Articles
Educating your employees on unconscious bias
In a diverse country such as South Africa, where people from different races, culture and backgrounds make up one nation, addressing unconscious bias within organisations is not just a matter of ethical responsibility but also a strategic business imperative....
Digital solutions for employee mental health
There is growing evidence that the use of digital tools is beneficial to enhance the delivery of a variety of health care services. When it comes to employee health and wellness, offering digital mental health support and resources can help to send a message that an...
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Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) is at the top of many organisations’ agendas, in both private and public sectors around the world. Activating diversity is a process that involves recognising and embracing differences within the workforce for the benefits that it...
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Employing an engaged and hardworking workforce is still the greatest asset an organisation can have. It follows that if leaders want their organisations to remain successful and see growth in dynamic market conditions, amid thriving competition, they will need to...
Integrating coaching into your EAP: Why it matters for your clients and your company
Over the past three decades, life coaching has developed into a respected profession but only in more recent years has it been an employee support channel offered by EA professionals. Traditionally, coaching was found mainly in the domain of corporate executives and...
Proactively managing high burnout levels among workers in high-risk professions
"While burnout can affect individuals in any profession, workers in certain fields have been proven to be more likely to suffer the effects of burnout."Burnout is a psychological syndrome comprising three factors: emotional exhaustion, feelings of cynicism and...
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Work is not the only thing that causes stress or has a hand in other wellness issues for employees, but employer-sponsored mental health support can offer a critical path toward lower stress and improved mental, physical, emotional and financial wellbeing for their...
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Burnout often results from chronic work-related stress. It is characterised by overwhelming feelings of emotional exhaustion, negativity toward work, and lack of personal accomplishment. In the workplace, this can lead to decreased performance, a decline in creativity...
The Importance of Local Cultural Context in Shaping EAP Counselling
Counselling is a form of talking therapy that entails a trained therapist listening and helping a patient to find ways to deal with emotional issues. Counselling can also be used to treat certain mental health conditions, such as anxiety and depression. Counselling is...
What is the Difference Between Trauma Therapy and Trauma-Informed Care?
The word “trauma” is used to describe emotionally painful and distressing experiences or situations that can overwhelm a person’s ability to cope – where high levels of emotional, psychological or physical distress temporarily disrupt their ability to function...
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There is a growing body of research that shows having more women in the workplace makes an organisation a better place to work - for people of all genders. Their emotional intelligence and intuition help to support healthy workplace relationships and build a...
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Gender-based violence affects people around the world and is rooted in gender inequality. Freedom from violence is a fundamental human right. Thus, gender-based violence is a human rights violation. It constitutes an unrelenting assault on human dignity, undermining a...
Non-visible vs visible disabilities
The World Health Organisation (WHO) describes the term “disability” as covering “impairments, activity limitations and participation restrictions”. Being born with, or acquiring, a disability can be life-altering and bring significant obstacles to everyday life. Life...
How To Support the Wellbeing of Employees Who Balance Work with Caregiving Responsibilities?
For many women, the time they devote to caregiving is the equivalent of a full-time job. This has economic repercussions, as lost income is linked to career choices that are influenced by the physical and time-intensive nature of caregiving. Balancing work and home...
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What is ergonomics? Ergonomics is a science typically known for solving physical problems in the workplace. It is concerned with the good physical “fit” between people and their work. However, ergonomics also deals with psychological and social aspects of people and...
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Although the COVID-19 pandemic has had an effect, to a varying degree, on every generation who experienced it, it is highly likely to have had the most profound impact on Generation Z (Gen Z). These are young people born between 1997 and 2013 – now aged between 10 and...
Creating Sustainable Wellbeing Practices to Enable Your People and Business to Thrive
Building a thriving organisation and supporting employee wellbeing have traditionally been viewed as two separate undertakings, with wellbeing seen as a “nice-to-have”. In fact, these initiatives go hand in hand, because practices that are beneficial for the...
The Challenges and Opportunities of Digital Wellbeing Platforms
The healthcare industry is rapidly evolving and adopting new technologies at a rapid pace. Digital advancements have made keeping track of our mental and physical health so much easier and digital health can be positive and empowering for corporate wellbeing. However,...
Training Managers to Prioritise the Wellbeing of Hybrid Teams
Managers are the most important connectors between the upper and lower levels in an organisation – between the leaders and the workforce. Vital information flows through managers from multiple channels. Most of the time, organisations overlook that their managers have...
Framing Wellbeing Within Your Organisation to Drive Engagement
Some organisations focus on measuring and evaluating their employees’ engagement, while others focus on improving their workers’ wellbeing. However, it has been found that there is a striking correlation between engagement and wellbeing. For example, when an employee...
Well-Conceived Recognition and Reward Programmes Reinforce Employee Wellbeing
Thanks to Covid, and the myriad of challenges that came with it, people are struggling with stress and anxiety like never before. It is understood as inevitable that, over time, the anxiety and stress from which employees are suffering will significantly decrease...
EAP’s Role and Opportunity in Developing Employee Financial Wellness
Financial wellness is a key component of every employee’s overall wellbeing and can have a big impact on mental health. Individuals struggling financially are more likely to experience mental health issues that can detract from meeting work responsibilities. With...
Building a people-centric organisation and culture
It is common for employees to feel undervalued and overlooked, so they disengage. They may even actively dislike working for their employer but they stay to collect a pay cheque, or because the job market is not conducive to finding a new job. As employees, they are...
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A trigger is an automatic response to a specific stimulus. Emotional triggers are human beings’ automatic response to memories, situations, objects or people that spark an intense negative emotion within them. When we are triggered, our reaction may be challenging for...
The Importance of Educating Employees About Alcohol and Substance Abuse
Employers are often faced with employees who show the signs of problematic substance use while in their employ. According to The International Labour Organisation Code of Conduct on the management of alcohol-and drug-related issues in the workplace, an employer should...
How to Step Up Mental Health and Wellbeing Support – Whatever Your Budget
Poor employee wellbeing can be detrimental to an organisation. It obstructs employee engagement, decreases productivity, can curtail creativity and spreads like a wildfire. Following on from poor employee wellbeing, low team morale negatively impacts employee...
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Two of the most important things that organisations need to grasp and act upon are firstly that their employees are their greatest asset. After all, it is your employees who innovate, design, build, market and sell your products and services. And secondly, engaged...
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If employees are not feeling at their best, but are also not feeling at their worst, it is possible that they find themselves in a languishing state – described as a state of stagnation and emptiness. Languishing employees are likely to be disengaged from members of...
Employee Assistance Practitioners: Maintaining ethical standards
The Employee Assistance professional will always have concurrent client responsibilities, serving both the work organisation and the individual employee or family member. The distinctive "dual client" nature of employee assistance work can complicate ethical...
Integrating DEI with Wellbeing to Support the Needs of a Multi-Generational Workforce
Many leaders treat Employee Health & Wellness and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) initiatives as two distinct programmes within their organisations, despite the fact that they are inextricably connected. As a feeling of acceptance and belonging is closely...