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The Initiatives Developed By The Açotubo Group Aim To Prevent, Identify And Monitor Possible Psychological Or Emotional Conditions That Affect Their Employees’ Lives
The January White campaign, which became part of the health calendar in 2014, invites people to reflect on the importance of mental health care and prevention, which already affects around 1 billion people, according to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). In a recent study conducted by the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) and six other national universities, 40% of the Brazilian population reported frequent feelings of sadness and depression, while another 50% reported constant anxiety and nervousness. In another survey by WTW, stress was identified as the factor that most impacts the workforce (83%), followed by depression, anxiety (82%), and sedentarism (69%). These data highlight the need to create a culture of mental health care among companies as well.
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Protecting the health of employees is one of the priorities of the Açotubo Group, which has a program to address this issue, resulting from various transformations related to the organizational culture that the company has been implementing in recent years.
Açotubo Group Has Been Developing New Actions Since The Beginning Of The Pandemic
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the company has been developing actions in partnership with the Nova Visão consultancy, responsible for supporting the program’s development, and with the company’s occupational physician, Orlando Leoncio Junior, who already conducts periodic examinations to monitor the health of Açotubo Group employees and has also focused on mental health issues to monitor and, above all, provide the necessary support for anyone experiencing any type of emotional problem.
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Lara Bassi, HR business partner at Açotubo, emphasizes that one of the company’s mottos is caring for people and protecting employees’ mental health is one of management’s priorities. “These issues were already on the HR department’s radar, but with the pandemic, we worked hard to develop concrete actions to provide emotional support to our employees.”
Renata Amorim, psychologist at Nova Visão, the consultancy that assists Açotubo in applying the program, explains that the first step was to raise awareness among leaders so that managers in each sector understood the importance of caring for mental health and how this issue impacts the organization.
“This was important so that the employee would feel more comfortable participating. Generally, as the company grows, it tends to lose care for the team. This is Açotubo’s great differentiator, which has an HR department that operates with open doors and, beyond this sensitivity, seeks improvement in caring for people,” emphasizes Renata.
Employees Feel Encouraged To Participate In The Conversation Circles, Organized To Be A Space For Reception And Listening
After this work, employees were encouraged to participate in the conversation circles, organized to be a space for reception and listening. As a result, meetings are held every two weeks focusing on topics such as depression, burnout, grief, and anxiety, subjects that have permeated everyone’s lives, especially over the past two years.
In each conversation circle, participants respond to a self-assessment questionnaire and, depending on the results, the employee receives individual monitoring from the medical department and, if necessary, is referred for individual psychological support. “Something commonly identified during the conversations is the employee’s search for information in order to also help a friend or family member. Therefore, the program’s services and benefits go beyond conversations and extend beyond the company’s dependencies,” explains Renata.
There are numerous reasons for emotional imbalance, such as compromised physical health, traumas, or financial crises. With this, the Group understands that caring for employee well-being must be an action promoted throughout the year and also requires encouraging the adoption of good habits. In this sense, other programs with practices that can assist in this objective, such as encouragement for sports activities, nutritional care assistance, and a smoking cessation program, will be implemented.
“More and more, our actions go beyond mere words and demonstrate the certainty that the motto ‘caring for people’ is already part of our corporate culture. In 2022, we will strengthen this principle even more,” concludes Lara Bassi.
About The Açotubo Group
With 47 years of operation, the Açotubo Group is recognized for its portfolio, services, and solutions in steel distribution. The company has five business units: Tubes and Steel, Fittings, Stainless Steels, Integrated Solutions, and Anchoring Systems (Incotep), with strategic units positioned in different regions to serve all of Brazil.
With constant investments in technology and infrastructure, the company aims to meet customer needs with agility and quality, regardless of volume. It values its employees as a driving force for development and considers social responsibility as one of its main pillars.
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