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‘I Am’ wellness programme sets the table for employees to thrive

04 March 2021 | Story Leonie Bolleurs

Organisational Development and Employee Well-being in the Department of Human Resources at the University of the Free State will again present the successful ‘I Am’ employee wellness short-learning programme.

The programme is also supported by well-known South Africans, including Miss South Africa and Miss World 2014, Rolene Strauss, and the survivor and motivational speaker, Alison Botha. It has been developed to help improve the well-being of employees in all seven areas of wellness (physical, psychological, spiritual, environmental, emotional, social, and financial).

You have control over your wellness

Strauss says it is important to look after your mental wellness in order to maintain balance and productivity at home and at work. According to her, employees who are thriving, happy and productive, set the table for a thriving organisation.

Botha, who survived a horrendous crime in 1994, says we cannot always control what happens to us, but we always get to choose how to respond in these circumstances. The lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic is a good example; we cannot control the lockdown, but we can control our wellness during the lockdown. She recommends the ‘I Am’ employee wellness short-learning programme. “By choosing to take part in the programme, you can show yourself how much you value and care for yourself and for your wellness,” she says.

Carmine Nieman, industrial psychologist and counsellor from Organisational Development and Employee Well-being, says that, through various activities and methods, they aim to empower employees to increase their own personal and work-related well-being. She believes that this programme will further encourage employees to reach their full potential in both their work and personal lives.

The central theme of this short-learning programme is: ‘I am … a great person with great potential’.

Practical programme will motivate and inspire

According to Nieman, this is a registered eight-week short-learning programme that will require about two hours per week to complete one unit. “This programme will motivate and inspire employees to improve their well-being by participating in weekly sessions consisting of various activities developed to facilitate an improved understanding of well-being and to build skills in well-being.”

Completion of this registered programme will empower employees to not just increase their well-being in the present but will also equip them to increase their well-being in the future. – Carmine Nieman

This practical programme (where you complete certain activities to learn skills in well-being, e.g. coping, anger management, dealing with depression, dealing with anxiety, identifying strengths, self-care techniques, sleeping techniques, and EQ) will be presented online and will take approximately two hours of your time per week. The programme is very flexible, with no specific scheduled contact sessions, allowing you to complete it in your own time and space.

“Completion of this registered programme will empower employees to not just increase their well-being in the present but will also equip them to increase their well-being in the future,” she says.

It is presented free of charge for employees of the UFS.

Persons who are not UFS employees and who are interested in doing the programme, are also welcome. Although the programme opened for registration today (3 March 2021) and will start on 5 April 2021, companies from outside the university are welcome to negotiate their own specific dates that will suit the needs of their teams. Please contact Nieman to enquire about the cost.

As it is a registered short-learning programme, all employees (both UFS and external employees) who participate in the programme will receive a certificate as well as credits upon completion of the course.

For more information, please email: IAmWellnesssLP@ufs.ac.za You are also welcome to direct questions to Nieman on niemancl@ufs.ac.za

News Archive

State-of-the-art physics equipment and investment in students result in academic success

2017-09-26

At the recent nanotechnology facility tour at the UFS,
were, from the left, Dr Mthuthuzeli Zamxaka, SAASTA;
Prof Hendrik Swart, Sarchi Chair in the Department of Physics;
and Xolani Makhoba, Department of Science and Technology.
Photo: Leonie Bolleurs

Nanoscience, which is revealing new properties of very small arrangements of atoms, called nanoparticles, is opening a new world of possibilities. The Department of Physics at the University of the Free State is undertaking fundamental research with potential commercial applications. Its equipment and expertise is giving solid state physics research the edge in South Africa.

The UFS team of researchers and students are passionate about studying planets and atoms, all under one roof. Recently, the department, in collaboration with the South African Agency for Science and Technology Advancement (SAASTA), hosted a nanotechnology facility tour to give the public, learners and the media the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the science of nanotechnology, its origins, potential applications and risks.

Successes of the department
According to Prof Hendrik Swart, Senior Professor in the Department of Physics, the increase in resources since 2008 is playing a big role in the success rate of its research outputs. The Sarchi Chair awarded to Prof Swart in 2012 (bringing with it funding for equipment and bursaries) also contributed to the successes in the department.

The UFS Directorate Research Development also availed funding that was used for bursaries. These bursaries made it possible for the department to appoint 10 post-doctoral fellows, not one of them originally from South Africa.

The investment in people and equipment resulted in researchers and students publishing some 80 articles in 2016. Their work was also cited more than 900 times by other researchers in that year.

Another highlight in terms of the department’s growth in the past 10 years is the new wing of the Physics Building. Physics at the UFS is the only place in sub-Saharan Africa where state-of-the art equipment is found under one roof.

Antonie Fourie, Junior Lecturer in the UFS Department of
Physics, explained to a group of delegates and
members of the media the workings of an electron beam
evaporation system.
Photo: Leonie Bolleurs

Application of research
The department is a unique research facility with equipment that includes the X-ray Photoelectron Spectrometer (for the study of atoms), the Scanning Auger Microscope, as well as the Ion Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometer (revealing the chemical bonds in a sample, and drawing maps of the positions of atoms).

One of the areas on which the department is focusing its research, is phosphors. Researchers are exploring light emitting diodes (LEDs) which use less energy, are brighter and provide a wider viewing field. They are also looking into LED displays (LCDs) which are used in flat screens – the phosphors create the different colours and backlighting.

The research on solar cells reveals that phosphors can increase their efficiency by increasing the range of light frequencies which can be converted into electricity. Glow-in-the-dark coatings absorb light in the day and emit it later so cells can charge at night. As glow-in-the-dark phosphors become cheaper and more effective, they can be used as a lighting substitute on the walls of houses, street numbers and stop signs.

Video production of the Department of Physics research and equipment

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