In an effort to ensure that its employees are prioritising their rest and wellness, MTN is offering them a fully-paid, fully-offline one-week holiday, over and above their annual leave allocations.
According to company, the pandemic has upended the traditional workplace, blurring the boundaries between work and home, meaning employees no longer have the luxury of “punching out” on the workplace, nor do they “clock out” of their personal lives when they arrive in the workplace.
MTN SA’s chief of human resources, Tebogo Maenetja, said: “Covid-19 continues to add pressure and I have also seen how much more strain is put on our people and the business overall. In addition to the severe health concerns resulting from infections, we are seeing a much wider impact on the overall mental health and well-being of our workforce.
“At MTN, we sought out insights into this growing trend, and through various feedback channels we found that some of our people are experiencing strain, fatigue, and in some instances burn-out," said Maenetja.
The company said the lack of a commute had seen its employees working shifts from 7am to 7pm. “People are exhausted,” it said.
MTN introduced “Spring Break” to respond to the pressing need for employees to take the time to rest, recharge, and rejuvenate.
“The initiative will run between August 1 and October 31 and sees all employees, including contractors, as well as employees in the stores and call centres, receive one week of complete shutdown – no emails, no calls, and no meetings. It’s our thank you to staff for helping MTN to make the ’New Normal’ work,” Maenetja said.
MTN said that over this period it will remain committed to ensure that service to its customers remain accessible and without interruption.
“We believe that a healthy workforce will result in higher levels of efficiency and productivity and ultimately a better customer experience," the company said.
Maenetja said the company has also onboarded a new employee wellness provider and introduced initiatives such as “No meeting day”, where MTN encourages all employees across its operations to not hold any internal meeting the whole day. This happens once a month.
“Around the world and across industries, organisations, including ourselves, have had to rethink what work looks like in fundamental ways. And it’s on all of us — from senior executives to individual contributors — to provide meaningful solutions to navigate the days, months, and even years ahead.
“For MTN, we will continue to find ways to ensure we are a compassionate organisation that prioritises our employee’s well-being and wellness which we believe is vitally important especially during these tough times,” said Maenetja.
BUSINESS REPORT ONLINE