Exploring wellness among sales and marketing staff within a global automotive company

Abstract

Employees should be regarded as the most important asset in an organisation. Even though machinery and technology has become an important resource in organisational functioning, human capital are vital in determining organisational success. Therefore, the important role of employees should not be overlooked in the organisation. Considering that employees spent most of their time at work, it is imperative for companies to provide them with the necessary support to ensure that they are not only productive, but also ‘well’. Often wellness initiatives are implemented in organisations, but show little positive returns. Employee stress is an inevitable factor in the workplace, and has many negative implications on the wellness of employees. The general objective of this study was to explore wellness among sales and marketing staff within a global automotive company. A qualitative research approach was utilised in the study with hermeneutic phenomenology as philosophical underpinnings. The study made use of semi structured interviews and recruited participants based on a quota sampling technique. The targeted sample consisted of employees who function in the sales and marketing department of a global automotive company (n=12). The results indicated that the sales and marketing environment can be regarded as highly stressful and fast paced, and as a result their wellness is perceived to be at a low. The participants highlighted that from the seven suggested dimensions, they regarded physical, mental and occupational wellness as most important. The results indicated that employees are prone to unhealthy coping habits in an attempt to manage workplace stress. Furthermore the participants expect the company to do more in terms of promoting their wellness, and that managers play an important role due to their authoritative positions. The participants expressed that managers can either promote or undermine wellness initiatives.