Abstract
This study explored the views of employees about counselling services at one
organisation in a bid to understand factors that hinder or encourage employees to use
counselling services and in turn help improve such services in the workplace. The study
was guided by four main objectives which were to ascertain the perceptions of
employees with regards to counselling as a service in the workplace; explore the
perceived factors that encourage employees to participate in workplace counselling;
explore the perceived factors that prevent employees from participating in workplace
counselling; and provide recommendations to management and EAP practitioners on
the provision of counselling services at the organisation.
The study was a qualitative study which adopted an interpretive phenomenological
research design. The population for this study was 4000 employees at one organisation
situated in Johannesburg, South Africa. The name of this organisation is not mentioned
in the research paper as requested by the organisation. The study used a semi
structured interview schedule to collect data which had a wide range of questions
pertaining to the perception and use of counselling. Using purposive sampling method,
data was collected from 10 participants, five participants who had used the workplace
counselling service and five participants who had not but were aware of its existence in
the organisation. Participants were chosen on the basis that they had worked in the
organisation for at least three years. Data analysis was done using Braun and Clarke’s
(2006) six-step guide to conducting thematic content analysis.
The findings indicate that both participants who had and those who had not used the
service agreed that it was a vital service to have in the workplace. However, there was
a lot of stigma surrounding the service in terms of confidentiality and it being perceived
as a weakness to attend counselling. Participants also cited access to information on
counselling services, work related issues, influence of workplace counselling on
personal well-being, the role of counsellors, organisational factors and culture and
beliefs as factors encouraging or discouraging their use of the service. Limitations of
the study were discussed as they pertained to the recruitment of participants by
wellness manager, the exclusion of type of work or job title as part of demographic...
M.A. (Clinical Social Work)