Mental health stability a grave concern for Malaysia as employment picks up
28 Dec 2022 03:16pm
Image for illustrative purposes only - FILE PIX
They need to brace themselves to face the reality of workers’ rather unsteady emotional states-of-mind, says Khairuddin Rahim, former deputy chief executive officer (Investment Development) of Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA).
"No upskilling or additional training can address the theory-cum-practical implications of mindfulness," he said at a recent dialogue organised by Asian HR consultancy GKK Consultants Sdn Bhd.
Mental health was described as among new challenges confronting Malaysia’s manpower and management needs at the dialogue attended by some 40 senior HR personnel of multinational and local corporations.
They voiced realistic concerns, including mental health, in the effort to identify manpower challenges of 2023.
This being the case, addressing mental health and stability, coupled with handling different characters and personalities, isolated for some two years was going to take up many stressful man-hours, he said in a statement today.
"It is expected that HR practitioners would need to ever more gently handle staff so as not to disturb the company’s team equilibrium."
"They would have to tread very carefully to identify mental health traits for better working conditions among teams," he said.
These professionals represented various business industries, namely hospitality, IT, healthcare, food and beverages, manufacturing, oil and gas, and an assortment of other industries.
Dr Gajendra Balasingam, chief executive officer of GKK, said many HR directors were ever more concerned about emotional stress, mental health and the mindfulness of workers.
This was particularly so for those not able to face the reality of today’s demanding workplace and at the same time, the sensitive duress of isolation whilst working from home, he said.
To resolve the issue, he said that a whole different set of soft skills’ parameters would need to be drawn up regarding mental health at the workplace.
"Many businesses have already started to prepare for a challenging 2023 ahead (and) early enough as they began hiring choice personnel to fill vacancies in their companies." he added
However, the real test for any HR director or department was whether their manpower team was ready to face uncertain trials, despite being equipped with strong technical skills, focused mindsets and unwavering soft skills at work.
"This itself will help many businesses to start the new year on a firm, solid footing for a strong business forecast and growth,” said Dr Gajendra.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Covid-19 pandemic triggered a 25 per cent increase in the prevalence of anxiety and depression worldwide, which undoubtedly was a wake-up call to all countries to step up mental health services and support. - BERNAMA
