We’ve just celebrated the first anniversary of working with Spectrum.life, our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), a proactive, wellbeing scheme for Spectrum employees. We are delighted to report that it’s been a resounding success, appreciated by all staff and used by many in the last 12 months.

When we introduced Spectrum.life to the business, it was to provide meaningful and practical support for our staff and their families. It provides employees with easy access to various mental health and valuable services to help them through various personal or work-related issues while equipping them with the tools they need to protect and manage their mental health.

Spectrum.life can also support our people through any personal issues and help with any problems they may face as part of their role. The EAP offers help and guidance to all our people, regardless of their position. While all consultations with the counsellors are strictly private and confidential, we are pleased to report that our staff use the service to assist them with various challenges.  We know that one staff member was recently grateful to receive helpful advice and support with debt management and can now see a positive way forward. So, we are equally delighted that the platform is providing genuine, real life help and support.

Spectrum.life provides access to a fully qualified team of counsellors and experts who are highly experienced in personal and work-related issues and can support anyone experiencing issues, including:

• Depression, anxiety, stress
• Grief and bereavement
• Addictions
• Relationship and marital problems
• Work stress and work-life balance issues
• Life transitions, such as career
• progression
• Financial concerns
• Queries around a legal matter.

Access is free to all employees, but even better, it is also available to their partners and any dependents over 16 still living at home. Employees can access Spectrum.life via a free phone service or our online portal; either way, they will have access to the services 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

Details of consultations are stored securely, and it is only ever shared when necessary with qualified and accredited professionals, and the employee will always be made aware of this beforehand.

At Spectrum, we appreciate our duty of care; but more than this, we care about our people and know they will do their best for us if we do our best for them. Last year, we thought that providing the Spectrum.life service would be an effective way to support all employees; one year on, it is proving to be a popular and highly beneficial tool for the whole team.