by Felicia Chan
Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP) is a programme offered by a company to their employees to help them manage different obstacles that they face in the workplace. Have you noticed a decrease in your employee’s productivity and absentee days? Perhaps your colleagues seem unmotivated at work. Due to the recent pandemic, the high level of stress in workplace might cause or exacerbate mental health challenges such as anxiety and depression among your employees. This can lead to lower productivity, high employee turnover and dissatisfaction with their work. Therefore, it is important for the organisations to support their employees who are experiencing mental health issue.
How do you know if your employees are struggling with their mental health?
Your employees may appear:
Easily irritated
Easily frustrated
Taking more days off
Lack of motivation at work
Decrease productivity in work
Withdrawal from social interactions with the colleagues
Cost of mental health in a company
According to research, mental health challenges will cost Malaysian companies up to RM14.46 billion a year. It appears that mental health is one of the most prominent issues that the Malaysian workforce faces, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite the high cost of mental health challenges in the workplace, the national budget has only allocated an estimation of RM344.82 million for mental health. This may not be enough to combat the socioeconomic consequences of the mental health issues that our workforce faces. Therefore, it is important for organisations to step in and help their employees manage their mental health. Introducing an EAP program can help to improve your employees well-being as well as raise mental health literacy amongst Malaysians.
How to provide support at workplace?
Due to the stigma surrounding mental health in Malaysia, many employees are reluctant to disclose if they are experiencing mental health issues. It is important to cultivate an organisational culture that encourages an open and honest conversation about mental health. As part of our EAP program, we offer mental health talks that help to raise awareness of mental health issues that organisations may face. We also offer trainings for key personnel that will help to foster a supportive workplace environment. This can range from
We also provide confidential therapy services to support your employees mental health in the workplace. This can help the employees who are struggling with mental health issues, such as depression, anxiety, stress and anger management to better understand their symptoms and get early treatment. Using an integrated approach, we combine psychiatric, psychological and counselling services to ensure that your employees receive the appropriate support and treatment. This can help them to navigate the stresses of the workplace and build their resilience so that they are happy and motivated at work.
The Mind Faculty is a private mental health clinic in Solaris Mont Kiara. We are a HRDF certified organisation that offers corporate services for organisations across different industries. We offer a wide range of services from confidential therapy services to corporate talks and trainings.
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