Staff Support and Employee Assistance Programmes
for Businesses in
Cumbria, North West England, South Scotland

STRESS: HSE commissioned research has indicated that:

• about half a million people in the UK experience work-related stress at a level they believe is making them ill;
  
• up to 5 million people in the UK feel "very" or "extremely" stressed by their work; and
  
• work-related stress costs society about £3.7 billion every year (at 1995/6 prices).
  (see http://www.hse.gov.uk/stress/index.htm for further info)

Support from Esk Consulting Ltd: At a time when stress is costing industry a great deal of money in staff turnover and absenteeism, have you considered offering your staff the advantages of the Cumbria Therapies services as a company benefit?  For example any of the following can be contracted through our staff support company (Esk Consulting Ltd) for employees:

• A confidential, staff support service can be provided  - stress awareness; relaxation therapy; work/life balance issues; relationship issues; confidence and performance issues; counselling and reiki.
• Life coaching for individuals
• In-house stress awareness short courses. These can be offered as hourly, half-day or full-day training sessions to suit the needs of your business. 
• Training sessions can be provided to explore the inter-personal skills of your workforce, for example, assertiveness training; improving motivation in the workplace; improving personal performance.
• Relaxation sessions using guided imagery can be provided as an interesting diversion at your business conferences or training events.
• Regular 'in-house' individual stress awareness or reiki sessions can be provided as a company benefit.

Esk Consulting provides Staff Support Services for a number of small to medium enterprises (SMEs) in Carlise, West Cumbria, South Scotland, the Borders, North West & North East of England. We also act as the local Consultant for a national counselling and support organisation that specialises in working with large UK business enterprises. Marion is a Full Member of the International Stress Management Association so has regular contact with other stress management consultants along with access to up to date strategies for helping employers/employees work more effectively.

Click here to go to the Esk Consulting web site.

Please contact us on Carlisle (01228) 409092 to discuss your workplace needs without obligation.

Staff Support Models
It's crucial that your staff have confidence that support services such as ours are confidential and ideally anonymous. Our most satisfied repeat customers run 'self-refer' schemes where their staff are able to access from 4 to 6 consultations by contacting Esk Consulting directly (with no need to enquire via a 'gatekeeper' such as Human Resources or Occupational Health). Using this model problems get resolved or highlighted sooner and are more easily dealt with before they escalate.

We can also support successful 'gatekeeper' models if necessary

Of course some simple, basic work/life balance training can also be used to make your workforce more aware of themselves and colleagues. This can help to avoid many problems before they even start.

Benefits
Esk Consulting's retained staff support services are a cost-effective means to help support your staff with minimal outlay and with the knowledge that experienced, sympathetic guidance can be accessed quickly when it is needed. Most employers want to avoid not only the cost but also the hassle of employees being off on short or long term sick. A little support goes a long way to reducing both staff absenteeism and turnover.