Singapore firms nudged to boost staff mental wellness amid Covid-19 crisis

TO HELP employees cope with the anxiety amid an "isolation economy", DBS is is rolling out several programmes to boost employee morale and help staff adapt to new work norms as a result of the Covid-19 crisis.

The lender said that DBS employees will from May onwards be given free access to a mindfulness application tailored to workplace mental wellness. This is on top of ensuring that confidential counselling remains available during this period, it said.

DBS will also launch a well-being challenge between mid-May to mid-June to encourage staff to take charge of their physical and mental health. The bank is as well offering programmes on innovation, career development and wellness, as part of a wider initiative DBS is launching for its employees for employee care and engagement.

"The isolation economy is a reality that all of us must contend with for the foreseeable future until we have certainty on when the pandemic could pass," said Lee Yan Hong, DBS head of group human resources in a statement.

Separately, UOB has taken to online learning to equip staff with knowledge on mental wellness. It also has a dedicated mental health hotline run by Raffles Medical Group.

The bank created an online programme, which has since been attended by more than 400 staff, on practical steps to build mental resilience during the Covid-19 situation. For managers, a digital course on managing anxiety in their teams was provided. UOB is also developing a training programme together with the Centre For Effective Living, a mental wellness consultancy.

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Their moves to watch out for staff's mental health comes as companies in Singapore are adapting to new work-from-home arrangements. Working parents are also juggling arrangements as schools have switched to home-based learning during this "circuit-breaker" period.

The Ministry of Manpower, Ministry of Social and Family Development, Agency for Integrated Care, the Institute of Mental Health and the National Council of Social Service jointly issued an advisory on April 24 asking employers to consider taking practical steps and tapping on counselling resources to support the mental well-being of staff.

Among other measures, the advisory asked employers to consider signing up to an employee assistance programme as part of staff benefits. Human resource departments should also assure employees that counselling engagements would be kept private and confidential, the inter-agency advisory noted.

Self-employed persons may tap on counselling resources as well.

Frontline workers are also getting a helping hand when it comes to mental wellness. Singapore-based startup Safe Space said on April 24 that is providing free counselling services for frontline health workers amid the Covid-19 situation.

Safe Space is a recipient of the Tote Board Community Healthcare Fund - which provides grants to help social enterprises and non-profit organisations carry out community-led public health education and preventative care programmes.

The fund was launched in 2006 by the Tote Board and is jointly administered by the Ministry of Health, AIC and the Health Promotion Board (HPB). HPB is the fund administrator for Cat 1B of the fund - which Safe Spaces' grant falls under.

The initiative will see the mental wellness startup connect certified therapists with frontline health workers through its digital platform - which provides tele-therapy support.

On April 12, Safe Space rolled out a working video call counselling prototype to bolster its offerings - currently online chat or phone counselling.

The startup said it is currently in discussions to raise funding for its pre-seed round. It added that its user base has grown 25 times since March 2019.

Here is a list of employee assistance programme service providers in Singapore:

Organisation Contact Singapore Anglican Community Services Integrated Employment Services 6812 9614 / 6812 9605 eap@sacs.org.sg The Centre for Psychology 6733 2893 contact@center4psy.com Mind What Matters 9172 9132 info@mindwhatmatters.com.sg The Resilienz Consultancy 6397 7300 enquiry@resilienz.com.sg Counselling and Care Centre 6536 6366 info@counsel.org.sg Centre for Effective Living 6338 3383 contact@livingeffectively.com Singapore Counselling Centre 6339 5411 counselling@scc.sg Work and Health Psychologists 6258 7502 workpsych@singnet.com.sg