t set up with such a forward-thinking approach, but yet companies still feel like they need to check the box and invest in a call center that may or may not get used. 

The TaskHuman Way

Our CSM’s keep close and personable relationships with our clients throughout our partnership. Each client undergoes monthly touchpoints, quarterly business reviews, updated reporting metrics, and more, all catered to your company’s unique goals and employee needs. Our goal is to keep clients up to date with how engaged their workforce is and implement action items for increased engagement, highlight preferred topics throughout the company, celebrate powerful employee user journeys and testimonials, and schedule company-wide group sessions and wellness challenges throughout the year. 

Not to mention that once a TaskHuman client, the partnership is constantly evolving. TaskHuman provides personalized solutions to clients based on specific pain points and value-driven goals that help their organizations amplify their employees’ daily work and personal lives.

Invest In Your Entire Organization

Having an EAP in place doesn’t cut it anymore. Employees want to work somewhere that not only supports a healthy lifestyle but better yet, facilitates that through what they actively prioritize and bring to the table. TaskHuman creates positive impacts for both employees and employers. You can now offer support across the full spectrum of employee needs to create positive business outcomes including:

• Attain & Retain Top Talent
• Improve Employee Health Behaviors
• Improve Employee Productivity
• Build & Sustain Employee Morale
• Reduce Health Care Costs
• Reduce Employee Absenteeism 
• Reduce Turnover Costs
• Improve Internal NPS Score
• Provide Continual Leadership Education For Staff
• Create Thought Leaders Within Your Industry 
• And Much More!

No matter what your corporate mission is or what your employee’s wellness needs are, TaskHuman has you covered. We’re here to show the corporate value in wellness, become an extension of your team, and be your partner in offering a custom program to support employees’ daily, professional, and personal mental wellbeing.

It’s time to invest in your team the right way.