Editor
First, I am really impressed by the weekly online [newsletter]. Your columns are always provocative and informative, and overall the look, topics and timeliness are excellent.
I have asked [our] department to work with Business Selling to link it to one of our Web sites.
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Second, the mental health and presenteeism focus is also very timely. However, Dr. Luter failed to mention the most important resource – supervisory referrals and the EAP. It is all well and good to try and educate employees. And that "education" would be done by the same people who have "educated" them about the mental health benefits (all 48 percent being reached).
A more direct resource is the supervisory referral through an EAP. By using the leverage of a job performance problem – and all of these people exhibit them, morale and supervisory attention being high on the list – the depressed or otherwise impaired employee is leveraged into treatment. The EAP then diagnoses and refers, offers short-term intervention and connects the employee to a longer-term treatment source through insurance, community resources, etc. The insurance broker and/or consultant is a vital link here in educating the HR department and others in better ways to solve the problem of "presenteeism." Addressing this problem is also related to their own self-interest (always a great motivator), since a common corporate response to poor numbers is to fire someone, in this case the broker and/or health insurance provider and another vender/broker/consultant, etc. By working with the HR department and the EAP, a focused attack can be launched and likely a measurable and more direct outcome can be achieved.
I am very much impressed with the online resource and am sharing and using it weekly.
Dr. Ann D. Clark
CEO
ACI Specialty Benefits
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