Nairobi: 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.
According to Kenya News Agency, Director of Human Resource Management and Development Juanita Ombima emphasized that the exercise aims to promote the mental health and wellbeing of the staff in the department. Speaking at the State Department for Broadcasting and Telecommunications headquarters at Telposta Towers in Nairobi, she urged 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 Ombima encouraged sectional heads and supervising officers to maintain an open-door policy in dealing with the staff under their supervision. She stressed that counselling should begin with the line manager, expecting heads to guide their staff in navigating and resolving stress factors that might inhibit workplace performance before escalating such matters to the human resource unit at the State Department.
During the forum, officials from the Directorate of Counselling and Wellness Services conducted sessions focused on stress management interventions. These sessions included awareness creation of common life stressors, identifying signs of stress, and providing strategies on how to minimise and cope with stress. The staff were also educated on the importance of building resilience to handle life stressors and other mental health challenges they may encounter.
The Directorate of Counselling and Wellness Services officials highlighted that their directorate offers free counselling services to civil servants and their dependants. The officers were encouraged to utilise these free counselling services to improve their wellbeing and enhance personal responsibility and productivity at the workplace and in other environments.