#3 Employee Assistance Program Counselor
By David Lasuertmer
Average Salary: $68,895
Job Outlook: Excellent (20% growth rate within the next decade)
One of the better known roles for social workers in corporate settings is that of counselor in an employee assistance program. Imagine if you owned a business and you had an employee who had been trained on human behavior, communication and conflict resolution? What if this employee also knows about diversity and organizational structure, as well as the skills needed for invested listening and relationship building? And what if this employee had a background in providing mental health services related to substance abuse, depression, anxiety and grief and loss? How could this employee contribute to the success of your business? As social workers can address issues that employees may encounter such as depression, substance abuse and family issues, they are a logical choice as employees in this capacity.
Social workers are also good at understanding human behavior, interpersonal relationships among workers, and the challenges of dealing with different personality types and stresses. Both Motorola and 3M have employee assistance programs that have hired social workers. Some organizations have found that social workers can help clients achieve better outcomes. For instance, an attorney’s office assisting clients with divorce and custody issues may find that they lack access to dependable transportation, child care or financial resources. Social workers, in the role of resource coordinator and advocate, can help these clients with access to additional supports that will allow them to attend their legal appointments with more consistency. The same can be true in medical, educational and other settings. An estimated 97 percent of companies with more than 5,000 employees have an Employee Assistance Program.
This article originally appeared on https://www.bestmswprograms.com/