• higher employee absence due to illnesses
• compensation claims
• poorer public relations
• retraining due to high staff turnover
• loss in productivity.²

• An employee may want to extend her maternity leave.
• Another employee may require urgent leave to attend to family matters.
• An employee who has stayed back late to complete an important project, may be entitled to time off in lieu the morning after.

Monitor Employee Turnover Through Exit Interviews
Some organisations experience high turnover rates. This is cause for concern, as departing staff also take their knowledge and experience with them. There is the additional cost of training new staff hired to take their place. Project schedules can also be delayed because of this.

Exit interviews should be conducted as they are important in pinpointing the factors that may have caused an employee to leave. These interviews should not be treated as meaningless paperwork 'just to close the case' but as valuable feedback.

Ensure that Employees Work in Comfort and Safety
Good office ergonomics, a clean and safe environment and proper training are important. Great workplaces enhance productivity and contribute to talent attraction and retention.⁴

In Singapore, the Workplace Safety and Health Act 2006 states that employers must take reasonable measures to ensure the safety and health of their employees at work [Section 12(1)].


What You Can Do
Get more hands-on information on building a healthy and productive workplace.

• Sign up for Treasure Your Mind - A workplace mental wellbeing education programme. A description of the programme can be found here
• Find out tips from 'Treasure Your Mind Programme' - Guide to planning mental wellbeing activities for your employees.
• Learn more about Best Practices in Workplace Health
• Sign up for the stress management programme in HealthPRO, a one-stop programme to promote employees' health. HPB provides a 50% subsidy for each employee.
• Help your employees to cultivate a healthy mind through increasing their knowledge and equipping them with the appropriate skills. Refer to the Directory of Service Providers on Mental Wellbeing
• Get resources (eg exhibition panels, videos, pamphlets) on various health topics from the Health Information Centre in Health Promotion Board.
• Provide Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to help your employees maintain emotional health through assessment, educational programmes, counseling and referral services. Refer to the Directory of Service Providers on Mental Health for the service providers that offer EAP. 

What Are the Products and Services Available?

Treasure Your Mind: A Workplace Mental Wellbeing Education Programme Treasure Your Mind (TYM) is a workplace mental wellbeing education programme which aims to empower employees and supervisors with the skills to achieve mental wellbeing through a 3-module programme comprising an awareness talk and a series of skills workshops. These workshops cover topics which are aligned with well-researched constructs which correlate to an enhanced sense of mental wellbeing. Module 1 (For all employees) Comprises a choice of three 1.5-hour interactive talks: > Cultivating A Healthy Mind (free display of experiential garden exhibit, subject to availability)  To raise awareness on the importance of positive mental health > Learning Practical Optimism to Manage Change To introduce optimism as a set of thinking skills that an individual can adopt to manage changes in life > Understanding Depression and Anxiety  To raise awareness of one's vulnerability to anxiety and depression by understanding the underlying causes and signs of these mental illnesses The talks are FREE and include resource booklets and a directory of service providers. Module 2a (For all employees) Module 2a comprises a menu of five workshops aimed at equipping employees with adaptive skills to cope with the normal stresses of life. Each workshop is conducted over a duration of 4 hours, for a maximum number of 30 participants per session. Resource booklets will be provided for each workshop. Workshop titles include: Workshop 1: Learning Optimism to Manage Change Workshop 2: Building Positive Self-Esteem for Positive Emotions (covers anger management) Workshop 3: Building Positive Relationships (covers conflict resolution) Workshop 4: Managing Stress Workshop 5: Psycho-Emotional Portfolio for Retirement (for mature workers) Module 2b (For supervisors and managers) Enrol your managers, team leaders and those in supervisory positions in this 8-hour workshop to equip them with skills to identify warning signs of psycho-emotional distress among their staff. They will learn basic listening skills and how to recognise early signs of mental health problems and encourage co-workers to seek help early. Module 3 (To nurture a supportive work environment) This module encourages organisations to provide their employees to provide their employees with access to phone or face-to-face counselling and support services including 'Train-the-Trainers' and crisis management programmes. Availability of this module is subject to HPB's evaluation of the needs and services required by the organisation. Presently, Module 1 is fully subsidised, Module 2a and 2b are partially subsidized by HPB. For more details about Treasure Your Mind, please click here. If you are in interested to bring the Programme to your company, please contact Ms Joanne Koh at 6435 3285 or e-mail: hpb_mhe@hpb.gov.sg

Movie Therapy
Movie therapy is a quick and fun way to learn about the importance of mental wellness. A novel 1 hour talk viewing relevant movie clips, it allows participants to gain practical skills on how to maintain emotional wellness as well as build resilience to reduce stress. Click here for programme details and registration.

List of Service Providers
Click here to access the list of service providers.