Mentally Healthy Workplaces Asia Podcast

In this episode we chat Sha-En Yeo, Founder of Happiness Scientists and graduate of the prestigious Master of Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) program at the University of Pennsylvania. Sha-En discusses her journey from the education sector to working with corporates, with a goal to see people flourish through practicing positive psychology. We explore the impact of work and the goal of creating long lasting positive change and the environmental factors that needs to be in place for this to happen. She breaks down how organisations can implement various practices, from changing mindsets to leadership setting an example.

In this episode we chat with Jay Ng, founder and CEO of WeShine. Jay shares his personal story of being a multiple start-up founder (previously co-founder of STACS.io) and how a near death experience has changed his perspective on how he leads his teams and the workplace culture he sets. His key values of people, health and impact drives his every-day decisions as he builds his latest start-up, WeShine, a community for employers and employees targeting low-wage and blue collar jobs and workers in Singapore.

In this episode we chat with Adrian Chan, psychologist and managing director at Acerpacer Consulting Pte Ltd. Adrian was formerly the Chief Psychologist in the Centre for Leadership Development in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and most recently, the Leadership Resource Person in His Majesty’s Secretariat in the Kingdom of Bhutan, where he advises on leadership development in the Kingdom. Adrian shares about his work with leaders and teams in founding the Leadership Faculty in the Royal Institute of Governance and Strategic Studies (RIGSS), Bhutan (a Royal Project set up by the King to spearhead good governance and leadership in the country). The podcasts also explores the topic of motivations and languishing in continuing challenging times.

In this episode we speak to Marianne Hughes, founder and CEO of Kno Global - a real-time transparent data platform to humanise the supply chain by engaging workers and driving improvements. She shares her journey of being impacted by the collapse of the garment factory in Bangladesh to going to China to work on the factory floor and then launching Kno Global.

Mentally healthy workplaces doesn't just apply to office workers in the CBD or MNCs, but also for the thousands of factories and factory workers across the globe. According to the International Labour Organisation, the Asia-Pacific region employed roughly 65 million garment workers in 2019. We chat about cultural differences, communication and creating community in the factories that Kno Global works with.

With an increasing interest in ESG and sustainability, Marianne has seen a greater demand for their software which in turn will impact thousands of factory workers with the hope of improving their workplaces.

In this episode we speak to Rachel Kee, co-founder of Crown & Company and Director of Strategic Consulting Singapore. Rachel is a HR professional with a diverse range of skills sets from leadership and talent development, employee engagement, succession planning, talent acquisition and performance management. Rachel shares about the rapid changes that has been occurring in the HR arena since the pandemic, including huge movements with employees leaving and onboarding with new employers.

The onboarding process is even more difficult, where new employees are adapting to their new workplaces virtually, learning about the company culture and trying to adapt to a new working style. Setting boundaries is more difficult than ever, without which may lead to burnout and yet again, employees leaving employment and hence a vicious cycle.

We end the podcast with Rachel's hopes for workplace mental health, in light of her experience seeing mental health being stigmatised or trivialised.

In this episode we speak with Andrew Tan, Country Manager (Singapore) for Wantedly, a technology company that offers a social recruiting and employer branding platform. Wantedly's vision is to create a world where work drives passion; where people and companies meet based on passions and values. We unpack how the work of Wantedly contributes to mentally healthy workplaces, where employees are able to have visibility into the culture and values of a company at the point of interviewing for roles. Having started in Japan 10 years ago, this innovative tech platform has contributed to positive changes in workplaces in Japan, a culture where being with one employer was the norm.

In this episode, psychologist Joelle Mitchell, Global Head of Psychological Health and Safety at FlourishDx shares some practical tips in navigating workplace mental health including the use of Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP) and mental health first aid training. Tools are very helpful, however when used incorrectly and not in the context it was created for, further harm may be perpetuated.

Joelle also provides some handles for managers when having mental health discussions with team members, including return to work conversations. Other topics explored includes high 'power distance' dynamics, which is especially prevalent in many Asian cultures.

In this episode we chat with Christine Yeung, CEO and founder of Beyond Story and Chair and Founder of the Asian Australian Organisational Psychology Inc. In her work with Australian based companies, she consults with their Asian offices across Japan, Hong Kong and China and we explore what her work in psychological fitness entails with these clients. With many organisations wanting to optimise performance, we uncover how cultural differences, context and identifying toxic behaviours are all part of building a mentally healthy workplace.

In this episode we chat with Annie Luu, Global VP of Strategic Partnerships at Fingerprint for Success, a predictive people analytics tool to obtain deep understanding of team dynamics, potential talent and blind spots of individuals. At a time where employee retention is one of the top issues for employers, understanding people’s motivations, tapping into this and figuring out new team dynamics in a full work from home or hybrid model is now a priority. Creating a new environment for people to thrive at work will require leveraging data and data analytics, understanding and acknowledging the state of affairs and committing to continuous improvement.

In this episode we speak with psychologist, coach and facilitator Wendy Chua from Singapore. Wendy shares her insights on how the perception of mental health in Singapore and Asia has changed from when she first started in the profession 20 years ago until now.

In the early days, the term ‘mental health’ was highly stigmatised which then required her to take an educational and developmental route, focusing on resilience and emotional intelligence. However with the pandemic, people are now more comfortable to speak about mental wellbeing and mental health and even at the leadership level at organisations.

Wendy shares her observations on the various sizes and stages of companies she works with, seeing their rate of adaptation to the constant changes in the workplace, the psychological impact of such changes and the pain points that employers are sharing with her. We cap off with where she sees the future of mental health in the workplace and leveraging on technology in her consulting work.