Employees' attitudes, awareness of, participation and satisfaction with the wellness management programme of a National Government Department

MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom CampusThe study seeks to assess employees' attitude, awareness of, participation in and satisfaction with the wellness management programme in the Department of Labour. The study was based on the fact that in addition to the implementation of the wellness management programme as a strategy to improve performance and assist employees in addressing performance problems which they encounter. Furthermore negative attitude, lack of awareness and low satsfaction levels amongst employees resulted in low participation level in wellness management programmes. The objective of the study was then to assess employees' attitudes, awareness, participation and satisfaction regarding the wellness management programme of the National Department of Labour. The study used exploratory and descriptive designs, where, through an exploratory research design, the researcher assessed the degree to which employees are aware of the wellness management programme, and also explored strategies to be used to improve employee awareness, participation, and satisfaction. With the descriptive research design, the researcher described the current level of employee participation and satisfaction with the wellness programme. Data was collected through the use of a structured questionnaire, which was distributed as per selected sample. Date analysis was done through the use of descriptive statistics, independent samples t-test, ANOVA and the Pearson Product Moment Correlation. The findings of the study established that employees are aware of the wellness management programme and its various sub-programmes offered by the Department. The study further found that, besides the level of awareness, employees do not participate in the wellness management programmes. The study also established the employee's attitude towards wellness programme is aligned towards the branch where an employee is based. Furthermore, satisfaction was significantly dependent on the age, occupational level and the branch where employees are based. The study concludes by recommending that the Department should develop a plan to enhance or improve employee participation, through satisfaction and their attitude, gender, occupational classification and the location of the branches within the department where employees are based needs to be considered in the planning and improvement of the wellness management programme.Master