Employee Well-being and HIV programme consulting

Employee wellness is important to organizational success. South Africa’s employers recognize the benefits of investing in the wellness of their employees.

A high proportion of employers across a broad spectrum of industries feel that the wellness benefits they offer are appreciated by their employees, positively impact their health and well-being, and create long-term value for the organization.

Increasingly, research suggests that employers can reduce costs by investing in the health and well-being of their employees. This includes both the direct costs of providing healthcare and indirect costs, such as absenteeism and reduced productivity.

Many employers recognize the wider potential benefits of investing in wellness and have used it to promote the achievement of other important objectives.

For example, investing in wellness can lead to, amongst other things, improving employee engagement and building individual resilience; strengthening the employee value proposition to attract and retain the best talent; and building the organization’s reputation and brand.

There should be a clear strategy for investing in wellness, including clearly defined objectives, which is consistent with the overall strategy and values of the organization, states the analysis. In addition, it should be based on a clear and thorough understanding of the health and wellness profile of the particular organization.

Although wellness is usually considered to fall under the auspices of the HR department, a number of other departments also have an interest in or are involved or responsible for various aspects of wellness.

Adopting an integrated approach means the strategy covers all these areas and the roles of each in implementing and monitoring the outcomes are clearly defined.

Employers are in a unique position to investigate the health needs of their employees and to develop interventions and initiatives which aim to maximize the impact both on employees’ well-being, but also on the companies’ healthcare costs, productivity, and long-term value of human capital.

The analysis suggests that data analytics and actuarial modeling can be powerful tools in providing a clear and more complete picture of the direct and indirect health-related costs, and current and future risks, to which an organization is exposed.

This can assist in identifying sources of total costs, drivers of cost increases, and particular issues to be targeted. The rapid spread of HIV/AIDS is having an increasingly adverse impact on the operations of many companies and employee households.

In countries and communities where HIV/AIDS is most concentrated, companies have experienced increased production costs, reduced profits, and greater difficulty delivering products and services.

For example, an electricity company in Zambia and a water company in Namibia have experienced disruptions in service because of the loss of skilled workers to HIV/AIDS. Employees experience long periods of absenteeism, extensive out-of-pocket expenses for medical care, and the trauma of caring for family and friends who are ill with HIV/AIDS.

Whether a company operates in a low-prevalence country or a high-prevalence country, HIV/AIDS is now a factor that affects all managers, workers’ representatives, and employees.

HIV/AIDS also affects human resources management, employee welfare, operations efficiency and customer relations.