Prioritise employee health: Cimas
SAMANTHA MADE
Cimas Health Group has called on businesses to place employee wellbeing at the centre of their strategies, saying healthy teams translate into higher productivity, stronger performance, and lower financial costs.
Speaking at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Zimbabwe (ICAZ) Indaba, Dr. Nicola Misi, Head of Cimas iGo, said workplace wellness should not be treated as a luxury but as a core business risk management tool.
“Well-being is not just an indulgence; it’s actually risk management,” she said. “It’s managing the health of our employees, our leaders, our organisations now so that tomorrow we can be better.”
Dr. Misi said research has consistently shown that companies with robust wellness programmes outperform their peers.
“Well-being initiatives do make an impact,” she said. “They improve productivity. You’ll find that companies that have strong wellness programmes have a 20% higher productivity.”
She added that beyond productivity gains, wellness initiatives also strengthen an organisation’s ability to attract and retain top talent.
“Those companies that have more wellness programmes and wellness support are able to attract the right employees, the right talent,” she noted. “They’re also able to retain the right people to improve their organisations.”
Dr. Misi urged leaders to embed wellness into their organisational culture, beginning with personal health and self-awareness.
“It starts with ourselves,” she said. “Before we even get to the point where we talk about where this company is going to be in 10 years, what’s our strategy for the next 10 years, you need to ask yourself—what’s my strategy? What are my personal goals for the next five to 10 years?”
She also stressed the need to build psychological resilience and destigmatise mental health challenges in the workplace.
“We need to destigmatise and promote psychological support in the workplace,” Dr. Misi said. “It does not mean that you are weak or inefficient if you require support.”
Drawing from success stories within Cimas iGo’s wellness programmes, Dr. Misi shared an example of an executive who benefitted from genomics testing and wellness coaching.
“She managed to take control of certain issues that were going on in her life,” she said. “After three sessions, things were moving much better for her.”
Her call to action comes as more global corporations adopt innovative wellness initiatives — including on-site physiotherapy, access to mental health experts, and even rest or sleeping rooms — to support employee wellbeing.
Cimas iGo, the health group’s specialised wellness arm, offers a range of services designed to enhance leadership and organisational health.
“We have a number of services that support leadership well-being,” Dr. Misi said. “We also do lifestyle genomics and counselling for people, and we do it privately because sometimes people don’t want others to know they are accessing certain services.”
Dr. Misi concluded by calling on businesses to adopt policies that promote a healthy workforce.
“Let’s prioritise healthy lifestyles,” she said. “Let’s create a regulatory framework that supports wellness initiatives. Let’s make sure that we look after ourselves so that we can also look after our core business.”
