Telecommunications giant, Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, continues to blossom in the employee wellness turf as part of its broader business strategy.
Corporate health and well-being programmes are cost effective ways for employers to harness talent while improving the well-being of their employees.
Besides funding events like the Econet Victoria Falls Marathon through the EcoSure brand, the recent employee attendance statistics at the Old Mutual Marathon held in Harare over the weekend, are indeed an endorsement of how effective the company’s staff wellness strategy is.
This publication is reliably informed that the country’s largest Telecommunications and Technology Company, had over 170 staff out of about 1 400 runners, constituting a significant number of participants.
The event, was categorised into 5km, 10km, 21km and 42km and in participation 30, 86, 48 and 6 contestants respectively.
Econet Wireless Zimbabwe chief of staff Lovemore Nyatsine, was also among the runners who finished the “challenging” 21,1km race.
Nyatsine said: “Wellness is not just a tick box exercise for us. We walk-the-talk. We are as serious about the wellness of our staff as we are serious about our business.
“When it comes to our strategic imperatives or non-negotiables, employee wellness is one of them and right at the top with imperatives such as innovation and execution.”
In 2017, Econet institutionalised its employee wellness programmes under the 10 dimensions of wellness that include financial, physical, medical, social, spiritual and emotional.
To date, the company is experiencing a significant increase in employee participation wellness programmes.
Commenting on Econet’s Employees Wellness initiatives, Econet Wireless CEO Douglas Mboweni said: “Running under the banner of the VITALIZE, we are pleased to note that our employee wellness initiatives are now in full throttle, promoting a work place culture that values, among others, the physical, emotional, financial and spiritual wellness of our staff members.”
Some of the programmes currently being run under Vitalize include Fitness Fridays, financial wellness seminars, wellness workspaces, walking tracks, running and reading clubs among other initiatives.
“We have consistency in our Wellness Programme delivery, benchmarking with internationally recognised standards, ensuring that the quality of our wellness programme is externally verified. With the establishment of an all-encompassing Employee Wellness Programme, we have reaffirmed the recognition of our human resources as the most valuable business asset,” said Mr Mboweni.
Having come a long way, and with growing popularity, it is safe to say that for Econet, having an Employee Wellness Programme is no-longer a “craze” or passing fad, but a critical enabler to its business performance. Econet Employee Wellness story can be summarised as follows: “A company will do well, if its employees are well”.
CBZ, the recent winners of the 48th edition of the Interbank Games Gala, equally share the same vision and dominated in most disciplines, with the “athletics club” taking home 21 medals.
CBZ Holdings is set to hold their first ever marathon next month, an event to be run under the theme “Run the Distance”
The group’s marketing and corporate affairs executive, Laura Gwatiringa, commented that CBZ believed in promoting the physical and mental health of its employees and families because healthy employees are generally productive.
She further asserts that: “The group prioritises the well-being of its employees and devotes time and financial resources in developing programmes and interventions that promote employee safety and health in order to ensure organisational success”.
Old Mutual is also one of the biggest sponsors of track-and-field events in Zimbabwe and has gone a step further in being a patronage of different sporting disciplines.
Just to mention a few, the Sunshine Race, Vumba Mountain Half marathon, Chitungwiza 10km fun run, Westgate Half Marathon and the Nkulumane fun run are some of the races that were sponsored by Old Mutual. To the organisers’ delight, last year recorded more than 1 200 participants in the marathons.
Old Mutual continues to sponsor sporting disciplines like rugby and cricket both at professional and developmental stages. They also support Tennis Zimbabwe and the reconstruction of tennis courts at Harare Sports Club, which is the home ground for all international and local tennis tournaments (including the Davis Cup and Futures Tournaments).
