AGL had a desire to also improve their overall Health and Wellbeing Program so it was proactive and focussed on prevention and risk reduction. They were facing great organisational change and wanted to ensure their people were well supported at all levels and areas of the business; from staff in the call centres to senior executives in head office.
Their organisational structure is diverse and highly complex, ranging from mining to gas from retail and wholesale energy to generation, from call centres to corporate they have a workforce that spans all demographics and locations. They continue to face many complex internal and external challenges with political, social, environmental and commercial ramifications.
Working with a partner that was flexible and able to adapt was paramount. They needed a partner that was not just reactive but proactive. A partner that could be a strategic arm to deliver real value to their people and their business.
Issue & Objective
AGL wanted to establish a more effective, destigmatised and better utilised Employee Assistance Program. They had a desire to also improve their overall Health and Wellbeing program so it was proactive and focussed on prevention and risk reduction.
Strategic Approach
- Converge partnered with AGL to develop and deliver a strategy to increase the mental health of all AGL people – no matter what level they worked in or which part of the business they came from.
The Solution
To meet the varying needs across stakeholder groups, Converge provided an integrated yet broad range of services. These included:
- Converge firstly re-launched the EAP program. This required versatility in meeting the needs of a diverse workforce through promotion of the mix of proactive and reactive service lines available that break down some of the perceived barriers to different demographic groups accessing counselling services.
- We provided training that familiarised Management and People practitioners with the range of additional support services including manager assist, an important resource in call centre operations. We also provided a highly publicised national family and domestic violence training program across the whole organisation to further improve wellbeing of employees and family members.
- Leveraging on the success of the onsite programs we already delivered to locations at Loy Yang and Macquarie we emphasised proactivity, trust and partnership with all areas of their business. Debriefing and CI response were also used more extensively through change processes.
Key Outcomes
Trusted partner
We built awareness of the programs and became a trusted partner to key stakeholders in the business and a trusted counsellor to employees across the operational sites through our onsite programs.
150%
Maintained and sustained an increase in EAP Utilisation of more than 150% since commencement of the contract
300%
Generated a return on investment of in excess of 300%
Conclusion
The family and domestic violence program developed in collaboration with the business and delivered across all sites via a 6-month program achieved a significant boost in both awareness of FDV and available resources together with a parallel increase in overall EAP utilisation.
