The manicured offices of St Leger & Viney, in Kramerville, Johannesburg, give little clue to the spirit of humanity now so integral to the company's ethos. Ironically, it is HIV/AIDS that has triggered dramatic changes in how the fabric distribution and décor specialist company, winner of a Khomanani Excellence Award last year, has begun to tackle the health and wellness of its 50 employees.

Although an HIV/AIDS workplace programme was only initiated at the beginning of last year, one project has rapidly led to another and the small company now has a fully-fledged wellness program in place – pointing the way forward for other small businesses which have been slow in taking up the challenge of HIV/AIDS in their workplaces.

CEO Gary Searle says the company initially had "an ostrich mentality" regarding HIV/AIDS. "We had a similar approach to many other companies in South Africa. The problem just seemed too huge to consider tackling." Previously, employees would on occasion get ill and then leave the company, says Searle, and "the problem would be ignored".

'I felt so powerless'

However, when one of his employees, who had recently given birth, became ill and died in April 2003, leaving behind an HIV-positive baby and two other children, Searle realised the company had to get involved. St Leger and Viney matched funds raised by staff for the employee's children, but Searle realised an HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention programme had to be put in place to protect his workforce. "I was saying to a friend that I felt so powerless; that it was difficult to know where to turn when government policy wasn't clear," recalls Searle. "He then told me about the Sabcoha toolkit."

St Leger and Viney brought in their HR consultant, and with the help of Sabcoha, the company began to implement an HIV/AIDS workplace programme.

Johannah Mushi, a slight young creditors clerk at the company, was happy to take up the challenge of becoming the company's AIDS Champion. Mushi had wanted to do something useful in the field of HIV/AIDS after a close friend of hers tried to commit suicide after being rejected by her family for her HIV status. Mushi also recently lost a cousin to AIDS.

After appointing Mushi, the next step at St Leger and Viney was to show the staff the Toolkit video as a way of introducing HIV/AIDS as a topic for discussion in the workplace. "We announced that we would start an awareness campaign in 2005 and we showed the video at our Christmas party in 2004.

Everyone was polite, but rather perplexed, recalls Searle. Then the company began distributing pamphlets, stocking the staff toilets with condoms and invited a counsellor from the nearby Wendywood Clinic to give a presentation on Voluntary Testing and Counselling.

"Initially employees were suspicious that we were getting involved in an area that previously was private," says Searle. Mushi also picked up much resistance from male employees reluctant to go for an HIV test. "They would say, 'even if we go, we are still going to die'. "But I kept on sitting with them, explaining to them the importance of getting tested," she says.

Employees opted to test privately at the Wendywood clinic or other facilities. A year later, Mushi and Searle believe about half the staff now know their status. "I'm hoping that everyone will test. If I can just keep talking, then I hope they eventually will," says Mushi, who adds exuberantly that being an AIDS champion has changed her life. Beyond giving her new purpose in life, it is also offering career development opportunities: she is set to attend training courses on HIV/AIDS counselling.

Morale in the company has soared

A total of 1 000 condoms are given out each month and, in a climate of open discussion and awareness-raising, staff are continually encouraged to go for Voluntary Counselling and Testing. HIV/AIDS is also placed on the agenda for every staff meeting. Searle does not know how many employees are HIV-positive or whether any are on ARVs, for that matter. However, as his is a small company that does not offer medical aid, he sees its primary role as creating awareness and helping people access treatment rather than providing it. "If one of our employees has multiple sclerosis, shouldn't we then also pay for her medication? Where do you draw the line?" he asks.

Searle is amazed at how the HIV/AIDS initiative has paved the way for other programs and built morale in the company, particularly after St Leger and Viney won the Khomanani Excellence Award last year in the small company category.
"After we won the award we had everyone in the company take interest. It was great for team building," says Searle.

Implementing the Toolkit is a 'no brainer'

He soon saw, however, that focusing only on HIV/AIDS to the exclusion of other health-related issues, just wasn't enough. "I realised that taking an interest in a staff member's health simply because they have a life-threatening disease is a bit much," says Searle. Now the company has implemented a Wellness Program in both its Johannesburg and Cape Town branches, which includes regular visits from health professionals offering flu vaccines, blood pressure testing; lectures on diet, fitness, HIV/AIDS, general health and beauty; as well as events such as weekend outings to the Topsy Foundation (a foundation supporting children orphaned by HIV/AIDS). Events like these have inspired many staff members who are not directly affected by HIV/AIDS to get involved, say Searle and Mushi.

Searle says the new initiatives are costing the company very little money and just a bit of time … The facilities are all out there, it's just a case of tapping into them … We learnt from the experience of using the (Sabcoha) Toolkit. It shows you how to tackle a massive problem in small bites."

In his view, membership of Sabcoha and implementing the toolkit is a "no brainer". "As a businessman it gives you the opportunity to build a team around the issues and shows your workforce that you are genuinely concerned about them. This is hugely motivational. To really motivate people you have to make them believe that they are working in the right place, at the right time and with the right people." By all accounts, St Leger and Viney's Wellness Program is going a long way towards achieving this goal.