최근 우리나라의 근로자들이 직면하고 있는 실직이나 이직, 맞벌이와 보육, 직무스트레스 등의 문제는 근로자 개인에게 심각한 고충을 야기함은 물론 업무성과 등에도 부정적인 영향을 미쳐 업무조직의 비효율성을 초래하고 있다. 따라서 직장생활에서 근로자가 당면할 수 있는 문제의 본질을 파악하고, 적극적인 개입과 예방활동을 통해 근로자의 대처능력을 고양하며, 각종 문제를 유발하는 직무 환경적 요인을 수정ㆍ보완하는 것은 매우 중요하다. 이를 위해 서구의 기업들은 일찍부터 근로자 지원프로그램(Employee Assistance Programs)을 도입하여 개인 근로자의 신체적·정서적 문제를 완화시키고, 조직의 생산성을 고양해 나가고 있다. 이에 본 연구에서는 전통적인 EAPs가 관심을 가져온 문제들에 대한 우리나라 근로자들의 경험 정도를 파악하고, 이러한 문제들이 특히 근로자의 업무성과에 미칠 수 있는 영향력을 측정하였다. 그 결과 근로자의 사회심리적 당면문제는 정신 및 신체건강, 의료, 가족, 정보ㆍ교육, 업무, 퇴직, 재해ㆍ폭력, 문화ㆍ여가 등의 분야로 요약될 수 있는데, 이중 특히 업무문제와 퇴직문제는 업무의 집중력을 저하시키며, 건강문제는 이직의사를 높이는 것으로 나타났다. 한편 응답자의 대부분은 EAPs와 같은 전담기구의 필요성에 일치된 견해를 보였으며, 그 형태에 있어서는 사내보다 지역사회나 전문서비스기관 등을 통한 외부 개입을 선호하는 것으로 나타났다. 따라서 향후 우리나라의 기업복지는 과거 물질중심의 생활보조적 성격을 지양하고, EAPs와 같이 근로자가 당면한 제반 문제와 욕구에 기초한 심리사회적 지원사업을 강화하여, 개인의 문제해결과 조직의 생산성을 함께 고양할 수 있는 효과적인 질적 서비스의 확충에 역점을 두어야 할 것이다.

While U.S. companies have identified and resolved personal concerns through Employee Assistance Programs(EAPs), Korean firms have neither launched the EAPs nor offered similar programs in order to manage employees' early retirement, job stress, substance abuse, or family conflicts. If these problems raises the recent increase in highest both human suffering and reduced job performance, one must see that the adaptation of EAPs will be the priority not only for maintaining valuable human resources but also for controlling negative costs in the workplace. This study have examined the essence of problems that the Korean employees encountered and their impacts on job performance in the workplace. The findings suggest that the concerns of respondents could be summarized into mental and physical health, medical assistance, family relations, information and education, job relations, retirement, accidents and violence, and leasure and cultural activities. In particular, the issues of job relations and retirement prevented the respondents from concentrating their attention on the jobs, and the issue of health problem often raised the intention of leaving their jobs. Although most of the respondents agreed to adapt EAPs, but the majority preferred the external to the internal EAPs. The results of the study are expected to contribute to an understanding of troubled workers and to promote employee assistance needs and social service interventions for both employees and their families, and thereby ultimately gain an overall improvement in the quality of work-life.

While U.S. companies have identified and resolved personal concerns through Employee Assistance Programs(EAPs), Korean firms have neither launched the EAPs nor offered similar programs in order to manage employees' early retirement, job stress, substance abuse, or family conflicts. If these problems raises the recent increase in highest both human suffering and reduced job performance, one must see that the adaptation of EAPs will be the priority not only for maintaining valuable human resources but also for controlling negative costs in the workplace. This study have examined the essence of problems that the Korean employees encountered and their impacts on job performance in the workplace. The findings suggest that the concerns of respondents could be summarized into mental and physical health, medical assistance, family relations, information and education, job relations, retirement, accidents and violence, and leasure and cultural activities. In particular, the issues of job relations and retirement prevented the respondents from concentrating their attention on the jobs, and the issue of health problem often raised the intention of leaving their jobs. Although most of the respondents agreed to adapt EAPs, but the majority preferred the external to the internal EAPs. The results of the study are expected to contribute to an understanding of troubled workers and to promote employee assistance needs and social service interventions for both employees and their families, and thereby ultimately gain an overall improvement in the quality of work-life.

Employee Assistance Programs, employees' stress, job performance, occupational social work