CalmCon Wrapped 2022: Workplace Well-being
Mental health in the workplace is top of mind for everyone these days. Since COVID-19, the world—and how we work—has changed significantly. Employees are rethinking their priorities and looking to employers to support them. Hence, supporting mental health in the workplace is no longer a nice-to-have but a business imperative.
Employees are dealing with crushing economic forces in their personal lives: inflation, wage stagnation, global turmoil in the form of a pandemic, and war (just to name a few). As they deal with uncertainties and insecurities, the issue of stress & burnout will continue to rise.
Therefore, organisations need to be able to better equip themselves and their employees to manage mental health challenges proactively — before it’s too late. With that said, what can leaders and individuals do to build a culture of well-being in the workplace?
Calm Collective recently held CalmCon a mental health and well-being festival for Asia that includes talks and workshops on numerous topics to help you achieve well-being at work, learn how to find calm by managing your mental health and define what it means to thrive in your daily life.
Here’s a round-up of the lessons we learnt from CalmCon 2022’s series of talks on Workplace Well-being.
EVERYONE HAS A ROLE TO PLAY IN BUILDING MENTAL HEALTH-FIRST CULTURE AT WORK
While we’ve learnt from last year’s CalmCon that leaders play a crucial role in shaping work culture, it doesn’t mean that they own the culture. Culture is also a result of everyone else’s behaviour and can be defined as “the way we do things around here” — including formal, stated norms as well as implicit ways people work and interact.
“Leadership is a mindset and not just the title that you hold. What I try to do in terms of compassion, empathy or empowerment, is to show everybody that they are leaders in their own rights. They have the ability to chart a course for themselves and everyone else. Once they feel that way, I can demonstrate how they can just be themselves.” says Naeema Ismail (Managing Partner, FINN Partners Singapore) during “How to lead with compassion”.
Emmy-Lou Quirke (ESG & Wellbeing Lead, PwC Singapore Junior Board) shared on the panel “Dealing with difficult emotions at work” that “an organization is essentially an empty shell of policies and procedures but what makes an organization works is the people — a set of people with different background, psychology, ideas that come together with a shared purpose. Some of the companies that are doing really well are those that are very focused on values, conduct, and ethics. At the heart of it, what makes a company really effective is psychological safety”.
MENTAL HEALTH IS AN ONGOING, TWO-WAY CONVERSATION
Acknowledgements of mental health challenges at work are not enough. Along with psychological safety, both leaders and employees need to create a space to have open conversations.
During “How to lead with compassion”, Ernest Lee (Head of HR, Shell Singapore & Indonesia) highlighted that “People tend to forget that they have a community to reach out to when things are getting tough. Being caring and compassionate as a leader is to have factual and difficult conversations with the individuals who might not be doing so well”.
Likewise, for individuals, it is equally important to clearly communicate with their managers. Arti Ram (Head of Company Marketing, Asia Pacific, Bloomberg LP) shared on the panel, “Setting better boundaries at work” that it’s important to remain steadfast when our boundaries are being challenged. She urged us to “always have the conversations of what you want and what they want – if you are expected to produce x% more, then what (additional resources) are needed to accomplish it or what you need to re-prioritise”.
Alyssa Than-Stark (Group Wellbeing and Rewards Manager, Singtel) also emphasised that while we all want to strive for the best and do our teams proud, we shouldn’t be putting ourselves at risk of burnout. She then reminded us to “talk to the people involved or an independent source. Use someone you trust as a sounding board. Once you gain clarity and focus, you can see what’s happening and what you can do about it — this helps with the situation and the stress that you’re feeling.”
BE MINDFUL & INTENTIONAL WITH MANAGING YOUR WELL-BEING
Living through the pandemic has taught us to engage more thoughtfully in our own care to help us live well. Work-related phenomenons like “The Great Resignation” and “Quiet Quitting” have been direct responses from employees who are pushing back against workplace practices that are a threat to their mental health.
However, many of us still find it difficult to prioritise our needs. Opening our virtual festival with “How to practise self-care”, Dr Karen Pooh (Clinical Psychologist, Alliance Counselling, Adjunct Faculty at Yale-NUS and NTU) reminded us that self-care doesn’t have to be a vacation 2 months later or expensive massages and facials. It can happen “in the here and now, not just after work when we’re alone”.
Both Dr Karen Pooh and Nathan Andres (Global Wellbeing Leader, The Body Shop) shared that they would block out specific times in their calendars to go for walks. Other self-care activities that were shared during the talk were; gratitude practices, journaling, breath work and even having no meetings on a particular day. Ultimately, it’s all about trial & error and finding out what works best for you.
During “Dealing with difficult emotions at work”, Dr Ben Weinstein (Clinical Psychologist) explained that once we start to feel disengaged and cynical towards our work, it’s a sign of incipient burnout. He encouraged us to “zoom out and reflect (on a higher level) on how you can realign your life to re-engage some purpose and passion”.
Similarly, in “Setting better boundaries at work”, Eunice Yap (Chief Marketing Officer, The Esplanade Co. Ltd) also explained that the core of mental wellness and well-being starts with self-awareness, “You have to do a check and balance. I’ll ask myself what is it that I want to achieve for the day.”
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HOW CALM COLLECTIVE CAN HELP?
The importance of mental wellness in the workplace has never been more salient. Uncertain times call for elevating employee support systems by providing mental health resources, promoting resilience, and using compassionate forms of communication.
Employees who are mentally healthier and more resilient are able to bring more to the workplace while also thriving as individuals outside of work.
Want to bring Calm Collective's relatable and engaging mental health & well-being programmes to your workplace? Connect with us here.