The Cost is Human First

RECENT PUBLIC DISCUSSIONS about working conditions within the judiciary have brought issues of workplace well-being into the spotlight.

While concerns may appear specific to one sector, they reflect a broader reality across many professions in Namibia, involving that employees work under increasing psychological strain, often without the structural support needed to sustain them.

Mostly observed is that long before productivity declines or systems falter, the impact is experienced by people themselves, meaning the cost is human first – a constant reminder that workplace well-being can no longer be a ‘soft’ conversation but a more structural one.

Yet across sectors, progress remains slow, uneven, and sometimes resisted altogether.

Last year at the Employee Wellness Indaba, an annual conference convened to address workplace well-being, a prominent member of Namibia’s legal fraternity spoke candidly about the psychological toll of legal practice.

Behind the prestige and public trust associated with the profession lies a reality many practitioners quietly endure: overwhelming workloads, emotional exhaustion, and unhealthy coping mechanisms that develop when pressure becomes chronic.

These reflections now echo loudly in the public domain. Reports of judges raising concerns about inhumane working conditions reminds us that workplace strain is not limited to one profession or level of seniority, and that no one is immune to burnout.

Actually for some time now Namibian employees have been sending this signal of distress and frustration.

The concern becomes more pronounced when workplace stress is normalised, leading people to adapt in ways that are not always healthy.

Some disengage emotionally, others rely on substances, avoidance, or overworking to cope.

Many simply continue ‘functioning’ while quietly exhausted. Over time, productivity declines, relationships deteriorate, and mistakes increase. The cost is human first, inevitably followed by organisational consequences.

The challenge is not that organisations do not care about well-being.

In many cases, leaders do genuinely express concern. The difficulty lies in translating concern into structural change. Moreover, even though well-being programmes are often introduced, the environments that create distress remain unchanged.

This creates a perpetual cycle where organisations attempt to support employees without addressing the conditions that overwhelm them.

It is imperative that well-being is not treated merely as an intervention, but as part of workplace design. Psychological safety, manageable workloads, supportive leadership, and clear systems of accountability are not luxuries.

All are protective factors against burnout, and without them even the most resilient professional would struggle to sustain performance over time.

Unfortunately, most high-responsibility professions such as law, medicine, policing, and executive leadership subtly mistake endurance for strength.

Admitting strain could feel like failure, which creates a silence that delays intervention until distress becomes visible through absenteeism, conflict, or declining performance.

Healthy organisations are not built by resilience alone, but are built intentionally through leadership decisions, humane workloads, psychological safety, and systems that recognise people as the foundation of performance.

While change is possible, there also seems to be a cultural barrier to change, as organisations are yet to understand that employee well-being is directly linked to organisational effectiveness. When leaders recognise that mental well-being is not separate from performance, decision-making improves, teams function better, and workplaces become more sustainable.

Maybe then the conversation will truly shift, but till then, the judges’ concerns, the legal practitioner’s reflections at last year’s Employee Wellness Indaba, and the experiences of countless employees across sectors all point to the same truth – that workplace well-being cannot wait until crisis forces attention.

Perhaps once again this should serve as a reminder that the conversation can no longer be about whether employee well-being matters, but about how organisations ought to intentionally design environments where people can function, grow, and lead sustainably.

• Ceaseria Mutau is the executive director of Eureka Psychological Services.

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