Staff retention and absenteeism have been long-standing problems in the workforce. Whether employees are employed in call centres, warehouses, schools, or blue chip Britain, employers often struggle to accomplish maximum efficiency of their workers.

In this day and age everyone is always seeking convenience. We are constantly in the mind-set of how can we finish this task more quickly, what will be the fastest way to commute to work today, or who will be able to deliver my lunch in an acceptable amount of time after ordering?

In today's fast paced world, the one-job-career is almost extinct. Many blame company redundancies and disloyal companies. But staff retention and absenteeism also play an important role.

Substance abuse is not only a personal problem, but it can become a professional problem when it begins to interfere with ones work. Employees that feel they are having substance abuse problems should not feel alienated or scared because employee assistance programs offer tremendous help battling substance abuse whether it be drugs or alcohol.

Although it is an unfortunate fact of life, it appears that as production demands get more stringent and competition more fierce, job-related stress for the average employee is here to stay.

Of course as the manager of any business your primary function is to keep that business running as smoothly as possible and to maximize profits for the owners, but there are several scenarios that you might find yourself needing to deal with on a personal level when it comes to your employees in a firm without an Employee Assistance Program.

Stress has been called the single most damaging factor pertaining to an employee's job satisfaction and overall job performance. Many recent studies as well as some that have been done years ago point to stress as the one the factors that can be mitigated so that the employee can stay healthy both mentally and physically.

As difficult as it can be for some managers to give the positive feedback that employees thrive on, it can be even more difficult for them to give the kind of negative feedback that can cause stress and lead to even more problems that can result in the need for disciplinary measures and even termination in extreme examples.

Most employees report that any kind of merchandise and/or food is a welcome reward that can go along in making them feel welcome and wanted. When a manager provides food to celebrate success or gives them some small memento such a flowers or a gift, many employees reported that they were pleased and further inspired to do even better work.

It's safe to say that employees don't develop problems that require the assistance of an Employee Assistance Program overnight. In many cases, there have been warning signs along the way that should have alerted someone in management that there was a prospective problem.