The R.E.A.D. Clinic is the largest and longest established psychological services centre on the Central Coast. The Clinic is able to provide the following important services to both private and public organisations.

• Employee Assistance
• Group training and education
• Occupational Appraisals

 

What are the benefits?

An organisation's most valuable resources are its people. A survey by Fortune magazine of successful companies, showed that one of the key attributes to corporate reputation and success was the "Ability to attract, develop and keep talented people".

The R.E.A.D. Clinic assists organisations to do just that. We provide services that focus on the five main elements of an employee's life cycle within an organisation:

1. Evaluation and Selection
2. Entry / Induction
3. Support and Maintenance
4. Training and Development
5. Exit

The five elements explained

1 Evaluation and selection

What are the Costs of Poor Selection?

Selection errors or imprecise selection procedures can be very expensive. High staff turnover usually results from poor selection which in turn increases the time, effort and financial resources required for the recruitment process. Recent figures reveal the cost can be as high as 40% of salary for more senior staff.

Losing an employee through poor selection places an additional financial burden on the company due to the training costs for the new employee. There is also the pressure and stress placed upon the organisation, not only in terms of the disruptions to social processes and co-worker relationships but also in terms of the loss of profits and the loss of future business. Employees selected and then rejected can also cause 'bad will'.

Is there a System Available to Prevent this?

Unfortunately, relying purely on the traditional method of interview will not save an organisation recruitment problems. Recruitment through interview only can be a costly mistake.

The R.E.A.D. Clinic's appraisal techniques will assist your organisation in discovering unrealised potential, understanding hidden problems and comparing candidates, and for identifying areas for personal development to help employees in their career development.

Our psychologists instruments conform to EEO principals and are administered by trained psychologists only.

2 Entry / Induction

It is becoming increasingly important that an organisation needs to be sure of the sound mental, emotional and physical well-being of its employees. Recruiting the right individual is only the first step ... ensuring their mental and emotional state remains stable is of fundamental importance during the stressful period of commencing a new position or vocation.

Research suggests as many as 12% of employees are troubled by some major concern at any given time. The resultant mental illness, substance abuse or other behavioural problems can have a large impact on organisational well-being, This may be in terms of increased absenteeism, work accidents, compensation claims, decreased productivity and lowering or morale.

3 Support

The Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is a specific support strategy utilised by many organisations. Some of the reasons the EAP has been so effective is that the comprehensive support package is offered to all employees of an organisation, including the spouse and/or immediate family of the employee. The free, confidential and professional counselling service provided ensures both personal and work-related problems can be worked through with minimal impact upon the organisation.

The most common problems are:

• marital / family
• work related issues
• health
• educational / vocational
• emotional
• alcohol / drugs
• financial

 

In addition to the counselling provided for these and many other problems, the R.E.A.D. Clinic is also able to provide a number of add-on services including:

• training programs
• health education seminars
• redundancy seminars and counselling
• trauma debriefing
• rehabilitation support

 

EAP's are consistently shown to reduce absenteeism and accidents, reduce staff turnover, increase productivity and create a far more dynamic corporate culture. Research shows that for every corporate dollar spent on an EAP, three to five dollars are saved. More than 4 million Australians are now covered by a workplace Employee Assistance Program. The Clinic has been providing services for EAP clients in the following areas:

• school education
• police services
• small business
• shire councils
• food manufacturers

 

4 Training and development

Effective training must have clearly identified objectives and result in observable performance improvements. Our training programs are designed to provide positive and structured learning experiences, aimed at satisfying both organisational objectives and personal goals. Our team of psychologists have been chosen to ensure all training is delivered from persons with a wealth of experience and expertise in managing, designing, delivering and evaluating training programs.

These programs include the following:

• assertiveness
• conflict resolution and management
• decision making
• personal development skills
• change management
• communication skills
• motivation leadership
• group mediation

 

The rapid social and workplace change occurring in the modern organisation has also demanded a number of occupational health programs. These include:

• alcohol and drugs in the workplace
• coping with trauma
• managing people - managing stress
• retirement adjustment workshop.

 

5 Exit

Outplacement is a formal service provided to valued employees when termination through redundancy, retrenchment or retirement occurs. Outplacement is designed to provide a dignified exit and to reduce anxiety when outplacement occurs. The R.E.A.D. Clinic's outplacement services include:

• career counselling
• occupational appraisal
• resume preparation

 

Code for Provision of Professional Services

1. Professional psychological counselling to be undertaken only by registered psychologists
2. Maintenance of confidential data, client information not to be released to any person without the client's written authorisation except upon subpeona
3. Provision of reports and program evaluations as required
4. Professional consulting rooms which facilitate confidential counselling
5. Prior notification of any changes in staff performing the psychological services under the contract
6. Secretarial and receptionist services provided at the R.E.A.D. Clinic premises

Code for Accessibility

1. Access to face to face counselling within 24 hours of contact during weekdays
2. Individual counselling
3. Group counselling (eg staff groups)
4. Mediation
5. Access to critical incident debriefing / trauma counselling on an immediate basis within 24 hours of the incident