Strategic responses of Rwathia group of businesses to environmental changes

Abstract

Aid workers continue to witness atrocities, handle dead bodies, encounter destitute poverty, receive threats, visit and live in foreign countries in conflict among other threats to their lives and health. Traumatic experiences, work-related stress, foreign culture, harsh climate, isolation, illness/disease, professional stagnation, poor management, and dilapidated infrastructures can easily lead to distress, burn-out, and mental and physical deterioration. The views of Concern Worldwide Kenya staff were sought in a bid to gain deeper overall understanding of the current psychosocial support and wellness programs and initiatives that are in place to safeguard their psychosocial and mental well being, how these programs and initiatives impact on performance and highlight challenges to implementing such programs and how the management of Concern Worldwide can deal with them.According to findings, psychosocial support has been provided on an ad hoc basis and management support in committing financial resources was lacking because they were not able to justify staff care initiatives that would eat into donor budgets There was need for Concern Worldwide to step up its staff care initiatives if it is to reap maximum benefits from staff performance. These initiatives were to be embedded in a staff care policy and collaboration with other actors in the sector to provide a safe and healthy, both physically and emotionally, work environment mostly in emergencies. Appropriate support in reaching their full potential is desperately needed if programme goals and objectives are to be met most effectively and efficiently.