HT : Help is just a call away : Aug 8, 2007

Help is just a call away
 ICASIndia offers a 24-hour counselling helpline to employees. Counsellors
advise employees of companies that subscribe to the service on stress and
personal problems
 Naomi Canton
Mumbai

AN INDIAN company is so convinced about the need for a service offering
counselling to stressed-out employees, that it has started a business
offering just that.

ICAS (Independent Counselling and Advisory Services) India is a tie up with
a British company, headquartered in Mumbai, that offers a 24hour counselling
helpline to employees in India.

Companies subscribe to its service and their staff can use it whenever they
want and get advice from Mumbaibased counsellors on anything, from work
stress to personal problems.

The service is confidential, but ICAS sends regular reports to its clients,
advising them of the general types of stresses workers are phoning about.
Vasudevan Srinivasan, director ICASIndia, admitted he was struggling to
persuade Indian HR bosses to invest in the service. So far he has just three
clients in India, all based in Mumbai, of which two are MNCs.

"Many Indian companies are not convinced they need the service," he said.
"But we are trying to educate people about this service and to persuade
Indians to use it. Traditionally, Indians have not used services like this,
but I think more and more people are turning to professional help rather
than talking to their aunt or grandma."

Most of the calls the helpline had been getting since it started a year ago
were connected to work stress, broken relationships and bereavement, he
added.

Srinivasan said that in the US it was a legal requirement for companies to
offer mental health services, but In dia was far from that because there
were so many other issues to grapple with. But he predicted that telephone
counselling would take off.

"Companies want to manage talent and one of the critical drivers is quali ty
of life. It is not just about perform ance-related bonuses and the work it
self, you have to look at the work-life balance you are offering staff," he
said.
naomi.canton@hindustantimes.com


Publication : HT; Section : Metro; Pg : 2; Date : 8/8/07
URL
:http://epaper.hindustantimes.com/artMailDisp.aspx?article=08_08_2007_002_007&typ=0&pub=264