The expectation of every employer is that employees should be goal-oriented and deliver high performance.
However, often at times, companies do very little to invest in employees’ development to ensure effectiveness in the workplace. During a wellness day workshop held on Thursday, National AIDS and Health Promotion Agency (NAHPA) affirmed the importance of investing in and fostering the wellbeing of employees as a performance booster.
The day’s theme was ’embedding wellness into the workplace, built on health promotion activities or policies that support positive employee health and behavior’.
From physical workouts, medical screenings, mental and financial health education, the activity sought to develop and nurture a culture of workplace wellness.
Tsotlhe Taupedi, a Mental Health Therapist from Botswana Network for Mental Health (BONMEH) delivered the keynote address, the focal point being how employees’ mental wellbeing affects their productivity.
“Someone who is mentally stable is productive. Poor mental health can interfere with focus and attention, making it much harder to get things done.”
Taupedi stressed the importance of seeking help in order to get the assistance needed. He says there is a need to abolish misconceptions that exist concerning mental health issues as they are mostly the reason why people shy away from asking for and getting the help they need.
“We need people in management roles who understand mental wellbeing and prioritize it.” According to Taupedi, the aftermath of ignoring workplace wellness constitutes low performance, low level of support from employees and poor decision making.
Bame Shatera from NAHPA quoted the adage “if you listen to your body when it whispers, you won’t have to hear it when it screams.” She applauded NAHPA management for putting together the activity as it presented a good opportunity for employees to detox and self-reflect after an entire year of taking care of the nation.
NAHPA exists to coordinate National Response through a sustained multi-sectoral partnership to prevent new HIV infections and reduce the burden of NCD’s and AIDS
