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#KovsiesCare: HR prioritises mental health in the workplace

30 July 2019 | Story Valentino Ndaba | Photo Barend Nagel

HR Kovsie Care — The great poet Virgil once said: “The greatest wealth is health.”

The World Health Organisation (WHO) recently listed burnout as an occupational phenomenon in the 11th Revision of the International Classification of Diseases. Although not classified as a medical condition, its imprint on employees’ health status is absolute.

The hallmark of any conducive workplace is its ability to assist employees to successfully manage stress. The Occupational Development and Employee Wellness Division at the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Department of Human Resources (HR) continues to make concerted efforts to ensure the good mental and physical health of all staff members.

Solving an occupational dilemma

Burnout is characterised by feelings of energy depletion, increased mental distance from one’s job, and reduced professional efficacy. Over the past few years HR has launched various preventive programmes for support and academic staff as well as service workers.

One of these initiatives is the Power Hour sessions which are hosted at lunchtime across all campuses. These interactive platforms cover topics ranging from pain, emotional intelligence, bullying, healthy eating habits, resilience and anxiety.

Fitness as a stress reliever

Over the years what were known as Takkie Tuesdays and Thursdays have evolved into “Take a Break & Feel the difference”. Staff members take 30-minute walks during lunchtime to boost productivity, confidence, energy levels, concentration and creativity while reducing stress symptoms and preventing lifestyle illnesses.

“Our mission is to cultivate a culture of health and wellness. We believe that when the culture is conducive it affects staff performance. The main purpose is to create an environment where people are mentally and physically well,” said Burneline Kaars, head of the wellness division.

Caring is sharing knowledge

True to its tagline “Care”, which stands for: Create, Attract, Retain, Excellence, the division works around the clock to care for staff members’ mental wellbeing. This includes referring those who need curative measures for free counselling provided by Careways.

Another way through which the division inspires employees to enrich their minds, bodies and souls is the Workout@Work programme that offers cardio exercises after office hours and the Pedometer Challenge which tracks physical movement throughout the day.

“It all boils down to being more active. It gets people to leave the office, enjoy the sun, and become more creative and energised,” says Arina Engelbrecht, Employee Wellness Specialist.

News Archive

Inaugural lecture explores the compatibility of commercial certainty and constitutionalism

2015-10-15

From the left: Prof Caroline Nicholson,
Prof Elizabeth Snyman van Deventer,
Justice Malcolm Wallis and Dr Lis Lange.

Justice Malcolm Wallis presented his inaugural lecture, entitled “Compatibility of commercial certainty and constitutionalism”, to the Faculty of Law on 17 September, 2015. The occasion was attended by faculty staff, students, and senior members of the Bloemfontein judiciary.

In her welcoming remarks, Prof Caroline Nicholson, Dean of the Faculty of Law at the UFS, expressed the immense pride the faculty has in hosting such an occasion, and the remarkable work of Justice Wallis in the South African legal fraternity over his forty-year career.

Justice Wallis spoke of the constitution’s important role in ensuring that the law in commercial matters is enforced fairly without the prejudice or undue influence from the desire to obtain or preserve personal advantage. “Try, if you can, to conceive of a society in which commercial relationships are enforced and enforceable purely as a matter of discretion. Ask yourselves: how would such a society function?” he said.

He reiterated that the role and the rule of law is to guide and protect parties in commercial transactions. It has considerable impact on society in how it is enforced. “Commercial disputes may seem to involve only the parties to the proceedings, but when they involve significant changes to established commercial law, their impact is inevitably wider. Such changes affect other agreements, other relationships, underlying financing transactions, and, in our modern world, contracts of insurance and reinsurance. The latter at least will always have an international dimension,” he said.

He explored specific judgements and the role the concept of “Ubuntu” played in delivering them, the fair enforcement of commercial law, and how this should be an integral part of South African law under the constitution.

In closing, Justice Wallis stated that “in principle, the existence of a constitution and constitutional rights need not destabilise commercial law, or the reasonable expectations of business people.”

Justice Wallis has received numerous accolades locally and internationally during his long career, including his appointment as a Professor Extraordinary in the Department of Mercantile Law at the University of the Free State in 2014.

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