Abstract
The aim of this study was to explore the personal and work-related problems that impact on the productivity of employees in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Namibia. The study further investigated how such problems are dealt with in the workplace and explored the perceptions of employers and employees regarding the provision of an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), as well as the type of EAP viable for the SME sector. Findings of the study revealed that employees experience diverse problems and that SME owners are not equipped to deal with employees’ psychosocial problems effectively. The results also indicated a need for an EAP in SMEs to promote employee wellbeing.
Highlights
small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are believed to be important engines for economic growth and job creation (Berglund, Sevä & Strandh, 2016; Gerstenfeld & Roberts, 2002; Ipinge, 2010)
This paper presents five themes which emerged strongly from the thematic analysis of the data, namely (i) types of problems experienced by employees; (ii) problem-solving strategies used; (iii) benefits of Employee Assistance Programme (EAP); (iv) EAP service provision; and (v) utilisation of the EAP
Since varying responses were obtained from the employer and employee categories, sub-themes for each of the main themes were developed
Summary
SMEs are believed to be important engines for economic growth and job creation (Berglund, Sevä & Strandh, 2016; Gerstenfeld & Roberts, 2002; Ipinge, 2010). Small business owners may often be more worried about the mere survival of the businesses they have worked so hard to establish and build (Business Case Studies, 2016), thereby overlooking the real value of employees to the business enterprise (Mayson & Barrett, 2006). This is besides the fact that enhanced employee productivity is an essential factor for business effectiveness, which provides an impetus for the introduction of employee health, wellness and counselling programmes in the workplace (Tham, 1998). SMEs with employee problems may suffer more significantly the effects of an employee’s problems, because decreased performance and productivity will more quickly hurt a smaller employer’s bottom line (European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, 2014; Fully Effective Employees, [sa])
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