Increasingly, corporations are becoming aware of the need to create and sustain healthy work forces as well as workplaces in order to bolster productivity. In fact, employees and their related performance are intangible assets to a corporation. They make up 80% or more of a corporation's value. Nowadays, the nature of work is changing at whirlwind speed and induces tremendous job stress to workers and posses a threat to the health of the workers, and eventually to the health of the corporation as well. Job stress has become a worldwide epidemic. It is estimated to have cost the industry $200 billion annually, and 60% to 80% of accidents on the job are stress-related.

Our Hong Kong and Shanghai EDS staffs at the conference

Promoting the well being of corporations and employees is one of the core beliefs of the employee Assistance Program. In May 30 to June 2, the Asia Pacific Employee Assistance Roundtable (APEAR) held its annual conference in Shanghai. The theme of the conference is "Healthy Mind, Healthy Workplace". Over a hundred of professionals from different disciplines, such as the human resources, management, helping professions and scholars from approximately 20 countries joined together to share their observation and vision of how to promote a healthy life style as well as a healthy workplace.

Our Employee Development Service, being one of the organisers of the APEAR conference, was actively involved in the process of planning and launching of the event. Miss Carmen Ng, our Senior Consultant and Mr. Stanley Lau, General Manager presented two papers in the pre-conference workshop and during the conference. Miss Ng shared her experiences of assisting employees with anxiety disorder and Mr. Lau shared the observation of the development of EAP in Hong Kong. Both presentations were well received by the audience.