An investigation into how Treasury management perceives the Employee Health and Wellness Programme

English: The success of a workplace health and wellness programme is dependent on both employee participation and managerial support. An interactive and supportive environment amongst employees (including managers at all levels) and the Employee Health and Wellness Programme (EHWP) team is important for an ongoing and sustained interest in issues of personal health and wellness in the workplace. The main focus of this study was to investigate perceptions of managers regarding the ‘health promotion’ mechanisms of the EHWP within the Free State Provincial Treasury (FSPT). The issue is twofold; firstly the health and well-being of strategic managers themselves and secondly their role in promoting participation in wellness programmes amongst more junior employees, linked by the idea of the manager’s role as “wellness ambassador”. While striving to attain the strategic goals of the organisation, there may be a tendency among strategic managers to neglect their own health and well-being. The overall goal of this study was to investigate how management in FSPT perceive the organisation’s EHWP. The goal is to use the perceptions of the managers to make improvements to the EHWP. A literature study was done to conceptualise and contextualize EHWP with a particular focus on perceptions of such programmes. A questionnaire was used to evaluate the health and well-being of strategic managers in the FSPT and to identify their perceptions of the EHWP. The study revealed that there were some health and lifestyle aspects reported, which could potentially increase the managers’ risk for ill-health and chronic diseases. Several initiatives in the EHWP and in the FSPT are already in place to address awareness and promotion of good health and wellness. Through the perceptions and comments of managers on all levels, the current study highlighted areas where the EHWP could even better serve the health and wellness needs of the FSPT workforce. Furthermore the results indicated that perceptions of managers at all levels served as an invaluable source of information to improve and extend the comprehensive EHWP implemented in a South African public service organisations.