Employee Wellbeing Specialist at The National Student Financial Aid Scheme

POSITION OVERVIEW:

• To design, develop and implement a wellness strategy and employee assistance programme (EAP) that is aligned to the overall Human Resources as well as organisation strategy of NSFAS.

 
RESPONSIBILITIES:
Policy, Systems & Procedure Implementation

• Support the unit in the maturing of employee wellbeing policy/ies, procedures, and processes.
• Develop presentations that enable the socialisation of employee wellbeing policy/ies, procedures and processes.
• Socialise and implement the employee wellbeing policy/ies, procedures and processes.
• Core Objectives Implementation
• Provide input into overall Human Resources Management value proposition as it relates to the wellness practice through the development of best practice, research, trends analysis and wellness initiatives.
• Analyse wellness trends and prepare high level reports to management as input to create an engaged workforce.
• Implement wellness interventions based upon identified needs within the organisation.
• Build capacity in the organisation to drive and manage an employee wellness culture.
• Design, implement and drive NSFAS’s programme, including providing awareness campaigns and training, professional counselling, testing and support through external vendors.
• Ensure that all wellness initiatives contribute towards the operationalizing of the overall

Employee Value Proposition

• Participate in the Wellness Committees and Forums to facilitate the successful implementation of wellness initiatives and programmes.
• Develop policies and procedures to support the implementation of wellness initiatives.
• Serve as the employee trustee for provident fund and participate in health care committees and wellness coach.
• Provide monthly and quarterly report on wellness statistics and focus on analysis, comparison, and trends.
• Create Awareness through wellness events and educational information on health issues.
• Coordinate and promote wellness initiatives in partnership with other stakeholders.
• Responsible for trauma debriefing during trauma incidents
• Conduct workshops on selected wellbeing issues and obtain feedback on existing programmes.
• Cover whole spectrum of individual wellbeing components as defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO) or Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA)
• Support the HR operations unit and HR team with employee wellbeing programmes of the NSFAS.
• Contribute input and manage the employee wellness budget.
• Coordinate with employee relations, business partners and senior management on cases of potential incapacity and ensure correct reporting and process for 3rd party claims.

People Management & Ethical Leadership

• Guide, inspire, coach and mentor employees to deliver quality wellness programmes in line with NSFAS Values
• Lead and manage the individual performance contracting and review process.

Stakeholder Engagement & Relationships

• Collaborate with internal stakeholders to implement employee wellbeing programmes.
• Collaborate with external stakeholders to enable the employee wellbeing programmes.
• Manage the service level agreement of external providers of employee wellbeing deliverables.

Project Management & Leadership

• Manage and supervise the projects to address identified needs as per the employee wellbeing initiatives.
• Analyse and interpret project reports on completion of the project to evaluate return on investment and to inform decision-making in the subunit.

Budget optimisation

• Expenditure forecast for subunit employee wellbeing activities and projects.
• Expenditure management in line with employee wellbeing activities and projects.

Risk, Compliance Monitoring & Evaluation

• Support compliance checks and audit of employee wellbeing interventions with HR policies.
• Identify risks and mitigate them in line with the risk register.
• Support the compliance of NSFAS with the EE Act and legislation.

Information & Knowledge Management

• Collaborate with stakeholders to build systems that enable the management of data obtained from different sources.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to use their experience, education and understanding to obtain knowledge from this information

Reporting & Accountability

• on recruitment strategic KPIs progress
• on the employee wellbeing operational plan progress
• on internal and external recruitment risks
• on any other work in the mandate of the employee wellbeing work

DESIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE
Minimum requirements:

• NQF 7 Degree in Industrial Psychology, Psychology, Social Work.
• Certification in EAP/wellness practitioner or management
• Driver’s License
• Minimum of six (6) to eight (8) years’ experience in Employee Assistance Programme / Wellness of which three (3) years must be the managing of an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) / Wellness function.
• Experience in a Higher Education environment will be an added advantage.
• Computer literacy (MS Office Suite of products – MS Word, MS Excel, MS Access, MS PowerPoint, MS Outlook, MS Vision)
• Basic understanding of Labour Law e.g. LRA, EEA, BCEA, OHSA, employee health, wellness and benefit administration concepts, practices, and procedures.
• Solid project management Skills
• Intermediate Knowledge of the higher education sector
• Employee wellbeing legislation experience and knowledge
• Employment Equity Act and related legislation

Preferred

• 5 Years of specialist experience in the employee well-being field
• Advanced project management Skills
• Advanced knowledge of the higher education sector
• Extensive exposure to the functions of the employee wellbeing
• Knowledge and understanding of the NSFAS Act and PFMA.

Skills and Competencies:

• Excellent communication (written and verbal) skills.
• Effective interpersonal skills
• Planning and Organising
• Stress Management
• Counselling Skills
• Confidentiality, knowledge and understanding of the Human Resources Services Lifecycle.
• Planning and organising skills.
• Problem-solving skills
• Leadership skills
• Agile and Innovative
• Time management skills
• High Emotional Intelligence
• Integrity
• Communication skills
• Adaptable to change.
• Team player
• Goal orientation
• Ability to work under pressure and tight deadlines.
• Professional self-awareness