95% of companies worldwide focus on employee mental health in 2021: EJB member

Pandemic enhanced job integration opportunities, which is in interest of supporting businesses, institutions, companies, and employees

A total of 95% of business owners in 50 countries, including Egypt, will focus on the mental health of employees in 2021, according to Mohamed Elkholi, member of the Egyptian Junior Business Association (EJB).
The data was obtained through an internal and external questionnaire, aiming to look at the developments that will be conducted by institutions, companies, and business owners.
The Association has said that the immense changes and losses worldwide during the past period, due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic have forced countries, institutions, employers, and companies around the world to support new mechanisms for work.
The plans and proposals of various employers and institutions witnessed growing support of job integration and the enhancement of internal communications for employees.
Elkholi said that this increased focus on mental health is to ensure wellbeing among employees. At the same time, he confirmed that 60% of business owners will work on caring for employees' motivational initiatives.
Additionally, 70% have clear plans regarding their visions for job engagement and organisational culture for the year.
He pointed out that the COVID-19 pandemic has enhanced opportunities for job integration, which is in the interest of supporting businesses, institutions, and companies, as well as employees.
Elkholi, who is a founder of employee engagement and internal communications consultancy firm DOTMENT, indicated that many companies and employers talk about job integration. However, they do not always provide real opportunities for the participation of their employees.
He called on companies, employers and various institutions to adopt a new culture that gives job integration a top priority.
He added that this can be done through multi-faceted initiatives, and the generalisation of the functional integration strategy across the entire company structure.
This will take place by creating an innovative culture of job integration, in which ways to support and enhance job integration and internal communications are discussed every working day.
Elkholi revealed that the distinctive functional integration of employees within their business achieves new levels of employee engagement throughout the company. It also works to raise employee enthusiasm, energy and involvement, thus allowing employers to retain their best talents.
This will also enhance the positions of their companies, support their excellence, attract the best new talents, and push productivity forward, all at a lower cost.
Moreover, this reduces absenteeism within companies, stressing that job integration and internal communications aim to encourage employees to develop and enable managers to support that development.
"Supporting companies, business owners and institutions for career integration aligns individual ambitions with institutional goals," Elkholi added, "Career development for employees is defined by clarifying what career success means to them and supporting them in understanding how their current roles can help them achieve that success."
He said that corporate employees take control of their careers, improve institutional performance, and gain a reputation for companies as incubators for talent in various fields of work. It will also allow them to focus on achieving success in harmony with personal and institutional goals.