Top FAQs Leaders Often Ask

What is Peer Support?

Peer Support is an informal process of one person providing help and support to another in need. This type of support is provided by trained and vetted employees often called “peer volunteers”. Peers are trained to listen, assess and address in a way that validates and empowers. Essentially, the goal of the peer is to help the person in distress feel better. This proves invaluable as better feeling people make for more productive, resilient and satisfied personnel.

What is Crisis Response?

Crisis response is an organized, stabilizing intervention provided to individuals and/or groups following a tragedy. Crisis response can be delivered by an individual or team (depending on the size of event and number of people involved).  However, all responders are vetted and trained to listen, assess and address immediate needs and critical concerns.

Click here to learn more about crisis response.

What is the difference between Peer Support and Employee Assistance Programs (EAP)?

Because peers are already “on the job”, they’re usually the first to identify distress and provide immediate care. Because rapport is already established, colleagues tend to trust and accept peer support more than “outside” help. Having said that, peer support is designed to cooperate – not compete – with other programs, like the Employee Assistance Program (EAP); therefore, peer support is able to credibly refer and can often enhance participation with next level support.

What are the benefits?

Research shows us that when organizations invest in compassion and care (like peer support and crisis response), employees report higher levels of satisfaction, engagement and motivation – compared to employees who don’t feel valued by their organization.

Research shows overwhelming positive effects on productivity, innovation and loyalty.  

Click here to read: How Caring Benefits the Bottomline

Click here for more Research: https://crisissupportsolutions.com/research/ 

What about liability?

A key reason leaders deny peer programs is not due to lack of funding, it’s due to concern of risk and liability to the organization.  The quickest way to reduce liability – and ensure effectiveness – is by selecting a Program Coordinator and investing in a training.

Coordinator’s are responsible for organizing volunteers and running day-to-day operations (to include drafting policy and designing protocols that result in an ethical practice). 

Every program in your organization comes with it’s own set of risks.  The key is to manage those risks.  We train Coordinators to manage risks by drafting policy, designing protocols and holding volunteers to an ethical practice.

Click here to learn more about Coordinator Training

How much will a program like this cost?

Although employees volunteer their time, there is still a cost associated with building and maintaining such a program.

For many organizations, starting a program is it’s biggest expense. This includes initial training for program coordinators and basic training for peer volunteers. 

Click here for costs associated with Coordinator Training

Peer support training and Crisis response team training start at $145 / per student / per day (instructor travel not included).