How DBS is protecting employees' mental health: Meeting-free Fridays, normalising "I'm not OK", and more

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"From WebEx to wind-down, we are making a conscious effort as an organisation to ensure that our employees have a few hours of 'own time' for focused work, learning or even quiet reflection before transiting to the weekend," shared CEO Piyush Gupta.

DBS Chief Executive Officer Piyush Gupta has shared a few additional measures the Bank will be taking to protect the mental health of its employees.

In a LinkedIn article on Friday (2 July 2021), he said: "Since COVID-19 struck, like many others, DBS has been realising new ways of working. Late last year, we introduced a permanent hybrid work model and a formal job sharing scheme to provide employees with more flexibility.

"We also put in place a slew of programmes under our TOGETHER employee movement to help our people manage their physical, emotional and mental wellbeing."

However, he noted that with the pandemic "looking to be more protracted than hoped", the Bank will be doing more for its employees, particularly on "managing the blurred lines between work and home."

"This is something we picked up in our employee pulse checks, and we want to address this proactively before it takes a toll on mental health," he said.

The following measures will be implemented:

• Friday afternoons will be kept free from internal calls or meetings. "From WebEx to wind-down, we are making a conscious effort as an organisation to ensure that our employees have a few hours of 'own time' for focused work, learning or even quiet reflection before transiting to the weekend."
• Employees with a newborn or a newly-adopted child, or those who need to care for family members recovering from critical illness or injury, will be granted the flexibility to work from home 100% of the time for up to six months. This, Gupta shared, is to better support employees going through different life stages.
• The Bank will launch a firm-wide mental wellness campaign to equip employees with practical tools to combat burnout and protect their mental wellbeing. DBS will also roll out a series of programmes and sharing sessions around mental health, with the aim of normalising employees saying "I'm not OK" and encouraging frank conversations on mental wellbeing.

Photo / DBS (Taken from Piyush Gupta's LinkedIn)