Chapter 13: Wellness and Employee Engagement

 Chapter 13: Wellness and employee engagement  Learning outcomes After reading this chapter, you should be able to: Explain the concept of employee wellness and what it means for the organisation Discuss how employee wellness impacts on employee engagement Briefly...

 Chapter 13: Wellness and employee engagement  Learning outcomes After reading this chapter, you should be able to: Explain the concept of employee wellness and what it means for the organisation Discuss how employee wellness impacts on employee engagement Briefly explain the World Health Organization Healthy Workplace Model within the South African context Design an employee wellness programme that addresses the specific wellness challenges of the South African organisation Discuss the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on employee wellness and the role of organisations in ensuring wellness Advise on wellness strategies for remote working. Levels of employee wellness  Overview of wellness The SABPP (2015) defines employee wellness as “a strategy to ensure that a safe and healthy work and social environment is created and maintained, together with individual wellness commitment that enables employees to perform optimally while meeting all health and safety legislative requirements and other relevant wellness good practices in support of the achievement of organisational objectives”.  Origins of the concept of wellness Dunn developed a model outlining levels of well-being, and the environment in which they are situated: o Quadrant one: People who have a high level of wellness and the financial resources to support this. o Quadrant two: People whose wellness needs are met by the environment that they find themselves in. o Quadrant three: People who are extremely poor and in an environment where good health is almost impossible. o Quadrant four: People who know how to lead a healthy lifestyle but are unable to do so due to limited funds and limited opportunities.  The evolution of the concept of wellness, cont. Hettler (2004) introduced six dimensions to wellness. The evolution of the concept of wellness, cont. The dimensions of employee wellness within a South African context Designing a wellness reward policy can assist in achieving a healthy and holistically well workforce. A wellness points system can easily be introduced. Which aspects of this figure could  A lack of financial wellness in employees According to the Employee Assistance Professionals Association of South Africa (EAPA-SA), the lack of financial wellness in employees can disadvantage an employer in three ways: o A loss of productivity because employees with financial problems can suffer from sleep deprivation, which results in them not being able to think critically o Effects on mental health, leading to absenteeism or presenteeism o Increased incidents of fraud and theft of company property. In the South African context the minimum wage is R27,58 per hour, which translates into R4 412,80 a month for a 40-hour week. This results in many employees living in debt and making poor financial decisions. HRM initiatives can help them make better financial decisions.  Legislative compliance The following legislation governs employee wellness in South Africa: o The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (108 of 1996) o Occupational Health and Safety Act (85 of 1993) o Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act (130 of 1993) o Employment Equity Act (55 of 1998) o Basic Conditions of Employment Act (75 of 1997) o Labour Relations Act (66 of 1995) o National Policy for Health Act (116 of 1990) o Unemployment Insurance Act (63 of 2001) o Skills Development Act (97 of 1998) o Skills Development Levies Act (9 of 1999). Wellness in the workplace according to the World Health Organization  The person-environment fit theory The person-environment fit (P-E fit theory) is a work- related stress theory. It proposes that stress does not arise from either the person or the environment but rather by the interaction between people and their workplace environment. A job environment should meet an employee’s work- related needs, such as autonomy and support from managers and peers. The WHO Healthy Workplace Model  Work design and wellness Work design is comprised of the tasks, activities, responsibility, and authority you have when executing the duties of your job. To support employee wellness, Das & Gope (2014) recommend that employees: o Are equipped with the necessary resources and support to successfully perform their duties o Are assigned challenging work that will enable growth and exposure to the next level of work, for example, an opportunity Organisational culture and wellness Culture is the unwritten set of rules that inform how things are done in an organisation. There is a saying: ‘Culture eats strategy for breakfast.’ cultur strate It is critical to establish a culture of wellness in an eorganisation. gy Wellness is a joint responsibility between HR, management, and employees. HRM can make employee health part of all managers’ scorecards and include a 360-degree performance evaluation where subordinates can anonymously rate their managers’ efforts to promote wellness in the team. This could include aspects such as support from the manager, especially during stressful work periods.  Leadership and wellness Leader stress can create stress and anxiety in employees. Positive leadership behaviours are associated with a low degree of employee stress and a high level of employee wellness. The type of leadership style influences levels of employee wellness: o Transformational leadership is strongly associated with the well- being of employees. o Employees with a passive leader have been reported to have higher psychological work fatigue and poorer  Personal health resources in the workplace Personal health resources in the workplace consist of: o the supportive environment o health services o information o resources o opportunities o flexibility. The organisation offers these to workers to support or motivate their efforts to improve or maintain healthy personal lifestyle practices, as well as to monitor and support their ongoing physical and mental health. Most organisations make use of an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to assist them in promoting employee wellness. HRM must have a wellness strategy and communicate this to management. Enterprise community involvement Enterprise community involvement entails community projects to uplift society (corporate social responsibility). In South African communities, the top wellness challenges are: o Human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (Aids) o Tuberculosis (TB) o Trauma and gender-based violence (GBV) o Substance abuse (SA) and alcoholism o Other lifestyle diseases.  The workplace of the 21st century For the employer, the shift from industrial age to information age means an increasing demand to employ top talent, not lose it. The well-being of employees is central to talent retention. For the employee, the shift from industrial age to information age is: o Liberating in how it allows employees to juggle multiple complex tasks as well as increased job mobility o Oppressive in how it removes discretion, overloads people, and interferes with their home lives. Employee engagement  Employee engagement, cont. According to studies conducted by Gallup, there are three levels of employee engagement: o Engaged employees: They are enthusiastic about their work, go the extra mile, are innovative, high performers, psychologically invested and do what they can to move the organisation forward. o Disengaged employees: These employees are psychologically unattached to their work; they put in time, but not energy, and do the bare minimum. o Actively disengaged employees: These types of employees are resentful and act out their unhappiness all the time. They undermine what engaged employees accomplish and waste time at work. Engaged employees make it easier to reach goals and be competitive.  Engagement and burnout Burnout is a continued response to recurring emotional and interpersonal stressors on the job and is characterised by exhaustion, cynicism, and inefficacy. It can lead to mental health issues. Employee engagement is the opposite of job burnout, HRM should indicating that promote a burnout erodes employee engagement. culture of There are six areas of an employee’s work wellness in life that lead to either engagement or burnout: terms of o rewards and recognition working o workload hours. o perceived fairness  Engagement and the job-demands resources model Bakker and Demerouti (2007) created the job demands job-demands resources (JD-R) model. job resources Factors associated with job stress are classified into two categories: o job demands are the physical, social, and psychological or organisational features of the job that can result in psychological and physiological costs o job resources include the physical, social, and psychological or organisational features of the job that help an Designing and establishing a wellness programme