The pandemic has accentuated the importance of mental health. Globally, we have seen a surge in mental health issues including anxiety and depression, in part due to the challenges the pandemic has affected many of us. In fact, Gallup’s 2022 State of Global Emotions Report revealed that more than two years of living with the pandemic is causing record levels of discontent and stress in people across the globe.

In today’s distributed workforce, the pandemic has no doubt accelerated employee burnout, with lines blurring between work and personal lives. In a global survey with over 1,000 respondents by Deloitte, 91% of survey participants responded that unmanageable stress or frustration has impacted their quality of work, with at least 77% of them experiencing burnout. The pandemic has indeed heightened the importance of mental and emotional health. There is impetus for organisations to play a bigger role to ensure that the wellbeing of employees is well taken care of.

At Frasers Property, we recognise the importance of our employees’ health and wellbeing – from striking a healthy work-life balance to creating a safe and inclusive space for everyone. This is aligned with our Purpose – Inspiring experiences, creating places for good – since our people are our most valuable asset, and their wellbeing as well as their loved ones’, matter to us. Taking this a step further, we recognise that we can influence better practices in occupational health and safety across our value chain as a multinational developer-owner-operator.

Health & Safety Month

Every August, Frasers Property takes time to commemorate Health & Safety Month – a month dedicated to renewing and strengthening our commitment towards nurturing the holistic health and wellbeing of our people as well as the ongoing safety across our diverse real estate development and operations. This year, the theme for the campaign is “Looking Out, Looking In”, aimed at drawing attention to the people around us as well as diving deeper to rethink mental health and wellbeing.

By Looking out, we need to pay more attention to how we build safer spaces for our society, including having open dialogue about how we can better enhance workplace health and safety. As colleagues, we are often the first line of defence for the emotional wellbeing of our team and more likely the first responders when a team member suffers distress. We can all commit to looking out for our colleagues by flagging situations that may endanger their physical or mental safety.

With various responsibilities and commitments in both professional and personal lives, many of us often do things at the expense of our own health and wellbeing. We ought to reflect on achieving balance in our personal lives and start Looking in to be mindful of our own mental and emotional health.

Family support with Employee Assistance Programme  

The Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) was first launched in Singapore, Australia, and UK to assist our employees with personal or work-related issues in 2020. This programme also offered employees the opportunity to take charge of their personal wellbeing, with initiatives including complimentary counselling services, online wellness activities, and more.

Frasers Property recognises that many work environments today are intricately intertwined and integrated with our personal lives.

To provide a more supportive holistic environment for our Singapore-based employees, we are extending EAP services to their loved ones with immediate effect. Employees and their family members can now have confidential access to well-trained professionals who will be on hand to guide, counsel, and advise them on a range of issues.

Emotional First Aid 

We are also rolling out Emotional First Aid training to any staff to better equip more of our employees with better sensing and sensitivity for colleagues who may be facing mental health challenges. We first piloted Emotional First-Aid training in 2020 with a select group of HR representatives and department heads. Feedback from participants has been positive, with many appreciating how to look out for signs of emotional or mental stressors. In a nurturing and caring organisation, all of us should expect to be the first responders for our teammates in distress.

We know that we cannot afford to rest on our laurels and must continually strive to improve workplace safety as we progress into an endemic COVID environment. We aim to create a safe and fulfilling workplace that allow employees to bring their best authentic selves to work.