<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>Sep 13, 2009
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>Wanted: work-life balance <!--10 min-->
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>The good news is more bosses are taking steps to boost staff wellness </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Mavis Toh
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Sembcorp employee Paul Low has received close to $50,000 in sponsorship from his company to help him compete in overseas triathlons and races. -- ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"-->BOGGED down in that job? Account manager X.Y. Lee thinks she is, and has finally decided to quit. As soon as she steps into the research firm where she works, at 8.30am, she finds it hard to leave her desk. Ms Lee, 27, gets at least 200 e-mail messages and 20 phone calls each day.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story --><STYLE type=text/css> #related .quote {background-color:#E7F7FF; padding:8px;margin:0px 0px 5px 0px;} #related .quote .headline {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:10px;font-weight:bold; border-bottom:3px double #007BFF; color:#036; text-transform:uppercase; padding-bottom:5px;} #related .quote .text {font-size:11px;color:#036;padding:5px 0px;} </STYLE>Stressed out
'I WAS very depressed and stressed out, and had constant mood swings. I have now decided to quit.'
MS X.Y. LEE, an account manager, who had to turn to a psychiatrist to cope with work stress. She is now serving out her month's notice in her current job
Win-win situation
'Good employee wellness programmes help attract and retain top talent and healthy, productive employees - all key factors in the success of any business.'
MR DHIRENDRA SHANTILAL, Kelly Services' senior vice-president of Asia-Pacific
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Last year, unable to cope with the work stress, she even turned to a psychiatrist. 'I was very depressed and stressed out, and had constant mood swings,' she said. 'I have now decided to quit.' She is serving out her one month's notice.
In looking for a new job, she has added a criterion to her checklist: work-life balance. 'The firm I join needs to be supportive of work-life balance and care about its employees' well-being,' she said. Increasingly, Singaporeans like Ms Lee are putting more emphasis on life beyond work. The good news is, so are many employers.
A Singapore Institute of Management survey this year said some 80 per cent of the 750 managers polled placed health and work-life balance above job and pay on their priority lists. This, at a time when jobs are not easy to come by.
Stress can be disruptive. The Straits Times recently reported that young office workers in China used unorthodox stress relief activities. Some formed groups and prowled supermarkets, swiping biscuits, defizzing soft drinks and crushing noodle packets. Others turned to stress-eating.
Meanwhile, more companies in Singapore are doing something about staff wellness. The Health Promotion Board (HPB) said the proportion of private-sector workplaces that have Workplace Health Promotion (WHP) programmes increased from 45 per cent in 2003 to 59 per cent in 2006. Almost all public-sector organisations have ongoing WHP programmes.
Mr Dhirendra Shantilal, Kelly Services' senior vice-president of Asia-Pacific, explained: 'Good employee wellness programmes help attract and retain top talent and healthy, productive employees - all key factors in the success of any business.' Employees are more likely to perform better when their physical and mental health is robust, he added.
Mr Josh Goh, the GMP Group's assistant director of corporate services, said that many corporate wellness programmes now include gym membership, yoga and pilates classes, health talks, fruit days and grooming classes.
At Singapore Airlines (SIA), staff are encouraged to join recreational and sporting activities to maintain wellness and to relieve stress. A runners' club, a cabin crew performance arts circle as well as a community service club have been set up.
Mr Goh from GMP noted that big organisations tend to have more of such programmes because they have the resources.
But in April this year, the HPB introduced a WHP grant for small and medium-sized enterprises to extend more financial support to them. The grant co-funds up to 90 per cent of the cost incurred for health promotion activities, capped at $10,000 for each application.
Read the full story in Sunday's edition of The Straits Times
[email protected]
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>Wanted: work-life balance <!--10 min-->
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>The good news is more bosses are taking steps to boost staff wellness </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Mavis Toh
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
Sembcorp employee Paul Low has received close to $50,000 in sponsorship from his company to help him compete in overseas triathlons and races. -- ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"-->BOGGED down in that job? Account manager X.Y. Lee thinks she is, and has finally decided to quit. As soon as she steps into the research firm where she works, at 8.30am, she finds it hard to leave her desk. Ms Lee, 27, gets at least 200 e-mail messages and 20 phone calls each day.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story --><STYLE type=text/css> #related .quote {background-color:#E7F7FF; padding:8px;margin:0px 0px 5px 0px;} #related .quote .headline {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:10px;font-weight:bold; border-bottom:3px double #007BFF; color:#036; text-transform:uppercase; padding-bottom:5px;} #related .quote .text {font-size:11px;color:#036;padding:5px 0px;} </STYLE>Stressed out
'I WAS very depressed and stressed out, and had constant mood swings. I have now decided to quit.'
MS X.Y. LEE, an account manager, who had to turn to a psychiatrist to cope with work stress. She is now serving out her month's notice in her current job
Win-win situation
'Good employee wellness programmes help attract and retain top talent and healthy, productive employees - all key factors in the success of any business.'
MR DHIRENDRA SHANTILAL, Kelly Services' senior vice-president of Asia-Pacific
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Last year, unable to cope with the work stress, she even turned to a psychiatrist. 'I was very depressed and stressed out, and had constant mood swings,' she said. 'I have now decided to quit.' She is serving out her one month's notice.
In looking for a new job, she has added a criterion to her checklist: work-life balance. 'The firm I join needs to be supportive of work-life balance and care about its employees' well-being,' she said. Increasingly, Singaporeans like Ms Lee are putting more emphasis on life beyond work. The good news is, so are many employers.
A Singapore Institute of Management survey this year said some 80 per cent of the 750 managers polled placed health and work-life balance above job and pay on their priority lists. This, at a time when jobs are not easy to come by.
Stress can be disruptive. The Straits Times recently reported that young office workers in China used unorthodox stress relief activities. Some formed groups and prowled supermarkets, swiping biscuits, defizzing soft drinks and crushing noodle packets. Others turned to stress-eating.
Meanwhile, more companies in Singapore are doing something about staff wellness. The Health Promotion Board (HPB) said the proportion of private-sector workplaces that have Workplace Health Promotion (WHP) programmes increased from 45 per cent in 2003 to 59 per cent in 2006. Almost all public-sector organisations have ongoing WHP programmes.
Mr Dhirendra Shantilal, Kelly Services' senior vice-president of Asia-Pacific, explained: 'Good employee wellness programmes help attract and retain top talent and healthy, productive employees - all key factors in the success of any business.' Employees are more likely to perform better when their physical and mental health is robust, he added.
Mr Josh Goh, the GMP Group's assistant director of corporate services, said that many corporate wellness programmes now include gym membership, yoga and pilates classes, health talks, fruit days and grooming classes.
At Singapore Airlines (SIA), staff are encouraged to join recreational and sporting activities to maintain wellness and to relieve stress. A runners' club, a cabin crew performance arts circle as well as a community service club have been set up.
Mr Goh from GMP noted that big organisations tend to have more of such programmes because they have the resources.
But in April this year, the HPB introduced a WHP grant for small and medium-sized enterprises to extend more financial support to them. The grant co-funds up to 90 per cent of the cost incurred for health promotion activities, capped at $10,000 for each application.
Read the full story in Sunday's edition of The Straits Times
[email protected]
