Workplace wellness isn’t just about physical health – it encompasses mental well-being, work-life balance, and a supportive company culture. From reducing stress to boosting productivity, investing in employee wellness leads to long- term success for both individuals and organisations. Dr Lerato Motshudi, Medical Manager at Netcare Akeso, weighs in.
Over the past decade, mental and emotional health have been among the leading causes of absenteeism and disability, according to Lerato. Workplace wellness programmes can play a role in addressing these risks, by:
• Building awareness of the implications of unmanaged stress, poor work/ life balance and burnout. At Netcare Akeso, a significant number of patients with depression and anxiety cite work as their main source of stress.
• Educating and empowering employees to recognise the signs of mental and emotional triggers. For instance, stress doesn’t start with not being productive. It begins with a thought, then a physiological response – both can be recognised. Mindful individuals are better equipped to interrogate their responses and be empowered to make use of coping mechanisms earlier on.
• Creating workplaces that encourage employees to take breaks to connect with friends and colleagues. Some go as far as creating spaces that are calming, bringing in elements of nature – a space for employees to step away from their desks and screens.
• Modelling principles of work-life balance through managers leading by example, and rewarding those who encourage a healthy balance of hard work and fun and rest to their teams.
Research has shown that there are a few areas that consistently lead to frustration and even burnout that “if taken care of, could lead to healthier and more pleasant work experiences.”
Lerato suggests these changes you can make to enhance your well-being at work:
Prioritise rest and self-care Repeated periods of rest after work and on off-days like weekends are necessary to recharge and rejuvenate your mind. Add pleasant stimulation Take a break from loud noises and screen time, and replace them with what you find pleasurable to your senses. Music, outdoor activities, exercise... anything that gives you a break from what you associate with your usual cause of stress.
Glamour: How does career fulfilment contribute to wellness?
Lerato Motshudi: You know your career is fulfilling when the work you do aligns with your values and integrates well with the rest of your life, with a balance between personal and professional life. It offers you a sense of stability, clarity as to what you’re contributing, and you feel you have enough control and autonomy to make decisions. Employers can contribute to employee job fulfilment by creating a healthy environment for connecting with others, personal development, and a workspace that feels safe for sharing of ideas, especially opposing ones. Being fulfilled in your career gives you a sense of purpose, an internal sense of meaning and achievement – this often wins you compliments and makes you feel good about yourself. Being fulfilled is motivating and can boost self-esteem. Happiness derived from being fulfilled by the work we do leads to reduced stress, and reduced risks of high blood pressure and heart disease.
Glamour: What strategies can help us avoid burnout, yet grow professionally?
LM: Mindfulness – Daily moments of reflection without judging yourself or your responses, creating self-awareness and reducing the number of times we react to situations in ways we regret later. It’s a powerful mental wellness tool to help you evaluate your emotions and thoughts objectively.
Setting boundaries – This practice requires discipline. Burnout is caused by several factors, but in the main it involves lack of rest and breaks over a We know skipping just one night of good sleep interferes with mood and creativity, and when there’s no rest for sustained or repeated periods, this can affect your health and immune system.
Rest is more than just sleep.
It’s connecting socially with friends, family and colleagues, and experiencing a change of environment; for example, going for a hike, or any other activity in a setting that helps get your mind off work.
Meditation and mindfulness
Meditation, yoga, Pilates and journaling are examples of what’s known as constructive rest. This is ‘active’ rest, which releases tension from your mind and your body. These practices help us to engage with our thoughts and emotions in a way that gives us better control over how we respond to them.
Add pleasant stimulation
Take a break from loud noises and screen time, and replace them with what you find pleasurable to your senses. Music, outdoor activities, exercise... anything that gives you a break from what you associate with your usual cause of stress.
Supportive network – Social contact and connectedness is an important part of mental wellbeing, which alleviates feelings of loneliness and helps prevent loss of motivation and purpose. Being part of a network of colleagues and friends is critical in preventing burnout.
Glamour: How can leaders prioritise team wellness and not compromise goals?
LM: Open communication with your teams about their needs is important. While some employees may value flexible working hours, others may prefer regularity and predictability in their hours to allow them to plan. Regularly check staff workloads, reward and recognise good performance, and empower staff with autonomy to make important decisions regarding their work.
Glamour: What are the wellness benefits of a positive work environment?
LM: A positive work environment is one where there is clear and honest communication, there is inclusivity, every employee knows what is expected of them and how their performance is measured. In such an environment, employees feel they’re treated with compassion and respect. Positive work environments create the psychological safety needed for individuals to feel safe, and feel free to speak up, contribute and disagree. Such environments tend to experience creativity and innovation where employees take initiative and want to excel. Employees tend to have improved mental health, and this promotes better physical health too.
Glamour: How does open communication foster mental health at work?
LM: Open communication between employees and managers is when employees feel free to express their thoughts, ideas and concerns, and can share and receive honest feedback with their managers. Equally, there’s adequate trust in the relationship for managers to invite input, actively listen, and be constructive in engaging with teams. Communicating effectively is a critical competence in the workplace and for teams to communicate openly, the environment must be conducive. Research has found that open and effective communication directly leads to greater job satisfaction, and indirectly has a positive impact on reducing stress, anxiety and depression. Environments with open comms enjoy greater depth of teamwork and collaboration, thereby reducing stress, making employees feel supported, and promoting mental well-being.
Glamour: What role does physical wellness play in career wellness?
LM: Career wellness is when you have a balance between work and leisure and you’re personally satisfied there’s alignment between your values, goals and lifestyle. A career’s an important life decision, so the attitude you do it with affects your overall wellness. Beyond this, your performance in your career depends on your energy, health and endurance. Physical wellness keeps you healthier for longer, preventing or managing chronic conditions that would otherwise negatively affect productivity. Employees who put in at least 75 minutes or more of high-intensity physical exercise a week are four times less likely to be absent from work. The benefits of being physically healthy are innumerable: better mind-body connection, improved energy levels, boosted confidence, better stress management. All these factors will position you better in your career growth. And make you happier.