Managers’ knowledge and perceptions of the firm’s HIV/AIDS policy and programme

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: A number of firms fail in their endeavours to run successful HIV/AIDS workplaceprogrammes and as a result they incur not only an unmitigated risk but also the costs andopportunity costs of the projects. The purpose of this study is to explore senior managers’knowledge of, feelings about, and perceptions towards their firm’s HIV/AIDS Policy andProgramme, in order to identify strategies to gain their support for successfulimplementation. A qualitative research study was carried out from 21 to 24 December2009. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data from the 12 senior managerspurposively selected.The results indicate that only 8.3 per cent of the senior managers have a good grasp of thefirm’s HIV/AIDS Policy and they also express positive feelings about the policy. Thereare 16.7 per cent of the senior managers who have incomplete basic knowledge of thefirm’s HIV/AIDS Policy and they also express positive feelings about the policy. 75 percent of the senior managers have no knowledge of the firm’s HIV/AIDS Policy.As far as the firm’s HIV/AIDS prevention and care programmes are concerned, 75 percent of the senior managers perceive the firm’s HIV/AIDS prevention and careprogrammes as value-adding to the business and as the responsibility of the HumanResources department through the Employee Assistance Programme or the clinic. Theremaining 15 per cent of senior managers perceive the firm’s HIV/AIDS prevention andcare programmes as non-value-adding to the business.The rather poor knowledge of the firm’s HIV/AIDS Policy and the lack of ownership ofthe firm’s HIV/AIDS prevention and care programmes by senior management suggestthat considerable work still needs to be done to ensure that the firm implements aneffective and sustainable management of HIV/AIDS.It is recommended that the firm’s HIV/AIDS Programme must be transformed into abroader Wellness Programme covering a wide range of health and wellness issuesaffecting staff. The workplace Wellness Programme must be driven by a sense ofownership between the company and employees.