AMAALA, the ultra-luxury development located along Saudi Arabia’s north western coast – has joined forces with professional services consultancy, WSP Middle East on the occasion of the tenth annual Global Wellness Day (GWD) to promote the need for a renewed focus in the way organisations approach mental health, with an emphasis on improving workplace wellness and empowering greater conversation around holistic wellbeing.
AMAALA and WSP Middle East united for a podcast episode titled ‘Wellness Matters: Weaving wellbeing into our workplace cultures’, which saw them question and critique the role organisations have to play in empowering people to thrive both physically and mentally. The episode is part of WSP’s Anticipate Podcast, which is an insights series, that explores perspectives to future trends and existing challenges by engaging experts and thought leaders from across the engineering and construction industry.
Hosted by Caroline Parsons, HR Director & Director – Shared Services at WSP Middle East and featuring Victoria Sharpe, Global Wellness Day Ambassador of Saudi Arabia and Wellness Manager at AMAALA, the discussion unpacked the link between organisations’ core principles and how these can evolve to generate real, sustainable change for people, as well as backing GWD’s universal ambition to support the building blocks for a healthier society.
AMAALA’s commitment towards mental health
Victoria Sharpe, Global Wellness Day Ambassador of Saudi Arabia and Wellness Manager at AMAALA, said: “Spearheading the initiative Global Wellness Day as the Saudi ambassador is both an honour and an important responsibility. The importance of wellness – physical, mental and emotional – has been recognised as a key pillar for Saudi’s Vision 2030 which is vital for the future growth and health of the nation.
The Saudi National Mental Health Survey published in 2019 found that 34% of Saudis meet the criteria for a mental health condition at some point in their life, however cultural norms render this a taboo subject. This is a new topic and in my work at AMAALA, we will help people find their path to wellness. In the meantime, we have started with our employees with a number of initiatives designed to educate and enlighten to start their own personal journeys. Just start by asking ‘How can I live a healthier and better life?’”
Caroline Parsons, HR Director & Director – Shared Services, WSP Middle East said: “More often than not, organisations take steps that indirectly push against wellness and drive the opposite of wellness. In the post-pandemic setting, it’s imperative that we have the awareness to really challenge ourselves by placing wellness at the front of our agenda, but also ensuring that the foundational pillars of our organisations are reset to ensure legacy systems or outdated behaviours and cultures don’t impact positive future outcomes.
Ultimately, it’s up to us all to create a culture of wellness by design, thus ensuring our people are more engaged, motivated, creative, and empowered to thrive.”
AMAALA has coordinated with WSP ME regarding workplace diversity and inclusion as well, which included talks surrounding greater female representation in the engineering sector and STEM.