Read the case study below and answer ALL the following questions Virtual Emporiums New Wellness Programme Virtual Emporium, an online retailer, was established in 2005 in South Africa. Currently 3000 employees work at Virtual Emporium. The company sells a wide range of products online, from books to cosmetics to appliances. Virtual Emporium has recently put in place a new wellness programme, which is aimed at operations employees and focuses on health education, mindfulness and stretching. However, the company is not giving employees extra break time nor are productivity requirements being reduced. Virtual Emporium has been piloting components of the new programme, called Operation Wellness, since 2021. The company aims to roll it out to all operations centres, which include the warehouses where Virtual Emporium workers prepare packages for delivery, by the end of 2023. Operation Wellness is part of a R900 million investment to improve worker safety, with the goal of cutting injury rates in half by the end of 2023. Data from 2021 show consistently rising injury rates at Virtual Emporium warehouses. Furthermore, stress is commonplace amongst Virtual Emporiums operations employees. The stress is due to the productivity standards imposed on employees who are expected to perform as highly efficient robots. Every single task performed by operations employees is closely monitored and timed. Employees also experience physical stress as a result of having to walk 20 kilometres a day around the warehouse and doing hundreds of squats in the performance of their jobs. Operation Wellness aims to bring interactions with health and wellness principles directly to the warehouse floor. For example, videos in Wellness Zones will guide employees through stretching exercises. New Zen kiosks will let stressed employees watch short videos featuring easy-to-follow wellbeing activities, including guided meditations, positive affirmations, calming scenes with sounds, and more. Workers will get hourly prompts at their workstations, called Mind & Body Moments, reminding employees to breathe, stretch and do mental reflections. Many employees have complained about rigid productivity quotas at the company, with some saying they have to skip bathroom breaks to meet them. Virtual Emporium automatically tracks employee productivity and downtime. Around 10% of its workforce annually undergo disciplinaries for not meeting productivity standards. Stretching, mindfulness and meditation can have physical and mental benefits. But they dont address the underlying cause of Virtual Emporium employees stress and injuries, which is the threat of undergoing a disciplinary if they dont handle packages quickly enough. While employees wont get additional time to do these activities, they will get rewarded for participating in them. Virtual Emporium said via email that one of the factors it will take into account when assessing an employees performance is their participation in Operation Wellness. That could encourage employees to use the wellness resources available to them or it could put another burden on their break time to make sure that, too, is productive. Virtual Emporium will solicit employee feedback on the programme through Connect and Comment Kiosks. Other components of Operation Wellness include Eat Well, which involves placing healthier snacks in break rooms, and signage about healthy eating choices. Health and Safety Huddles will bring employees together for interactive videos and exercises. A new dedicated first aid area, called Wellness Centres (different from Wellness Zones) will also bring injury prevention experts to the workplace. In addition to providing medical aid for all employees, Virtual Emporium has partnered with a clinic called Crossover Health to provide primary health care for employees. Virtual Emporium describes the Crossover Health partnership as an affordable option that focuses on preventative medicine, among other things. There will eventually be an Operation Wellness app that will allow employees to access the wellness activities outside of the workplace. 2 Providing new opportunities and access to healthcare for employees is a step in the right direction for Virtual Emporium. But its a pity that employees wont get extra break time or reduced productivity targets, to allow them sufficient time to participate in the wellness initiatives. Ultimately, it could be argued that Virtual Emporiums Operation Wellness programme is a band aid, not a cure.

QUESTION 1 (25 Marks) Discuss the causes of stress at Virtual Emporium, as well as the impact of stress on individual employees and the organisation

QUESTION 2 (25 Marks) To what extent is Virtual Emporiums Employee Wellness Programme successful? Discuss

QUESTION 3 (25 Marks) Operation Wellness is part of a R900 million investment to improve worker safety, with the goal of cutting injury rates in half by the end of 2023. Data from 2021 show consistently rising injury rates at Virtual Emporium warehouses. Discuss how Virtual Emporium can go about reducing unsafe conditions and unsafe acts which lead to injuries.

QUESTION 4 (25 Marks) Discuss whether it would be better to use a ROI approach or VOI approach to evaluate Virtual Emporiums Employee Wellness Programme (EWP).

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