Trial counselling hotline seeks to improve workplace mental health

SINGAPORE — In a nation of stressed-out workaholics and long working hours, plans to improve mental health at the workplace, such as introducing a counselling hotline for employees and a workplace depression education campaign, are in the pipeline.

The Health Promotion Board (HPB), which is leading the efforts, said it was important to implement mental health education and prevention strategies at the workplace.

According to GeBIZ tender documents seeking service providers to pilot the initiatives, the HPB will be testing “programme models to promote supportive work environments and build the mental well-being of working adults”. This includes piloting a six-month counselling hotline this year for a company of up to 1,000 employees as well as employee workshops.

The hotline will have to be available from 9am to 6pm and have after-hours voice message options. It should also be staffed by psychologists with experience in workplace mental health.

The tender also requires a “comprehensive” referral protocol for managing the calls, including crisis management, and procedures for face-to-face counselling by psychologists with at least three years’ experience.

The HPB also noted that while awareness of depression is growing, about 50 per cent of sufferers do not seek help. As such, a workplace depression education campaign is in the works. It will promote stress management, good sleep practices and overall increased awareness of depression. Firms will receive a kit to support the implementation of this campaign.

“Evidence suggests investment in workplace mental health contributes to improved employee mental well-being, increased employee engagement and improved productivity,” the HPB told TODAY.

Human resources experts welcomed these initiatives, noting that mental health has been a neglected issue in the workplace. “From our experience, it has been considered a taboo topic. Not many companies have employees who are trained in this area. There’s a need to focus on mental health wellness as work is getting more stressful ... Lifestyles and the nature of jobs have changed,” said Mr Erman Tan, President of the Singapore Human Resource Institute.

But Mr David Ang, of training and consultancy centre Human Capital Singapore, pointed out that small and medium enterprises that hire two-thirds of the workforce probably cannot spare resources to set up a hotline. Multi-national corporations would already have their own employee assistance plans, such as hotlines, he added.

“Eventually, we may have to move to a national initiative if the problem persists and the workforce is so scattered,” he said.

Ms Joanne Chua, Associate Director at recruitment agency Robert Walters Singapore, cautioned against a situation where the hotline becomes a channel for petty complaints.

“We need to address questions such as how the feedback will be managed and what follow-up actions are necessary to best aid the situation. Every case that is brought up should see some form of closure,” she said.