Mr Yeo Guat Kwang
MP & Director Quality Worklife NTUC
Mr Leong Yew Meng, CEO IMH
Dr Rose Vaithi Nathan, Acting CEO HPB
Mr Mark Moey, SNEF
1. Living in a fast changing world, life is full of challenges - rapid technology advances, major business restructuring, quick pace of life, just to name a few.
To adapt and survive, one will have to learn new skills, acquire new knowledge, take some risks, and embrace new mindset in adapting to new and unfamiliar work environments.
These life’s challenges can certainly bring about stress.
2. Depending on our tolerance to stress, one may experience either positive emotions such as a feeling of excitement and enthusiasm, or negative emotions such as feeling agitated and depressed.
Whatever the case may be, we need to recognize that emotional health is important to our overall well-being.
We must learn to manage stress effectively, and learn to deal with emotions and feelings associated with stress.
3. While some of us may look at our workplace as a main source of stress, we must not forget that it is also a major source of emotional health.
Living an active and productive life does have a positive effect on our emotional and mental health.
Besides earning a living, what we do every day gives us a sense of purpose and identity.
4. I would therefore look at stress in our every day life as the tension that keeps us bouncing forward and upward all the times.
Imagine how dull and colorless our life would be, if we live a life with no challenges and no stress.
I guess this is why a friend who has just retired told me that he now realizes that life is so much more stressful without stress!
5. The issue we face today is therefore not so much one of how to reduce stress or remove stress from our workplace and daily life, but one of how best to tackle challenges and manage stress so as to maximise the performance and well being of our people.
In this regard, the workplace is indeed an important setting for us to implement programmes, at the organisational and individual levels, to achieve this.
6. At the organizational level, employers must first recognise and accept the importance of emotional health of the employees.
With the help of professional experts, employers can identify the needs of the employees, and introduce an appropriate prevention or intervention programme at the workplace.
7. At the individual level, employees have to play their role too. Their support and commitment are needed in dealing with stress arising from personal or work-related reasons, as it may have spill-over effect on other employees at the workplace.
8. The Workplace Emotional Health Programme, a concept proposed by the Quality Worklife Department of the NTUC, is a new programme developed by the Institute of Mental Health for employers to help their employees proactively manage stress and other mental health issues, and resolve personal and work-related problems that affect work productivity.
9. This programme is structured to identify and help employees resolve work and personal problems that may adversely affect work performance. The assistance provided include stress management, counselling for emotional problems, providing help with personal problems and referral for treatment services or other forms of assistance.
There is also an expanded component of providing feedback and recommendations on service utilisation and organisational policy changes.
10. I am happy that the Workplace Emotional Health Programme has received the support of several early adopters, including the Amalgamated Union of Public Employees and the National Healthcare Group.
About 500 employees from the National Healthcare Group and 75 employees from the Amalgamated Union of Public Employees will be involved. The programme will include face-to-face counseling as well as emotional awareness talks. I wish you success and look forward to seeing more organizations come forward to adopt the Programme.
Conclusion
11. This afternoon’s seminar on “Workplace Emotional Health Programme” aims to promote awareness that good emotional health at the workplace makes a productive difference.
We hope it will help create greater awareness of how employers can help improve emotional health through an employee assistance programme.
I wish all participants a fruitful time together at this seminar. Thank you.
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