Health Touch Counsellor at Discovery Limited

Key Purpose

• The successful incumbent will operate within the High Touch division and will be responsible for providing emotional counselling support to members and their families who have or are undergoing severe trauma, likely situations which are life altering in severity, and provide them with holistic benefit support linked to the situation they find themselves in. The incumbent may also be asked to support other member groups, for instance, Rare diseases, Gender Based Violence and Gender affirming and confirming members.

Areas of responsibility may include but not limited to

The successful applicant will be responsible for but not limited to the following job functions:

• To provide a specialized High Touch experience for clients and their families dealing with severe traumatic events, which may lead to life changing situations

This comes in the form of a unique combination of skills;

• Strong benefit knowledge
• Support and service delivered in a compassionate and emotionally supportive manner
• Leveraging counsellor skills to assess emotional and mental wellbeing needs
• Directs care in line with available benefits
• Effectively uses and promotes self help tools
• To proactively develop relationships with members by making an effort to understand their needs, anticipate and provide solutions to their needs and giving high priority to customer satisfaction.
• To provide comprehensive benefit support to members and their dependants in cases of trauma and other emotional scenarios.
• Complete relevant assessments to accurately diagnose the level of need
• To facilitate appropriate referrals, where required
• Support to assist in the acceptance of their new levels of functioning
• To document all member interactions as well as to ensure that all records are accurate and up to date.
• Meet performance targets set for the role
• Establish and maintain relationships at all levels with internal departments to facilitate expeditious resolution of queries.
• Ensure an excellent member journey by maintaining agreed service levels.

Knowledge and Skills

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Ability to work under tight deadlines and pressure
• Problem solving by identifying key issues and relationships

Competencies

• Compassion: Genuinely cares about people; is concerned about their work and non-work problems; is available and ready to help; is sympathetic to the plight of others not as fortunate; demonstrates real empathy with the joys and pains of others.
• Customer Focus: Is dedicated to meeting the expectations and requirements of internal and external customers; gets first-hand customer information and uses it for improvements in products and services; acts with customers in mind; establishes and maintains effective relationships with customers and gains their trust and respect.
• Listening: Practices attentive and active listening; has the patience to hear people out; can accurately restate the opinions of others even when he/she disagrees.
• Interpersonal Savvy: Relates well to all kinds of people-upwards, downwards, and sideways, inside and outside the organization; builds appropriate rapport; builds constructive and effective relationships; uses diplomacy and tact; can defuse even high-tension situations comfortably.

Education and Experience

The following requirements are essential:

• Matric
• Degree in psychology or social work
• Relevant membership with the South African Council for Social Service Professions (SACSSP) or HPCSA. Other relevant, recognized professional bodies can also be considered.
• MS Office Suite – with Intermediate Excel abilities
• Minimum of 3 years counselling experience, including face-to-face, virtual and telephonic counselling
• Minimum of 5 years formal work experience

The following requirements will be advantageous: 

• 1-2 year’s exposure to Discovery Health clinical environment preferable