Case study: How Taiyo Nippon Sanso Holdings Singapore reduces work-related stress

While talking about the range of health & wellness initiatives at Taiyo Nippon Sanso Holdings Singapore, Pauline Loo, the firm's Vice President, Human Resource & Admin, reveals how work-related stress is reduced by including time and stress management as a core general competency.

While employee health and wellbeing is typically considered HR’s responsibility, the responsibility is shared between HR and the business at industrial gas manufacturer, Taiyo Nippon Sanso Holdings Singapore.

With health and wellbeing being an underlying foundation for an effective talent management strategy at the firm, Pauline Loo, Vice President, Human Resource & Admin, Taiyo Nippon Sanso Holdings Singapore, says: “It is a shared responsibility between HR professionals and business leaders to actively engage employees in a holistic manner, going beyond physical wellbeing.”

The organisation has a plethora of initiatives covering the five aspects of wellness. In the area of physical wellness, it has the health and wellness club (H&W) which started in April 2018. Comprising employee representatives from various divisions, including engineering and HR, the club rolls out monthly health and wellness activities ranging from badminton sessions to bowling sessions, and even ice-skating sessions.

In the area of financial wellness, as part of its HR Cares – Keep Our People Interactive quarterly seminar, speakers are invited to speak with employees on various wealth education series, ranging from will-writing to lasting power attorney.

On the social front, the company leverages on its Unity in Diversity campaign which started on 8 August 2018. The firm identified its first Unity in Diversity ambassador to promote D&I in social activities within the company and among the group’s subsidiaries.

“A Unity in Diversity video was produced in June 2019 to showcase the spirit of embracing unity despite differences between the Japan head office and the Singapore regional headquarters. We are also working on a Unity in Diversity video for the Southeast Asia region.”

In the area of career wellness, it has implemented two competency models – the Managing Self and Leading Others model and a Human Resource competency model. The two models were designed and developed from April 2019 to ensure consistent talent management practices across Southeast Asia, and India. “This helps integrate talent practices, for example, ensuring that rewards are tied to performance, and performance is tied to development.”

"Incorporating ‘time and stress management’ as one of the ten core general competencies helps create awareness among the employees that effective time management enables them to deliver their work assignments in an efficient manner and reduce unnecessary work-related stress. "In this way, the employees manage themselves better in terms of striking a better work-life balance and overall mental wellbeing.”

In fact, Loo shares that time and stress management was the first core general competency shared with employees in the inaugural run of HR Cares Brown Bag seminars.

Asked about measuring the ROI on wellness, Loo reveals she plans to measure it through employee engagement analytics.

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This case study was published in Human Resources’ September-October 2019 edition of the Singapore magazine.

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