We are delighted to announce that Nada will be speaking in Cairo this February as part of our Wellbeing at Work Summit Middle East. We caught up with her to find out how she’s feeling in the run up to the summit.
Hi Nada, we are thrilled you will be speaking at our Wellbeing at Work Summit Middle East in February. Our first and most important question is, how are you doing today?
I’m great and very excited to be part of this summit.
As a leader based in the region, what are the main challenges you are facing when it comes to employee wellbeing and mental health?
Some companies are not aware of the consequences of not paying enough attention to this very important topic. One of the main challenges is that employees are not aware of the umbrella of the mental health components and hence they may not be aware that they suffer from a mental health issue. The second challenge is the ability to deal with such challenges from an HR aspect, how to create enough trust so that employees can easily report a mental health issue without the fear of any stigma.
What strategies have you seen developing over the past 6 months, both internally and externally, that are moving the dial on wellbeing in the workplace?
Creating a safe environment for employees. Raising awareness on mental health definitions and scope. Developing tools to support with MH issues such as an employee assistance program, having frequent webinars with professionals highlighting important symptoms of MH imbalances. Lastly, creating surveys through a third party measuring stress level and recommending simple tips to overcome this stress.
Why is employee wellbeing so important to you personally?
When someone feels not well, everything around them will not be well. MH has become a challenge because of rising daily stresses and sometimes we all get stuck in managing these stresses without effecting people around us. This easily extends to work efficiency as well and extends further to work culture. As an HR professional, having the safe and positive culture at any workplace is one of my priorities.
What impact is AI having in your organisation and how are you managing that?
Slowly integrating AI into our research engines and our proposals for development needs. We also use it to get proposals for benefits expansion plans.
Other than AI, are there any challenges that you are seeing for the first time and how are you addressing them?
Gen Z retention and engagement levels. I keep researching on ways to keep the engagement levels high and retention levels low. I know it is a worldwide problem though.
What areas do you think employers should be focused on over the next 12 months?
How to create balance between the use of AI and maintaining creativity and innovation. For Egypt specific, we have a severe issue of currency devaluation requiring HR to continuously think of innovative ways of retention and employee development. Creating safe working environment where MH is part of the DNA.
Do you feel that investment in employee wellbeing in the region is increasing or decreasing and is that a direct reflection on HR leaders’ increasing ability to demonstrate effective returns of their strategies to leadership?
It is definitely increasing. I believe it is because of several factors. First is the increased level of knowledge and awareness HR professionals themselves build over the years to be able to convince the top management with the direct ROI of MH investment. Another factor is the raised awareness levels within the companies about the importance of MH, so, even at companies where this direction is not there yet, employees are pushing their management and HR teams to introduce such initiatives or activities.
How has your organization been leading the way?
Providing EAP, organizing wellness days where we talk about wellbeing topics and associated diseases. We created also a playbook showing some tips on the burn out symptoms and how to handle them.
Nada will be speaking in Cairo at the Wellbeing at Work Summit Middle East which takes place in Riyadh, Dubai, Cairo and virtually. Further details on the Summit can be found here.
