Survey reveals mental health and stress continue to affect organisation's bottom line

December 8, 2018

Healthcaretoday, Workplace stress, Toxic work, Toxic culture, unhealthy work culture, workplace, Malaysia’s Healthiest Workplace, AIA Vitality 2018 survey, stress, binge eating, overwhelmed at work, safe workplace,

The findings of the Malaysia’s Healthiest Workplace by AIA Vitality 2018 survey reveal that employers lost an average of 73.1 days of working hours per employee due to ill-health related absence and presenteeism.

Absence refers to employees’ absence from work due to health problems while presenteeism means employees are present at work but are constrained by health problems to carry out their daily activities. Additionally, the loss of working days increased from an average of 67.2 days from last year (2017) which translates into an estimated cost of RM2.27 million lost per organisation per year.

Malaysian employees have also become increasingly affected by mental issues over the years which can lead to staff absences and turnover which in turn negatively impact the productivity and performance of the company. If not addressed, both employers and employees are at the losing end with the performances of employees and employers affected. The findings demonstrate that 50.2 per cent of employees have at least one dimension of work-related stress.

Poor habits on the rise
Malaysian employees are seen to have poor habits as the number of smokers have increased in comparison to other markets (namely Australia, Hong Kong and Thailand) – 11.1 per cent of employees are currently smokers, compared to the average of 7.5 per cent in other markets.

They are recorded as being most at risk for nutrition with 91.7 per cent not eating a balanced diet that includes fruits, vegetables and whole grains.

Additionally, 16.6 per cent of Malaysian employees surveyed are obese. Stress, binge eating or being overwhelmed at work can be contributing factors to the rise of these poor habits. Last but not least, employees are found to be less likely to make healthy changes if they perceived themselves to be in good health. Thirteen per cent of employees have four or more risk factors however 62 per cent of employees believe that they are in good health.

Providing a safe workplace
Speaking at Malaysia’s Healthiest Workplace Summit 2018, Anusha Thavarajah (pix) the Chief Executive Officer of AIA Bhd (pix), emphasised a clear need for corporate Malaysia to build a culture within the organisations that provide a safe workplace environment that encourages disclosure and healing without judgment.

"It is our hope that this initiative we have embarked is only just the beginning of a healthier workplace and work culture for all Malaysians,” she added.

The Malaysia’s Healthiest Workplace survey is an independent survey commissioned by AIA and delivered in partnership with research agency RAND Europe, and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia as the study’s local academic advisor. Modelled after the Britain’s Healthiest Workplace, a highly successful study which has been carried out in the UK since 2013, it is currently the only comprehensive science-backed workplace survey ever conducted in Malaysia.

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