Employees of the State Department for Broadcasting and Telecommunications underwent a sensitisation exercise on handling life stressors and building resilience during a mental health and wellness forum.
The forum was facilitated by officers from the Directorate of Counselling and Wellness Services in the Ministry of Public Service and Human Capital Development.
Speaking during the exercise held at the State Department for Broadcasting and Telecommunications headquarters at Telposta Towers in Nairobi, Director of Human Resource Management and Development Juanita Ombima said that the exercise is aimed at promoting the mental health and wellbeing of the staff in the department.
The Director urged the staff to be open about mental health challenges and life stressors they might be undergoing and assured them of the department’s support through the department’s open-door policy and confidential human resource policy.
Ms Ombina asked sectional heads and officers who supervise operations to maintain an open-door policy in dealing with officers under their supervision.
“Counselling begins with the line manager. We expect heads to guide their staff on how to navigate and resolve stress factors that may be inhibiting their performance at the workplace before escalating such matters to the human resource unit at the State Department,” she said.
Officials drawn from the Directorate of Counselling and Wellness services took the staff through sessions focused on stress management interventions, including awareness creation of common life stressors, signs of stress and how to minimise and cope with stress.
The staff were also taken through the essence of resilience and the importance of building resilience when it comes to tackling issues on handling life stressors and other mental health challenges that they may encounter in their day-to-day life.
The officials from the Directorate of Counselling and Wellness services said that their Directorate offers counselling services free of charge to civil servants together with their dependants.
The officers were urged to take advantage of the free counselling services to better their wellbeing and enhance their personal responsibility and productivity at the workplace and other external environments.
By Anita Omwenga
