February 2024: February is the month of love and although romantic love takes centre stage, let's not forget the importance of self-love. In a world filled with never-ending demands, prioritising your holistic health and well-being is a worthwhile pursuit.
According to Sandi Richardson, HR Executive at RCS, self-love should be viewed as a strategic investment with tangible rewards. She emphasises the organisational value derived from promoting self-love as an essential practice, contributing to mental and emotional resilience in our fast-paced world, for all stakeholders including employees, customers, and partners.
“One of the ways in which we have brought this philosophy into our organisation is through The Wellness Wheel – a widely used tool that represents the different dimensions of what it means to be ‘well,’ and live the most fulfilled life possible. It has been widely communicated internally and is well entrenched as part of RCS’ wellness philosophy,” she adds.
Putting financial fitness first
An important category in the Wellness Wheel is the financial dimension of wellness. Financial literacy is one of the most powerful tools for self-development. This includes the ability to formulate and live within a budget, to practice responsible debt management and find ways to save money diligently. One should work towards a set of realistic, measurable financial goals.
“Ultimately, personal financial management is about managing your resources to live within your means while preparing both for short- and long-term needs as well as emergencies. It’s also important to remain aware that everyone’s financial values, needs and circumstances are unique and need to be approached on a case-by-case basis,” says Richardson.
A culture of community-building
Another key focus is the social component of wellness, which involves developing the ability to maintain healthy relationships, interact with others and practice invaluable principles such as empathy and compassion.
For RCS, social wellness is also about contributing to your community and grasping opportunities to give back and do good – initiatives such as the RCS Gugs Race, Rising Star tennis with TSA, the Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative, LevelUp and the JAG Foundation continue to prove RCS’ commitment to community upliftment.
Well-rounded wellness
General wellness brings together several additional factors including physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual wellbeing. Within the workplace, this entails striving to grow personally and professionally by fostering a sense of curiosity about everything there is to learn.
Employees are called on to expand their skills and knowledge when the opportunity arises and to prioritise knowledge sharing and skills transfer within their roles. Finally, it’s vital for people to learn to understand and respect the feelings, values and attitudes of others and to learn how to manage and express their emotions in a constructive way.
Investing in people
And while fostering values such as self-love through wellness initiatives may seem like an individual endeavour, Richardson believes that companies have an important role to play in helping people become the best version of themselves.
As she concludes: “Companies have a profound influence in shaping the culture and environment in which their employees thrive. By investing in the personal growth and development of their employees, companies lay the foundation for a healthier, happier, and more productive workplace culture, driving long-term success and sustainability.
We’re proud to say that our belief in this value system has contributed to RCS being named one of the country’s top employers for the 6th year in a row. Our work however, has just begun – we hope that through sharing the way we turn our company philosophy into real impact, we can inspire other organisations to invest in the people who are the centre of what they do."
