Employees' awareness, attitudes and utilisation of the Direct Axis employee wellness programme.

Abstract

Globalisation brings new opportunities such as joint ventures but also adds pressure for South African workers and management to meet the challenges that exist when operating and competing with foreign companies and markets. A survival tactic is to have a healthy, engaged and highly productive workforce. Healthy employees are vital to assist in functioning and competing in the global business environment. In this context, employee wellness programmes (EWPs) may assist in building and maintaining a productive workforce. The aim of this study was to understand employees’ awareness, attitudes and utilisation of the Direct Axis Employee Wellness Programme. A probability sample of 301 employees was drawn from a company in the Western Cape, with a population of 1 314 employees. The sample consisted of 63.1% females and 36.9% males. Data were collected using a web-based questionnaire that was specifically developed by the researcher for this study. A salient finding of this study was that over 70% of respondents who indicated that they had faced problems in the recent past, used the wellness programme (WP) to assist them with their problem. Bivariate analysis found that gender, marital status and years of service at the company were significantly associated with the use of the WP. Various reasons were documented for non-utilisation of the WP, with the main reason being that the operating hours of the services offered in the WP were not convenient. It is recommended that communication regarding the WP be improved, including communication about services offered, as well as opening times for the services in the WP. A further recommendation is that times when services are offered should be extended.