BY WINSTONE ANTONIO THE use of chaplains by corporates that appears to be prevalent in the West, appears to have traversed the borders finding its way home in the Covid-19 aftermath to ease workplace stress.
A chaplain is a certified clergy member who provides spiritual care for individuals in a non-religious organisation, rather than a church congregation.
Across the globe, major corporations, such as Tyson Foods, Coca-Cola and General Motors are among the companies that have enlisted the help of chaplains to their employees.
The corporate chaplain services include assisting employees during crisis situations at the office or home, providing caregiving sessions to employees, and providing referrals to other professionals when necessary.
In the latest development, local Chaplain Brian Moyo of the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Church is spearheading free of charge Chaplin services in the aftermath of Covid-19 pandemic.
After he ministered to thousands of Covid-19 patients at the height of the pandemic and sensing the need to continue ministering, Chaplain Moyo has collaborated with SDA Church, Edward Tome from the Industrial Development Corporation of Zimbabwe (IDCZ) and Arundel Hospital among others to provide worship space (the prayer rooms) for everyone in the workplace under the corporate chaplaincy service.
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Early last week, Chaplin Moyo officially opened the doors of their donated prayer room to the Zimbabwe Phosphate Industries (ZimPhos) factory in Msasa, Harare.
Speaking to Standard Style on the sidelines of the event, Chaplin Moyo said the free corporate chaplaincy services offered to almost every willing company in the country is meant to help create a healthy, spiritual, productive and positive workplace culture.
“There are a lot of mental health issues that people are struggling with, but they don’t have an available place closer to reach where they can be able to go and offload all these things. So we are saying the free corporate chaplaincy services is there within the working place,” he said.
“We are there to assist the people as spiritual cheer leaders of businesses. It also speaks to the bottom-line of any business that people have a wellness that is stable in order to contribute better to the company. You have less people out of work for certain reasons because they are dealt with when it comes to their spiritual awareness.”
Chaplin Moyo said they recently started the corporate chaplaincy services program with IDCZ which is under the ministry of Industry and Commerce having initially shown interest when the proposal was presented to their board.
“As we started with the Industrial Development Corporation of Zimbabwe at their head office, we are now doing it with its several subsidiaries such as Zimphos where we are today (Friday), Willowvale Motor Industries, Camplex Animal Plant and Public Health, Deven Engineering and Allied insurance.”
He said they have also gone a step further to engage with other companies.
“We are also going to mines under Kuvimba Mining and we are still in preliminary stages to service CBZ and ZB Bank as well as First Mutual,” he said, adding that their desire was to be able to provide corporate chaplaincy services to any willing companies within the country.
“We are going to offer the Chaplains because it’s not only merely providing a prayer room or a chapel, but it’s also providing a Chaplin. The Chaplin comes to interact with the employees within the workplace and offsite, and be able to provide counselling, attend to the personal, emotional and spiritual needs of the employees.”