The hospital group is a leading healthcare provider in South Africa and has invested in Life EHS to further support the healthcare of employees.
In the coming weeks and months, we will be chatting to all the HR Indaba partners, asking them why they are excited about the event and what they believe are the most important issues facing the profession. In this article, we speak to Leanne Mandim, Head of Employee Wellness at Life EHS.
1. Life Healthcare is a hospital group. Tell us about Life Employee Health Solutions? What is it and how long has it been around?
Life Employee Health Solutions (Life EHS) is the brand name for the Life Occupational Health and Careways Wellness businesses. Life EHS encapsulates what we do – providing a range of health and wellness solutions and services for organisations across South Africa. Life Healthcare is a leading healthcare provider in South Africa and has invested in Life EHS to further support the healthcare of employees, making a meaningful, measurable difference. Life Occupational Health and Careways Wellness has been operational since the 1990s. Life Occupational Health acquired Careways Wellness in 2015 and acquired EOH Workplace Health and Wellness in October 2017. Following this recent acquisition, the brand was launched encompassing our business lines of service.
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2. What kinds of organisations would you consider to be your competition and how do you differentiate yourselves in the market?
Our competitor market is any service in the health and wellness industry, ranging from onsite occupational and primary healthcare clinics, through to executive wellness, employee assistance programmes and fitness centres. Life EHS offers an integrated solution for South African organisations, extending services across all provinces, and meeting the bespoke requirements of the South African workforce. The diverse services offered by Life EHS are delivered seamlessly, supported by our hospital footprint, and constantly developing to ensure our healthcare solutions are relevant, appropriate, and quality managed/assured to the highest standards. In addition, Life EHS is supported by the larger group and follows stringent corporate governance processes, thereby giving our clients peace of mind. Life EHS also customises our health and wellness programmes to the client requirements, all the while advising on best practice by our team of subject matter experts.
3. Why have you signed up as a partner for the HR Indaba and why should attendees look forward to seeing you at the event?
The HR Indaba presents a unique opportunity to showcase the strategic and operational shifts and changes in the South African context. The health and wellness of the South African workforce is very often the responsibility of the HR professional in today’s working world. Striving towards reaching optimal health and wellness, and therefore performance and productivity is our speciality. We look forward to engaging with our key stakeholders, and to learning more from the HR experts, and the unique environments within which they work and thrive.
4. What would you say is the most pressing issue facing the HR profession at the moment?
From a health and wellness perspective, HR faces great pressure in being able to manage highly effective, physically healthy, fully engaged, and motivated employees balanced with aspirational and organisational goals and objectives. HR professionals are often viewed as the solution experts, having to think out of the box to come up with the best initiatives to create a working context that allows for people to be at their very best. Being responsible for people’s wellbeing during times of economic change, restructuring, operational optimisation, shifting growth targets, and performance improvements require HR professionals to be agile, attentive, and responsive to their shifting environments. Having a health and wellness service provider can make all the difference in enabling HR to meet the challenges that they are faced with.
