Sonder EAP overview

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Compared to the other EAP providers in the top 5 list, Sonder works with the fewest companies. However, those companies are big (e.g. McDonalds).

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Sonder differentiates itself by focusing on care when in a crisis. It provides limited access to counselling, instead offering a 24/7 helpline that employees can access when they feel at risk of harming themselves or others. Other features emphasising employee safety include journey tracking and alerts when travelling. This makes it a great choice for big organisations where employees are often on the move.

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Sonder generally has positive reviews from employees but there are a few question marks around how confidential the platform is. The tracking features on the application do mean that Sonder have more data on employees than the average EAP and some reviews suggest this is not appropriately safeguarded.

Counselling on Sonder

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Sonder does offer counselling as part of the product but it is unclear how employees access this service. The example from the website shows employees being connected to a Support coordinator which suggests that there is at least one triage step before employees can access care.

The limited information does reflect how counselling is not the centre of Sonder’s product and it is worth asking more questions here if you are interested in a demo of the platform.

Other services on Sonder

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Integrations

Sonder does not currently offer any integrations for either employees or admins. Employees must visit the Sonder portal to access and admins must manage their plan from there as well.

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Confidentiality

Sonder advertises many of its features that monitor employee whereabouts in particular, sometimes also reporting data back to the company. Here is an example feature advertised on their website: ‘Check on Me’ for peace of mind – Set scheduled safety check-ins, with alerts to our team if a member doesn’t respond

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This means that Sonder holds far more information than most EAPs on employees and the flow of information between the employee app and admin app is not clearly defined. This is reflected in some of the reviews for Sonder.

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Best reviews for Sonder

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Safety features are excellent

Reviews are more sparse for Sonder than other products but Google reviews do highlight how employees appreciate the safety features it offers.

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Iterate and launch new features quickly

The positive Glassdoor reviews show that the product is always changing and being iterated upon, with new features being shipped regularly.

Bad reviews for Sonder

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Poor transparency

Across Glassdoor and Google there are mentions of a lack of transparency in company culture. This impacts both how the company sells its product to businesses and how employees feel about some of the features.

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Expensive for what it is

There is limited information on price but some comments suggest that Sonder is far more expensive than other similar EAPs for the same feature set.

Sonder is designed for big companies who have employees frequently on the move or working with the public. For these companies, the 24/7 helpline and tracking features are great for keeping employees safe and providing immediate support in a crisis. Reviews suggest that these are also the features that employees most appreciate.

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On the other hand, Sonder does not have as much focus on providing on-demand counselling or mental health advice for employees who are not currently in crisis. This makes them more of a reactive service for worst case scenarios.

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There are also concerns around how lack of transparency permeates company culture. This is evident in both descriptions of sales processes and how the product works. This is worth investigating further before buying.

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If you are looking for EAPs that provide a holistic service for supporting employee mental health, try one of the other top 5 EAPs.