Forgive me for stealing Carrie Bradshaw’s iconic catchphrase, but these past 10 years really have flown by “just like that!”
This time 10 years ago, I couldn’t imagine that my grain of an idea – to support employees through challenging life events – would grow into a trusted company that partners with global organisations to do exactly that.
But then, we are all human and we all experience difficulties from time to time. Sometimes these take the form of traumatic events that, sadly, can cause talented employees to lose their careers.
Having once been that employee who needed help, I know that all too often employers genuinely want to offer the right support. However, in many cases they either haven’t got the resources, or they simply don’t know how.
This is understandable, particularly when we think about how much more challenging the role of HR has become.
As well as keeping updated with ever-changing employment legislation, HR leaders can also be expected to know just how to deal with an employee facing a terminal illness, or a new mum returning to work after a traumatic birth.
However, trauma is a complex area that demands specialist expertise. So the first step for any company who wants to offer the right employee support is to accept that sometimes, that support must be provided by a suitably qualified and experienced professional.
Those employers will not only retain talented employees, but be able to successfully recruit in a competitive marketplace, as a wellbeing-focused employer of choice.
Beyond EAP started life as Confidence to Return, which focused on supporting new mothers returning to work after maternity leave.
Maternity coaching is still extremely close to my heart. So much so that although we’ve expanded the scope of our support, Beyond EAP’s first online training course is proudly focused on how best to support employees through maternity leave.
In 2021, Confidence to Return rebranded as Beyond EAP to reflect that our services had evolved with time. We go beyond the confines of traditional EAP to support employees facing some of life’s toughest and most traumatic challenges.
In 2021 Beyond EAP also expanded our team to become ‘Sandie and the Janes’!
Although it was always my intention to build a trusted team of experts, I delayed doing so until I could find just the right ones. They had to share my values, and I had to feel comfortable that they would uphold the high standards my clients had come to expect.
Happily, I found just those experts in Jane Smart, who delivers our bespoke parental coaching, and Jane Mitchell, who is our trauma support specialist and also delivers our maternity coaching programme.
(Find out more about ‘Sandie and the Janes’ – including our combined experience and qualifications – right here).
What’s next for Beyond EAP?
Just as I couldn’t predict the future 10 years ago, I can’t predict exactly what lies in store
for Beyond EAP in the years ahead. After all, who could possibly have foreseen Covid-19 and its life-changing upheaval?
The one thing I can say for certain is that the need for specialist employee support isn’t going away. In fact, it can only intensify as the world continues to shift and change, and we humans with it.
And so, following the success of our first online training course we will be producing more courses in specialist support areas, including grief and bereavement. We will also be expanding our suite of free employer resources, which include supportive eBooks and downloads.
In short, we will continue the mission that Beyond EAP was originally founded upon 10 years ago. Providing specialist employee support for life’s toughest challenges.
You can learn more about the types of employee coaching and support we offer here. In the meantime, we are always on hand if you would like to discuss a particular challenge, or a specific employee, in confidence.
And if you are reading this as an employer or employee we have worked with, thank you so very much for giving us the opportunity to make a difference.
Here’s to the next 10 years!