WorkWell Leaders (WWL), a Singapore-based registered charity that focuses on workplace wellbeing and mental health as a strategic ESG and leadership priority in private and public sector companies, has announced the winners of the WorkWell Leaders Awards 2024.
The WorkWell Leaders Awards recognise best practice standards in addressing systemic change at a societal level in the biggest catchment area, the workplace. WWL said that they are the only awards that break out the specific elements of workplace wellbeing that drive business outcomes across separate categories, and also recognise leadership behaviours that underpin cultural change within an organisation.
“Singapore needs to address mental health and wellbeing upstream more urgently in promotion and prevention, in addition to supporting caregivers and individuals with mental wellbeing challenges,” said Founder and Chairperson of WorkWell Leaders, Anthea Ong.
“With 70% of people in Singapore working and spending most of their waking hours at work, the workplace is and must be the catalyst to support workers, and in turn their families.”
In a prerecorded video address, President Tharman Shanmugaratnam urged corporate leaders to: "Make your company a role model, a beacon of a culture of empathy, a culture which provides proactive support to those with different shades of anxiety or depression. Make it an enjoyable place for everyone to work.”
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| Source: WorkWell Leaders. President Tharman urged the audience at the awards ceremony to make their companies role models for encouraging employee wellbeing. |
To dive deep into the critical role of leadership in supporting mental wellbeing, WorkWell Leaders also announced a new national benchmark to be established that will demonstrate the intersection of the business risks of mental health, the role of leadership and culture on workplace wellbeing and the impact on business outcomes and stakeholder value.
The charity explained that existing global and local workplace mental health benchmarks, while useful, tend to hone in on perceptions of employee support at an individual level. The WorkWell Leaders benchmark will focus on the status of organisation-wide transformation that delivers worker wellbeing, organisational performance and long-term value for stakeholders.
“Whilst the WorkWell Leaders Awards winners are the vanguard of the urgent cultural shift needed in the workplace, the benchmark will establish the progress of institutional change that we are making collectively to help boards, CEOs and businesses chart their own strategic roadmaps for more resilient and happier employees and work communities for sustainable growth,” said Ong.
The Be Well Awards recognise leadership. The winners are:
- Dr Prem Kumar Nair, Group CEO, IHH Healthcare, for the Wellbeing CEO Award. This award is for the CEO (or equivalent) who has made the biggest impact on their organisation by using their own wellbeing journey to enhance understanding and acceptance in addition to committing to executive sponsorship for workplace wellbeing in vision, leadership actions and investment.
- Clarence Ti, Deputy President, National University of Singapore for the CEO’s Wellbeing Partner Award. This is awarded to the senior partner of the CEO (or equivalent) who has shown the strongest commitment to mental health and wellbeing throughout the organisation by integrating mental wellbeing into strategy through developing, implementing and evaluating programmes to drive better health and business outcomes.
The Lead Well Awards recognise organisation-wide strategies and actions. The winners are:
- PSA Corporation for the Wellbeing Innovation Award. This award recognises an organisation that has developed a unique idea or programme to address wellbeing and mental health challenges for employees.
- National University of Singapore for the ESG Wellbeing Strategy Award. This award recognises an organisation that positions employee wellbeing as a strategic opportunity to drive ESG-led business growth that empowers employees and work communities to thrive.
- Otis International Asia Pacific for the Healthy Workplace Culture Award. This award recognises the unique character and personality of an organisation that enhances a safe and supportive environment where employees thrive by living its values every day.
- The overall Wellbeing Organisation of the Year Award was presented to Otis International Asia Pacific. This award recognises the organisation that has done the most to Be Well and Lead Well to drive change towards a thriving workplace for employees and work communities.
Proceeds from the award ceremony will go towards funding the development of tools and programmes for leaders and organisations to take actions on their employees’ mental health and wellbeing, ultimately building thriving workplaces across Singapore.
Singaporeans place mental health as the biggest health problem (46%) facing the country today (Ipsos). Duke-NUS & IMH found that workplace anxiety and depression are costing the local economy S$15.7 B annually, or approximately 2.9% of GDP.
WorkWell Leaders is an action-oriented network of cross-industry private and public sector leaders. It began in 2018 as an informal working group and became a registered charity in Singapore in November 2022. It is the only non-profit collective of CEOs and leaders to champion mental health and workplace wellbeing as a strategic, leadership and ESG priority to drive better employee experience to benefit communities and society, while delivering positive business results.
