Learn why Spill is the UK's number 1 rated EAP on Trustpilot
Learn more about SpillRunning the HR department as a one-person band can be a lonely business. Between building out key policies, hiring, training – and in some cases, office management – it can be tricky to keep an eye on more abstract things like company mood, culture and wellbeing.
But prioritising proper mental health support in small businesses and startups can be even more valuable, where just one person struggling is enough to affect the rest of the business, whether that’s by taking time off during a busy period or by unintentionally affecting the morale of everyone else in the room.
With smaller companies increasingly opting to outsource employee mental health support to external providers (usually an EAP), let’s take a look at why mental health challenges crop up in these environments – and the best EAP services for small businesses and startups.
EAPs: A guide for small businesses
Everything you need to know about the different types of EAP on offer, how they work, and the benefits to your business
The need for EAPs in small businesses
Small businesses and startups are dealing with a "tsunami" of mental health issues among their employees, with more than twice as many reporting a detrimental impact on their businesses compared with last year.
Statistics on mental health in small businesses
- 85% of SME leaders believe that mental health is their biggest health and safety challenge.
- 75% of SMEs experienced workplace injuries in the past year, with the most common injuries being mental health-related.
- Mental health-related sickness absence had increased by 20% in the past 12 months.
- Four in five small business owners experience poor mental health at least a few times a year.
- 30% of small business owners say that their employees reported a decline in their mental health since the pandemic.
Common mental health challenges in small businesses
Small businesses and startups face a unique set of challenges when it comes to mental health at work. The pressures on smaller teams to wear many hats and work long hours is felt the whole way through the business, from interns to CEO's. Common mental health challenges in smaller teams include:
- Stress and burnout
- Anxiety and depression
- Financial insecurity
- Isolation and loneliness
- Difficulty with work-life balance
Let's explore the reasons why small business owners and employees often struggle with their mental health...
Factors contributing to poor mental health in small businesses
Employees in small businesses are at a higher risk of poor mental health due to several factors including tighter budgets, limited resources, and a more demanding work environment.
Here's a more detailed look at the main factors that put strain on employee mental health:
1. It's hard to know how people are feeling
Around 1 in 4 people experience poor mental health each year in the UK. That’s a quarter of your team. If you don’t have a system in place to check in on how people are feeling on a regular basis, then you’re probably not spotting anyone who’s struggling early enough to help them before they feel properly unwell.
2. Less experienced people managers
It’s common practice in startups and small businesses to promote team leaders internally rather than hiring experienced managers. Having younger people moving up the ranks quickly works well for lots of reasons, but there’s a drawback: they might be brilliant at managing KPIs, but have less experience managing people’s emotions. This can heap a lot of unexpected pressure onto new managers, and have knock-on effects for your overall team’s wellbeing.
50% of UK startup employees say they haven’t been given the right emotional and personal support from their managers.
3. High-productivity cultures
Burnout is a kind of emotional exhaustion caused by stress at work – and it’s behind 43% of all sick days taken in the UK. Between tight deadlines and small teams who feel personally responsible for delivering quality work on time, burnout is rife across small businesses and startups.
4. Lack of impartial support
Just 11% of employees feel comfortable discussing a recent mental health problem with their line manager. That could be down to stigma, or it might be because employees feel there’s no clear pathway towards getting professional help once they’ve disclosed an issue. HR leaders can deliver lots of things, but therapy shouldn’t be one of them. Outside of work, getting treatment for mental health challenges through the NHS can take a long time (and all the while your employee’s motivation, mood and productivity is likely to slide).
5. Remote working
Isolation is an important precursor to poor mental health. It can be easier for employees to socially withdraw when they’re not experiencing the kind of informal communication and collaboration that’s encouraged by working in the same room as other people. If you rarely see your team in person, it can be even harder to spot when a colleague’s showing signs of stress, too.
EAPs: A guide for small businesses
Everything you need to know about the different types of EAP on offer, how they work, and the benefits to your business
Why do small businesses outsource mental health support?
Increasingly, smaller companies are opting to outsource employee mental health support to an external provider (like an EAP) rather than providing counselling services in-house.
With limited staff, time, and budget, outsourcing is often the most practical and scalable solution – and comes with lots of benefits for both employers and employees:
1. Give your team access to professionals
Outsourcing mental health support allows smaller teams to gain access to qualified mental health professionals who have expertise in dealing with a range of specific challenges like burnout, anxiety or ADHD.
2. Guarantee confidentiality
Speaking to an external counsellor can feel a lot more private and confidential than opening up to an internal member of staff, which might encourage more employees to seek help when they need it. The negative stigma surrounding mental health at work can stop people speaking up if they're worried that this might impact their career progression, so having external resource available draws a clear distinction between the two.
3. Save time and money
Outsourcing mental health support services tends to be much more cost-effective for small businesses than hiring, training and maintaining a dedicated in-house team. It also ensures that the counselling services provided are always of the highest quality, because EAP providers are continuously investing in training therapists and sharing the most up-to-date research and resources.
4. Free up HR resource
In a one-person HR team, it's simply not possible to have a weekly chat with every employee about their mental health alongside all of the other tasks on your list. Outsourcing mental health support services reduces the administrative burden on internal HR teams, freeing up their time to focus on other important initiatives.
Employee assistance programmes (EAPs) for small businesses
Traditional EAPs are usually better suited to larger companies because their pricing structure and features are built with big teams in mind:
- EAPs typically have a scaled pricing model, meaning the cost per employee can be much higher for smaller companies.
- Some EAP providers explicitly will not cover smaller teams, and require a minimum number of employees (usually at least 250) to purchase.
- Most EAPs lock you in to a minimum contract length of 2-5 years, which isn't suitable for startups with less predictable cash flow.
EAPs can be a good fit for small businesses if they align with the company's goals, budget, and employee needs. Let's look at some features to prioritise when choosing an EAP for your small business...
Choosing an EAP for small businesses
When comparing EAP providers, it’s important to look beyond just the cost or number of sessions provided. You want to make sure the service actually fits your team’s culture, working style, and support needs – and that it delivers meaningful outcomes.
Here’s a checklist of what to look for when choosing an EAP service for a smaller company:
- Pay-as-you-go pricing to avoid wasted spend.
- Short contract lengths (don't get locked in for 2-5 years!)
- Transparency around average usage rates to ensure you're getting value for money.
- No exit fees to terminate the contract if it doesn't work out.
- A free trial to test out the service before committing.
- Integrations with existing tools (e.g. Slack/Teams) to drive employee engagement.
- Same or next day availability for therapy sessions to help people feel better, fast.
- Video or message based therapy formats to suit remote or hybrid teams.
- The ability to adjust services, pricing or plans as needed if your team grows.
Spill was built for small businesses
At Spill, we call ourselves a “modern EAP alternative”. Our product was intentionally built to include the best part of an employee assistance programme (free access to mental health support at work) with three important differences:
Fair, flexible pricing
Most EAPs will lock you into a 2-3 year contract, with a huge exit fee if you try to leave early because you’re unhappy with the service. At Spill we believe that you should only pay when you actually use a service, so our pricing model works on a completely pay-as-you-go basis. We also allow companies to cancel with just 30 days notice if they find a better alternative.
Fast and easy access to support
EAPs notoriously make it very difficult for employees to access support, with “mental health needs assessments” that deem most people unsuitable for counselling, and long wait times for anyone who does meet the criteria. Spill has an online booking system and integrates with Slack or MS Teams so employees can book a session instantly, with no assessment needed.
Employees actually trust (and use) the service
Recent PR disasters surrounding the UK's largest EAP provider mean employees don't trust (or use) the service. With less than 5% of employees using the service, most of the money you spend is wasted. At Spill, we take employee privacy seriously. Nothing is ever shared or recorded from the session, and employers can only see aggregate usage data and anonymous feedback from their team, which means our usage rates are 5x higher (averaging 25% of employees).
Spill also has a few other features which are particularly well suited for small businesses:
Integrate with your teams existing tools
One of the main barriers to accessing support through a traditional EAP is the telephone helpline, which can be a frustrating experience waiting for a callback or being denied support following a mental health assessment. Our Slack and MS Teams integrations for small businesses allow employees to book therapy directly from your existing company communication tools, and speak to a qualified therapist within 24 hours. Simple.
Catch poor mental health early
Arguably the biggest limitation of an EAP is that it can only support your team once they feel unwell, and therapy only happens once someone’s in crisis. Our team check-ins ask employees how they're feeling on a regular basis to offer support as soon as someone starts to feel low, making them less likely to need to take time off in the first place, then you might be in the market for an altogether more proactive kind of care.
Level up your people managers
Mental health training for managers and team leaders is a great way to make your budget stretch further, and upskill your internal team to spot anyone who may be struggling and signpost them to the right support. This acts as an extra layer of safeguarding for your employees and helps to maintain a happy, healthy and productive workforce.
EAPs: A guide for small businesses
Everything you need to know about the different types of EAP on offer, how they work, and the benefits to your business
