Calderdale CAB – Stress management
| Company name | Calderdale CAB trading as Advice Extra |
|---|---|
| Sector | Third sector / Not for profit |
| Number of employees | 45 |
| Type of workforce | Advice staff, support staff and volunteer support. |
What issue was the organisation facing?
Calderdale CAB had identified that there was a lack of provision of Employee Assistance Services to small to medium size businesses, and that the not-for-profit sector had a service to offer that could meet private sector demand.
Calderdale CAB recognised the issues of stress related absenteeism and employee support that were often difficult for a small to medium-size employer to provide, or afford to provide, but that they could offer at reasonable cost.
What action did the organisation take?
Setting up a Social Enterprise, named Advice Extra, they were able to develop an offering to reduce employee absenteeism and improve wellbeing of staff across firms in West Yorkshire. The service provides advice, via phone and email, on issues such as:
- Debt issues and benefit entitlements
- Relationship difficulties
- Benefit take-up and performing better-off calculations
- Providing access to counselling services
- Identifying and referring enquirers to relevant local partners best placed at a local level to provide the help and support that they need.
The Advice Extra service extends the CAB’s local knowledge of service provision to provide a tailored, locally-based and locally-aware information source and contributes to the local economy by helping individuals resolve the issues and stresses that they face in their day-to-day work and home lives.
The pitch is simple and fits well with a wider aim of improving the Health and Wellbeing of the local community.
"Advice Extra is an Employee Assistance Scheme run by Calderdale CAB. It supports employees at local companies with advice on how to deal with the problems that they face in their everyday lives. As a result, staff are less stressed, happier and more productive, and companies experience reduced rates of absenteeism and staff turnover. The scheme is good for the productivity of local businesses, good for their staff, and good for the local community as any profits made go back into the CAB service."
What has been the impact of implementing health interventions?
The Advice Extra service has delivered advice to 170 clients and 12 companies by providing this service in its first 6 months of operation.
Advice Extra has enabled 20,000 employees of the companies above to have an outlet and a support mechanism for any issues they may want to raise, but do not feel able to in the workplace.
Advice Extra has provided West Yorkshire employers with a locally-provided, locally aware support service at a cost that is reasonable and affordable, enabling them to address employee issues of all types.
"For us, Advice Extra is all about supporting our staff, showing them how important they are to us, and helping them to deal with problems at home before the spill over into work. The service is cost effective, professional and the social enterprise aspect fits well with what we want to be as a company."
Gerry Arcari – Managing Director, VividCreative
"We use AdviceExtra as an affordable, accessible addition to our Health and Wellbeing Support programme. Our staff's issues are often quite complex and we especially like the option of email advice as part of the service, giving our staff 24 hour access to advice."
Nina Quinlan – Public Health Wellbeing Project Manager, University of Leeds
"Our staff are our most important resource, and looking after our employees is really important to us. AdviceExtra is a great way for us to support them better, and we like the fact that all profits from the scheme go back in to the local community."
Bernard Bunting – Managing Director, Perry Uniforms