Nurturing Work-Life Synergy: eHealth Africa's 'Bring Your Kids to Work' Program

Kids in diverse outfits beam with excitement during eHealth Africa's 'Bring Your Kids to Work Day' at the Kano HQ office.

By Favour Oriaku

The aspiration to prevent work from consuming all our time is a shared one. The idea of a clear boundary between work and personal life can be somewhat blurry as modern life has intertwined the two, demanding a new approach to create a fine synergy between them. Achieving this synergy would enrich personal lives and also foster a sense of equilibrium that can elevate work performance and overall well-being.

In an era where juggling professional commitments and family life has become increasingly complex, its significance cannot be overstated. The absence of work-life harmony negatively impacts employee performance, leading to reduced productivity and engagement. An example of an organization actively promoting work-life harmony was seen when eHealth Africa opened its doors for a unique event. "Bring Your Kids to Work Day"  showed eHealth Africa's commitment to being one of the best workplaces in Nigeria, prioritizing work-life harmony for its employees.

On the 4th of August, the eHealth Africa office came alive with excitement as little feet brought laughter and energy into the workspace. Parents and children embarked on a memorable journey together, participating in a meticulously planned day of activities. This initiative is a manifestation of eHealth Africa's belief that a happy workforce translates into a more productive one. Adesina Matti, the HR manager, expressed, "We want to create an experience that not only brings joy to the kids but also strengthens the bond between employees and their families. 'Bring Your Kids to Work Day' perfectly aligns with our commitment to a healthy work-life harmony and building stronger family connections within our workplace."

The event commenced with Fozia Malik, a member of the senior management team, warmly welcoming the children. She shared insights from her own life and career journey. Her motivational talk encouraged the kids to pursue their dreams with determination. The HR manager also addressed the young audience, introducing them to the organization's mission, vision, and work strategy.

The day was filled with activities designed to engage and inspire the young participants. Indoor games like 'concentration' and dancing chairs filled the air with excitement before transitioning to outdoor games, including a bouncing castle and a creative canvas painting competition. Face painting added an extra layer of fun, and the kids even had the opportunity to observe their parents at work, gaining insight into their daily routines and responsibilities.

The senior HR coordinator Regina Suowari, also stated: "Beyond providing children with a glimpse into their parents' work lives, today's event aimed to instill the value of education and empower them to envision and pursue their futures. The event also served as a bonding opportunity, allowing employees to connect on a more personal level as colleagues' children interacted and shared their aspirations."

The "Bring Your Kids to Work Day" initiative offered a unique opportunity for children to glimpse into the adult world of work. It demystified what their parents do during the day and provided a formative experience that could shape their own future career aspirations. The event served as an educational platform, teaching children the value of hard work, and teamwork, and perhaps sparked an early interest in fields they might not have been exposed to otherwise. It also allowed for a deeper emotional connection to be formed between parent and child, as they shared a special day together in a setting that is typically separate from family life.

In conclusion, eHealth Africa's "Bring Your Kids to Work Day" initiative achieved its vision of creating a remarkable experience for both employees and their families. The event re-echoes the possibility of harmonizing work and family life, cultivating a workplace culture that prioritizes employee well-being and engagement. As organizations worldwide seek ways to promote work-life harmony, eHealth Africa's example stands as an inspiring testament to the potential of such initiatives in nurturing a more harmonious and fulfilling work environment.

Watch the event highlight below:

Women at Work - 3 Ways eHA supports women in the workplace

By Favour Oriaku

One of our focuses at eHealth Africa is to increase the number of women in our workforce. While we work on getting more women into eHA, we also focus on retaining the talented women who currently work at the organization. Here are three ways we support women at eHealth Africa. 

Early career programs

As an organization, we are committed to building a more diverse and fair workplace, and we have implemented strategies to increase the number of women in our workforce. We are actively building a pipeline of talent through early career programs to help young women jumpstart their careers. One of these programs is our just concluded all-female paid internship program that lasted for six months. The program exposed young women to an early career within the International NGO space. Juliana Okoro, who was a part of the 2021 all-female internship cohort and now works full time as an associate with the communications team, has this to say

Juliana Okoro

Coming as an intern helped build my confidence and my career path. Before the internship, I didn’t know what to make of my career or which direction to go, but the internship gave me the clarity and experience I needed. My internship exposed me to a lot of opportunities and I am forever grateful to eHA for the opportunity.

Open Door Policy

Past research and society advise women to stand out if they want to get ahead. But taking on visible roles in the workplace may expose women to risk, and we know this. And that is why we have policies in place that promote unconventional forms of leadership, fight implicit bias, and create an equitable working environment where everyone’s ideas are valued and respected. Our Human Resources department maintains an open-door policy that ensures that staff, especially female employees, do not suffer in silence when marginalized or ill-treated, either by their colleagues or bosses. 

We constantly encourage female employees to take on tasks and roles that put them in the spotlight, and this has ultimately reflected on the senior leadership team, as we have just as many women at the decision-making table as we have men. An offshoot of this is that we now have more senior female employees who the younger ones not only look up to but also get mentorship from.

A Work/family balanced life

One initiative we put in place to ensure employee wellbeing, fairness, and gender inclusivity is flexible work (remote) and work/life balance. 

We have constant check-ins between managers and the employees they manage. In these sessions, employees get to discuss issues relating to their overall well-being and how they may affect their productivity at work, and managers help them through it by providing feedback and guidance. We also have a remote working option in certain cases where your job does not require you to be physically present at the office. With this process in place, female employees who’ve completed their paid maternity leave can spend more time bonding with their families while working from home.

At eHealth Africa, we recognize that talent development is crucial to our success as an organization which is why we have invested in programs that continue to up-skill and re-skill employees at all levels. These programs are easily accessible and we constantly encourage employees to take advantage of them so they can stay current and relevant in their fields.  We don’t just pay lip service to gender inclusivity and to building an equitable working environment; we constantly live into those values. 

#BestPlacestoWork - How eHA builds a healthier work environment for its employees.

By Munachi Okoro

Four out of five employees worldwide are not flourishing at work, according to a survey of over 14,000 people from 37 countries by Great Place to Work® and Johns Hopkins Carey Business School. This fact bolsters the need for employers to create an enabling work environment for their employees to thrive and be productive. Conversations on #TerribleBosses and workplaces have seen a rapid global shift in organizational work cultures and policies. Organizations are evolving from embracing new policies like remote working during the COVID-19 pandemic to adopting a more inclusive workforce. 

This year,  eHealth Africa (eHA) got certified as one of Nigeria’s best places to work. eHA employees ranked the organization high on employee conditions, workplace culture, and policies recognizing the organization as one of the rewarding places to work where people can unlock their potential in a diverse and inclusive workplace. 

The certification is no surprise because of the policies eHA has in place to create an enabling environment for its employees. According to eHA’s Chief Financial Officer and Senior Director of Administration, Zahir Baloum, the eHA management team has prioritized 

employee satisfaction and growth for the past four years. We believe this significantly impacts employee attitudes about their jobs, coworkers, and organization, enhancing productivity and mental health.

What do our employees think about the work culture at eHA?

According to a business day article published in July 2022 on Mental Health and Employees’ Productivity in Today’s Workplace, A happy and healthy workforce will produce vibrant, and enthusiastic employees focused on delivering beyond business goals and expectations.  When asked how she feels about eHA’s work culture, Fatima Mohammed, a project coordinator, said that The eHA work environment has been friendly, and the organization has prioritized the work-life balance policy. It ensures that staff appropriately utilize their leave days and introduces activities that provide good work-life balance practices.

Fatima started her career at eHA as a phone logistician for the Vaccination Tracking Project over seven years ago and has since grown to the position of project coordinator, a testament to the growth opportunities within the organization. She says that the newly adopted people-focused culture has allowed for employee cohesion. They feel more comfortable and valued because the organization carries them along, is ready to listen to their voices, and uses that to gauge and improve.  There’s no doubt that employees feel happier and are more productive when their voices are heard. I appreciate the organization for employing this approach to creating a healthy work environment. 

For Juliana Jacob, a Senior Knowledge Management Associate at eHealth Africa, the work culture at eHA encourages teamwork and innovation, creating a healthy work-life balance. It promotes continuous learning and development as well as career growth. Juliana started her career at eHA as an intern with the Helpdesk team and has since transitioned to her current role.

Living the eHA values 

Aligning an individual’s role with the organization’s mission can foster a higher sense of purpose or fulfillment. That is why it is no surprise that eHealth Africa tries to foster an environment where its employees can lead to its core values of integrity, impact, quality, problem-solving, and innovation. In ensuring that the organization's influence is felt in its immediate environment, eHA embarks on community development initiatives with its staff on a mission to ensure that people in underserved communities can lead healthier lives. Early this year, one of the community development initiatives embarked on was the renovation of  22 boreholes across 10 LGAs in Kano, Borno, and the FCT. 

Another initiative within the organization that strives to create a healthier work environment at eHealth Africa is the Culture Club. According to Mohammed Bello, a project manager within the organization and the Culture Club head, eHA created the club to provide a more definitive and strategic pathway for culture stewardship and collaboration within the organization. It has been used as a mechanism to support the achievement of the organization’s result framework of ‘making eHA the best place to work through several Employee engagement activities such as Employee recognition, where eHA reward and recognizes the best employee of the month. The culture club organizes activities within the organization from time to time. One of those activities was the planting of 500 trees planted in Kano and Abuja during the  2022 Earth Day celebration. 

Undoubtedly, eHealth Africa is committed to building a healthy work environment for its employees through its policies, initiatives, and commitment to building the capacity of its staff as well as the communities impacted by its work across Africa.