Malawi University of Business and Applied

Sciences
Course: Human Resources Management

Topic: Employee Wellness

By Andrew Mkwate
Objectives

a. State the reasons for concern with well-being/ work-life balance

b. Describe the changing nature of work and its implications on
employee well-being
c. Work-life Balance
d. Approaches to achieving work-balance
Key concepts and terms

Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)

- a confidential, employer-sponsored service designed to help
employees manage personal and work-related challenges that
may affect their performance, health, and well-being
Work environment
- encompasses physical, psychological, social, and organizational
conditions under which employees operate. It directly influences
morale, productivity, retention, and compliance.
Quality of working life
- refers to the favorableness of the job environment for
employees, encompassing physical, psychological, social,
and organizational dimensions.

Work-life balance
refers to the equilibrium between professional responsibilities
and personal life—ensuring employees can fulfill work duties
without compromising health, family, or personal growth
Introduction

It is important for employers to have mentally and physically

healthy employees who are productive, who show a high
degree of commitment and motivation and who are not
absent from work much, which results in lower health
insurance costs.
However, the organizational stress that individuals, as
employees, experience in their workplace is one of the
most frequent forms of stress, because people spend most
of their time at work. (Lazarevic & Lukic, 2021)
10/6/2025 Presented by Andrew Mkwate-Lecturer- HRM 6
Employee Well being

According to Armstrong (2009)the well-being of employees depends

on the quality of working- life provided by their employers – the
feelings of satisfaction and happiness arising from the work itself and
the work environment.
Taylor (2008) defines the quality of working life as being related to
the basic extrinsic job factors of wages, hours and working conditions
and the intrinsic factors of the work itself.
• It is relates to the HR aspects of work involvement, intrinsic job
motivation, job satisfaction and happiness
Why should employers be concerned with employee well-
being?

Armstrong (2009)
a. They have a duty of care and this means adopting a socially
responsible approach to looking after their people.
b. As part of the total reward system.
c. It enhances employee commitment and help to establish the
organisation as a ‘best place to work’.
Source: Adapted from Global Wellness Institute, 2016
• Employees always experience anxiety, work overload, loss of control,
pressure, long working hours and insufficient personal time if work-
life balance is absent in an aorganisation (Dzimbiri, 2022)

• According to Dzimbiri (2022)work-life balance is an inherent nature of

employement relationships that the employer and employee always
wants to maximize returns in their relationships.
Aspects of Employee Well being

Three aspects
a. Employee Health and safety
b. Job design factors
c. A satisfactory work environment, which includes dealing with how
people are treated at work, managing stress, attending to work–life
balance issues, providing services for individuals including
employee assistance programmes, and group services.

According to Armstrong (2011)’the way people are treated is a matter

of managerial behaviour, achieving work–life balance and dealing with
issues such as stress, harassment and bullying,
The Role of Managerial behavior

Managers have a critical role through

recognizing employees as individuals with different needs and
wants,
rewarding their achievements,
helping them to develop,
and treating them with consideration as human beings
Work–life balance

Definitions
Work–life balance employment practices are concerned with
providing scope for employees to balance what they do at work with
the responsibilities and interests they have outside work and so
reconcile the competing claims of work and home by meeting their
own needs as well as those of their employers.(Armstrong,2006)
The Work Foundation (2003b) defines the concept of work–life
balance as ‘about employees achieving a satisfactory equilibrium
between work and non-work activities (ie parental responsibilities
and wider caring duties, as well as other activities and interests)
Approaches to achieving Work-life Balance

1. Designing flexible work conditions

The term ‘flexible working ‘covers flextime, home working, part-time
working, compressed working weeks, annualized hours, job sharing
and term-time only working.
It also refers to special leave schemes that provide employees with
the freedom to respond to a domestic crisis or to take a career break
without jeopardizing their employment status.
However. It is important to note that ‘creating an environment in
which staff who opt to work flexibly and those who raise work–life
issues will require a cultural shift in many organizations, backed by
senior level support’
2. Dealing with management resistance
Management resistance is a key barrier to introducing work-life balance
policies(Armstrong, 2009).
It is therefore important to raise awareness on the benefits of Work-
life balance amongst managers. These are;
a. Improved productivity and quality of work
b. Improved productivity and morale
c. Reduced staff turnover
d. Reduced casual absence
e. Improved utilization of new recruits
3. Managing stress
Discussion: What is stress?
Why should organisations pay attention to stress?
a. they have the social responsibility to provide a good quality of
working life;
b. because excessive stress causes illness;
c. because it can result in inability to cope with the demands of the
job which, of course, creates more stress,
d. because excessive stress can reduce employee effectiveness and
therefore organizational performance.
Ways of managing stress
Armstrong (2009)
a. Job design – clarifying roles, reducing the danger of role ambiguity
and conflict
b. Giving people more autonomy within a defined structure to manage
their responsibilities. Targets and performance standards – setting
reasonable and achievable targets that may stretch people but do
not place impossible burdens on them. Employee Well-being 979
c. Job placement – taking care to place people in jobs that are within
their
d. Management training in what managers can do to alleviate their
own stress and capabilities.
e. Career development – planning careers and promoting staff in
accordance with their capabilities, taking care not to over- or under-
promote.
f. Performance management processes, which allow a dialogue to take
place between managers and individuals about the latter’s work
problems and ambitions.
g. Counselling – giving individuals the opportunity to talk about their
problems with a member of the HR department, or through an
employee assistance programme,
h. Anti-bullying campaigns – bullying at work is a major cause of stress.
i. Management training in what managers can do to alleviate their own
stress and others
 4. Dealing with Sexual harassment
Sexual harassment is difficult to deal with but it is important to make a
determined attempt to minimize it through policy statements backed
up by special procedures for seeking help and making complaints.
5. Dealing with Bullying
A policy should be published that states that bullying is unacceptable
behaviour. People who feel that they are being bullied should have the
right to discuss the problem with someone in the HR department or a
trained counsellor.
6. Services for individuals
Counselling, possibly through EAP programmes, can be provided for
sickness, bereavement, domestic problems and retirement.

7. Group employee services

These mainly consist of subsidized restaurants, sports and social clubs

and child care facilities
Designing Wellness Programs
Lazarević, S. Lukić, J (2021)

1. Identifying the needs and desires for wellness programmes

The first step is to analyse the current situation and identify the needs
for wellness programmes.
In this step, surveys are conducted in order to find out what employees
need and what their preferences are, i.e. what types of wellness
programmes employees want.
Also, in this step, it is important to conduct an analysis of potential risks
to the health of employees within each workplace and to design a
wellness programme accordingly in order to act preventively and
preserve the health of employees.
2. Providing management support and forming a wellness
programme team
For wellness programmes to be successful, it is essential that they have
the support of management. Manag ers at all levels, and especially
first-line managers, can help in the process of encouraging and
motivating employ ees to get involved in wellness programmes as
much as possible. After conducting a detailed analysis and identifying
which wellness programmes are needed in the organi zation and after
the management gives their support, many organizations form teams
that aim to build and promote a wellness culture.
The key tasks of a wellness programme team are:
a. Evaluating the existing wellness programmes, activities, services and
policies;
b. Analysing employees’ needs and preferences regarding wellness
programmes;
c. Developing an operation plan to preserve and improve employee health;
d. Participating in the implementation and evaluation of wellness
programmes. Wellness team members are selected on a voluntary basis,
with an aim to involve employees from different parts of the organization
and from different hierarchical levels in order for the team to apply a
holistic approach during its functioning and decision-making.
3. Defining aims and budgets for wellness programmes
The primary goal of a wellness programme is to preserve and improve
the health of employees, and reduce health costs.
Other goals are aimed at: reducing absenteeism, greater employee
satisfaction and engagement, increasing labour productivity, lower
fluctuation and long-term employee retention in the organization.
When defining goals, several important criteria should be met: to be
clear to all employees, quantified, time-defined, and to be ambitious
but achievable in order to motivate employees. Examples of wellness
goals:
4) Designing wellness programmes and activities
There is no pre-prescribed set of wellness programmes and activities
that will yield results in every organi zation. Each organization is specific
targets, budgets etc.
References
1. Armstrong, M(2009) Armstrong’s Handbook Of Human Resource
Management Practice (11th Edition), Kogan Page, London
2. Dzimbiri, L.B (2022) Human Resource Management: An Introduction to the
Entry, Stay and Exit of People in Work Organisations with cases in
Southern Africa, Mahi Publications,
3. Lazarević, S. Lukić, J (2021) Importance Of Workplace
Wellness Programmes In Protection Of Employee Health,
DO - 10.5937/snp2102091L
2. The Global Wellness Instiute (2016)
[Link]
3. Work Foundation (2003b) Work–life Balance, Work Foundation,
London