By Henry Uche, Lagos
Having known the impact of the work environment on employees’ productivity, the Telecommunication and Technology Working Group (TTSWG) in collaboration with key partners have re-echoed the need for a healthy work environment as it affects not only productivity but organizational sustainability.
At a webinar, themed, “Well-being as a Hallmark of Sustainability in the Technology Sector,” which presented workplace well-being as a pivotal arm of sustainability, TSWG reiterated the need for best practices in the workplace in line with international best practices.
The webinar targeted which targeted the Telecom and Technology industries seeks to educate participants on how employers and employees could promote sustainability through global best practices, innovation and thought leadership in line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 3- Good health and well-being.
Since the work environment often presents different occupational pressures that can lead to a build-up of physical or mental ill-health that in the long term may result in loss of time, productivity, and even company credibility, it’s therefore essential to have good working conditions built on occupational health and safety principles to promote business growth through the retention of talent.
Moderated by a partner at Workforce Advisory Services, Ernst & Young, EY -West Africa, Lola Esan, the session saw Dapo Omolade, an international HSE authority, saying, “Tere has to be a system that ensures the health of the workers’ lives is prolonged even after leaving the company.”
More so, the Head of Corporate & Consumer Services at NEBOSH, an organisation that provides health, safety, and environmental qualifications in the UK, Ian Cooke, stressed the role of employees for the facilitation of a system that fosters their well-being in the workplace. “Employees must give room for leaders in their respective organisations to consistently practice principles that promote workplace wellbeing” he urged.
Similarly, a strategic leader & Senior Marketing Manager, Amazon, with in-depth knowledge in brand & niche development, Ngozi Ngonadi-Nkwoji, affirmed that employers need to realise that it pays better to consider the well-being of their employees. “I hope that tech companies realise that reshuffling workers mean spending more money. So, they need to create a relaxed work environment,” she said.
On his part, Engr. Jamui Badmus, the Executive Director of the Safety Advocacy & Empowerment Foundation, alerted employers and employees alike to pay attention to mental health in relation to employee well-being as it affects not only outputs, and corporate image but long-run sustainability.
