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At Intellect’s Mental Health Festival 2024, Anthea Ong, Founder and Chair of the Board of Directors of WorkWell Leaders, is joined by Heena Bose, CEO of Pacific Prime, and Jeffery Tan, CEO of Jardines MINDSET, for a discussion on best practices in workplace wellbeing.
This article is brought to you by Intellect.
When CEO of Jardines MINDSET Jeffery Tan spoke with a friend and senior partner of a large firm, he was struck by a statement of his: “I’d rather admit to the fact that I’ve got cancer than I have a mental health challenge.”
The fact that the latter has access to employee wellbeing benefits shows just how pervasive mental health stigma is. And it’s not hard to see why.
“There’s a practical issue,” Tan continued. “Even when people can look past the stigma, when promotional opportunities come up, how would they look at the person who put their hand up and said they had a mental health issue?”
Model the virtues you want to see
A 2022 survey found that 64% of Singaporeans feared potential career setbacks if their employers were aware of their mental health issues. This stigma leads them to suffer in silence rather than seeking help. To counter this, Tan suggested that C-suite leaders model the virtues they want to see in their employees, such as openness.
“Sometimes, in a C-suite or as leaders we tend to think of ourselves as 'supermen' or 'wonderwomen'. We should be able to take the next challenge or the next level of pain. But I think leaders forget we are also human beings,” said Tan.
“I think the first step to [creating a space of trust and safety] is to recognise that we too are human.”
This might mean starting conversations about mental health at work or actively using the employee wellbeing benefits they’ve endorsed.
At Jardines MINDSET, for instance, employees have the option to work from home twice a week. Yet, when a team member asked how often he actually does, Tan admitted with a smile, “Probably only twice in the past month.”
When a leader openly acknowledges that they, too, could make better use of a benefit to support their work-life balance, it sends a powerful message. It not only humanises them, but it also normalises the use of company benefits without the fear of losing professional visibility.
Invest in an employee wellbeing headcount
In the wake of COVID-19, CEO of Pacific Prime Heena Bose thought it was “good enough” that her organisation offers an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP). This changed when HR reported its take-up rate to be a dismal 3% to 5%.
“That’s the reason we came up with the wellness coordinator role in the organisation. That set the tone that we do believe in (employee wellbeing),” Bose said.
The wellness coordinator is responsible for enhancing the workforce's mental health literacy through educational initiatives and activities that promote holistic wellbeing. Recently, Pacific Prime hosted a wellness bazaar featuring annual health screenings, massage sessions, and workshops on nutrition and other relevant topics.
This individual also ensures the quality of such offerings, preventing them from becoming token gestures. For instance, Pacific Prime’s wellness coordinator actively seeks out vendors who are not only subject matter experts but also have the ability to inspire employees to take care of themselves.
“We (previously) engaged doctors, but we learned that not every doctor can communicate as well as they treat patients. You need to get people who can engage their audiences,” said Bose.
“It really helps employees come to work with happy faces. The take-up rate was good. It’s encouraging for us as an organisation to continue spending time and working on this.”
Create sustainable workloads
Singapore’s Minister of Education Chan Chun Sing recently shone a spotlight on the wellbeing of teachers, outlining a slew of measures to streamline non-teaching duties and reduce their administrative load by 10%.
This has sparked broader discussions about creating more sustainable workloads.
“We’ve been focusing a lot on the workplace and workforce. But are we ready to talk about work – to redefine work? To redesign work?” questioned Ong.
In other words, is work structured in a way that enables leaders and employees to manage their workloads sustainably, without risking mental or physical burnout? With technology's support, can we further ease these burdens?
“As an organisation, I personally feel we’ve done this very well,” remarked Bose.
One way Pacific Prime supports this approach is by promoting managers internally rather than hiring from outside. This not only provides career advancement but also reflects their belief that to lead, one must first have experience in the role.
“Team members who have done the work become managers who are going to lead. They know exactly how to manage the work, and what is overloading or holding the team back,” she said.
Pacific Prime also prides itself on a culture where employees are encouraged to arrive and leave on time. If anyone works beyond office hours, Bose approaches them to discuss the reasons, which helps her understand the workload's demands and whether more staff are needed.
Go back to the basics
Mental and physical health are deeply interconnected, yet essential habits are often neglected.
A good night’s sleep is essential to both mental and physical wellbeing. Quality sleep influences cognitive functions like learning and memory retention and is strongly linked to mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder. Additionally, sleep quality impacts workplace productivity and performance, as inadequate rest can impair focus, decision-making, and overall effectiveness.
“You really need to have a good sleep. That’s the foundation for you to operate in any role, personal or professional,” said Bose.
However, Singaporeans are among the most sleep-deprived in the world. A YouGov survey found that only one in four (27%) people in Singapore get the recommended seven hours of sleep or more every night.
Anthea Ong, Founder and Chair of the Board of Directors of WorkWell Leaders, shared that leaders in the organisation make it a priority to check in on team members’ sleep patterns. Lifestyle factors like sleep are often overlooked in one-on-ones, where the focus typically remains on tasks and deadlines. Yet, these insights are invaluable, painting a fuller picture of employees’ overall wellbeing and productivity.
In addition to adequate rest, Bose, who enjoys meditating in her free time, underscores the importance of cultivating hobbies as a way to decompress and recharge.
“This is a habit I’d like to instil in young managers. They need to have a personal hobby, whatever it may be,” she said.
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