Launch of Mental Health First Aider programme in South Africa 

Following four years of success across our UK operation, we are delighted to announce the launch of our Mental Health First Aider (MHFA) initiative within our offices in South Africa.  

Our MHFA programme is one of our most important and significant internal initiatives to date. For the first time ever, we have recruited 10 staff in South Africa who are each now fully trained to help and support colleagues when they need it most. 

Driven by our ‘One Me, One Sigma’ committee based in Cape Town, our Mental Health First Aiders are now on hand to promote positive mental health and offer one-to-one private conversations to those who are struggling, or alternatively, direct them to wellbeing materials available internally on the Sigma Connected Discovery platform.   

Pete Harkness, head of health, safety and facilities at Sigma Connected Group said: “I said last year how we were going further and faster to promote positive mental health and wellbeing across Sigma Connected.  

“Launching our Mental Health First Aider initiative across all our sites in Western Cape is a perfect example of that and showcases how determined we are to maintain our reputation as a responsible, caring employer. 

“We launched the mental wellbeing initiative in the UK in 2020 during the hugely challenging Covid pandemic, with 20 people recruited and trained from within Sigma Connected. Due to its success and the benefits we’ve seen, we want our staff in South Africa to have the same experience and support whether that is in person, on MS Teams, or even over the telephone.  

“Culturally in South Africa, open conversations around mental health are uncommon but we want to change that and make staff comfortable about opening up, but also being more mindful on mental health in general. 

“It’s no secret that our staff across Western Cape handle challenging calls from our international customers, especially when dealing with people who are struggling to pay their bills and hearing about the knock-on effect that causes. It will hopefully be a support for them. 

“This is, however, just the beginning. With 4,000 staff across South Africa, we will be growing the programme further, adding to the initial team of 10, and aiming to make even more of a difference throughout this year and beyond. It’s a proud moment for us.” 

The introduction of the MFHA team is just one of the initiatives Sigma Connected have launched to support the mental wellbeing of their employees. In addition, there is an onsite counsellor for independent in-person support and employees have access to an employee assistance programme called Life EHS. 

If you’re interested in a career here at Sigma Connected, and want to learn more about us and how we work, you can visit the Careers page here on our website.