• Tips and Tools about EFAP for Leaders: ways to educate your team about services
• Creating a Healthier Workplace Toolkit: a week-by-week guide
  to help you focus on
  health and wellness
• Supporting Workplace Mental Health: practical guidelines to contribute to a psychologically healthy
  workplace

Customized Workplace Intervention Services
Homewood’s Workplace Intervention specialists provide third-party facilitation and respond to immediate issues to help employees at all levels build new skills and perspectives, and increase the productivity and resilience of the workplace. Facilitators support challenging problems in the workplace such as interpersonal conflict, disrespectful behaviour, unproductive work culture, absenteeism or presenteeism, problematic team performance, changing work practices, change fatigue, psychological health risks or difficult organizational change.

Workplace Conflict Resolution
Experienced Homewood Health facilitators work face-to-face with employees who are experiencing conflict at work.  Following a values-based resolution structure, the focus will be on assisting employees define an agreed to and committed basis for working together productively.  The facilitator will help individuals develop awareness of their own role in the conflict, develop coping skills to deal with the conflict on a practical level, and effective communication skills to prevent future conflict.

Workplace Support
These services are different from workplace interventions or crisis management services as they include both clinical and organizational development components.  Homewood’s third party workplace support facilitators include specialists with clinical backgrounds who are experienced in providing support and consultation to organizations. These challenges may involve sensitive human issues that, if left unaddressed, can negatively impact workplace morale and performance.  Topics include (not limited to): transgender workplace support, team rebuilding after a traumatic incident, rebuilding after strike or workplace reorganization, grief and loss in the workplace.

Customized Leader Coaching
Coaching can be particularly effective in times of change for a leader. While leaders may be confident in their abilities to take on new tasks, an independent sounding board may be beneficial in helping them achieve a new level of performance. Succeeding in a new role requires skills that they have not needed to rely on in the past and a coach may help sharpen those skills.

To learn more or access the workplace solutions for leaders, contact od@mcmaster.ca.

A member/members of my team has been greatly impacted by a tragic event. How can I assist my team?

Homewood Health provides on-site or virtual workplace trauma response involving debriefings, defusings, and other Crisis Management Services (CMS) in response to any traumatic event or critical incident. They provide a multi-faceted, resilience-based approach to crisis intervention, designed to offer assessment and emotional first aid to employees after a critical incident. Contact HR Services for more information or to schedule a critical incident session with Homewood.

Not all of my employees are eligible for benefits.  Are they still able to access Homewood Health supports?

The Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP) is currently available to the following University employee groups (and their dependents):

• The Management Group (TMG)
• Senior Academic and Administrative Officers (SAAO)
• Unifor, Local 5555, Units 1, 2, 3, and 4
• McMaster University Faculty Association (MUFA)
• Clinical Faculty
• McMaster University Academic Librarians Association (MUALA)
• The BUC, Local 2
• Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
• International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE)
• Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), Local 3906, Units 1, 2 and 3
• Employees of McMaster affiliates, including McMaster Association of Part-Time Students (MAPS), McMaster’s Childcare Centre, McMaster Innovation Park (MIP) and MUFA
• Non-unionized Post Doctoral Fellows and Research Associates