23 May 2024 - Mental Health Awareness Month (MHAM) is observed internationally throughout the month of May, and emphasizes on fostering open dialogues, cultivating empathy and understanding, and sharing resources to support individuals on their journey towards mental wellness.
UNN has embraced MHAM by encouraging employees to adopt healthier life choices and encouraging them to practice taking moments, be it a short break or joining an activity, to prioritize their mental health without guilt or shame. The company shares initiatives that started since 2021 to destigmatize mental health and to create a positive and safe space that empowers employees in bettering their mental wellbeing and maintaining a healthy work-life balance.
One of the most important things to help protect mental health is regular movement of your body or regular physical activities, and this is where UNN Employee Safety and Wellness (ESW), UNN Change Management (CM) and UNN Corporate Communications & PR (CCPR) teams work hand-in-hand to curate and introduce these activities for UNN staff to participate individually or as a team.
Earlier this month (May 2024), UNN employees were introduced to a set of 25 small yet fun goals that its employees can achieve within the month of May in conjunction with MHAM2024 such as decluttering workspace, using stairs instead of elevators, doing one self-care activity, eating one balanced healthy lunch, or join one UNN interhouse tournament – all of which are meant to encourage employees to take a break from sitting at their workstations, move around and celebrate themselves taking care of their minds and bodies.
Akin to this, UNN Healthy Lifestyle Programme (HLP) which started since 2021, encourages UNN employees to form communities based on their hobbies, organize activities that they love within these communities, and connect with likeminded colleagues through the joy of participating in these activities together.
UNN HLP Activity - Bowling UNN HLP Activity - Hiking UNN HLP Frisbee
UNN Motorcycle Easy Ride Community
And in September 2023, under this program, UNN Sport Houses were formed, where all 700 UNN employees were assigned to their respective houses randomly to carry out their hobbies in a wider, more competitive scale. Between January 2024 and March 2024, employees from the four UNN Sport Houses got to compete with one another in the company’s inter-house tournaments for futsal, netball, bowling, paintball, and e-sports as well as competing with other communities from Darussalam Assets (DA), Datastream Digital (DST), imagine and Progresif in friendly matches of futsal, badminton, and netball.
UNN Interhouse Badminton Tournament UNN Interhouse Paintball Tournament Inter-telco Netball Competition 2024
UNN has also established sharing sessions to engage with its employees regularly. Internal sharing sessions revolve around UNN core values and feature individuals or teams from UNN who are enthusiastic to share personal and work experiences, resources, and information with their colleagues and establish an open dialogue to normalize these conversations and ultimately empower them to learn how to take care of themselves, work productively and effectively cope with work and life stressors.
L-R: Sharing sessions on healthy lifestyle program, managing anxiety and exploring possibilities.
While external sharing sessions feature religious counsellors and professional practitioners from Health Promotion Centre (HPC) and Clarity Brunei to provide employees with insights about the importance of mental health, the types of mental health issues common in the workplace, and avenues to seek help and support to handle aggravators or stressors that could lead to poor mental health.
Sharing session on practicing zikir therapy. Online sharing session with HPC. Sharing session by Ustaz Mohammad Fariszal bin Ali.
Just last month (April 2024), UNN’s 3rd Safety Day was organized to encompass various activities, talks and exhibitions by HPC who showcased their online courses on mental health and physical activity at work and provided basic health assessments to UNN employees who participated that day; Traphy who conducted postural assessments to evaluate employees’ posture and guide attendees to make necessary adjustments for better ergonomics; SHENA inspector Nabilah Hj Abd Rahim to share insights on building a culture of compliance; Senior HSE Instructor and Consultant James Pretty from Megamas to deliver a talk on safety culture. Megamas and KMST Sdn Bhd also contributed to the event by promoting their safety and health courses and products, respectively.
UNN 3rd Safety Day SHENA at UNN 3rd Safety Day Megamas at UNN 3rd Safety Day
Overall, these initiatives have one fundamental goal, which is to build a support network within the company to alleviating employees’ wellness. UNN continues to fully support inculcating a positive work culture where employees will feel they have a safe place to work and are free from the social stigmas associated with mental health and day-to-day effects of work induced stress.
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