Business
Workplace Mental Health and Team Management at Sing
Janaína Leme explains how break routines, physical exercise, and regulatory compliance sustain corporate productivity.
Janaína Leme discusses management practices that integrate mental health, breaks, and physical activity into daily work routines. She shares Sing Comunicação's playbook for retaining GPTW certification and ensuring regulatory compliance.
Janaína Leme, partner and head of PR at Sing Comunicação, discussed the link between well-being, operational boundaries, and productivity in an interview with Bruno Gimenes on Marketing - The Podcast.
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Janaína Leme's professional and personal journey
With 18 years in communications, Leme worked as a reporter at radio station Jovem Pan for six years—covering sports events and the São Paulo Carnival—before transitioning to corporate communications and building a 16-year career at Sing. A journalism graduate, she also completed postgraduate studies in psychoanalysis to deepen her focus on people management and mental health. In parallel, she runs the personal project "Eu já estive em", dedicated to showcasing Brazilian authors and cultural works.
"And then at Sing, after working as a press officer for a while and later in people management, I developed a strong interest in studying and researching more about people themselves. That's why I chose psychoanalysis," Leme explains.
The importance of reading and the impact of screen time
Reading physical books and print media provides a counterweight to the constant stimulation of digital environments. Leme highlights that excessive screen time fuels addiction patterns and alters how the brain processes information, making the habit of reading a vital tool for focus and cognitive balance.
"We know how addictive it is. So, you need to manage it, and reading is one of the best ways—because when you pause to read a physical book, or even a digital one, though studies show digital reading is already changing our brains due to how little time we spend with physical media," Leme notes.
Mental health at work, breaks, and compliance with NR-1
Putting workplace mental health guidelines into practice at the agency involves complying with NR-1 safety standards and maintaining structured work routines. Sing operates under standard employment contracts with digital clock-in and clock-out tracking, alongside a mandatory 60-minute lunch break. To prevent burnout and overload, leadership enforces strict boundaries against messaging after business hours.
"We discipline ourselves not to send messages after hours—not even celebratory stickers or congratulations—because receiving any notification is an immediate trigger," Leme explains.
Physical activity as a well-being strategy: The GymRats challenge
As part of its wellness initiatives, Sing launched the GymRats internal program. The challenge encourages team members to complete at least 30 minutes of daily physical exercise and log it in an app. Employees who meet their monthly goals earn a paid day off, with additional raffles held to motivate beginners.
"Our premise is simple: you work out, and you earn a day off for staying active," Leme highlights, adding that roughly half of the 30-person team voluntarily joined the challenge.
Remote work challenges, productivity, and digital etiquette
In a remote-first setup adopted by Sing before the pandemic, management must strike a balance between flexibility and routine discipline. The agency caps meetings at 45 or 55 minutes to ensure breathers between virtual calls. Leme stresses that remote work requires ongoing digital etiquette training, ranging from camera setups to transparency regarding screen use during client meetings.
"Working remotely isn't easy. It demands a lot, especially from leadership, because we need to stay closely attuned to what each team member is doing," Leme notes.
GPTW culture and human-centered management at Sing
Earning Great Place to Work certification for seven consecutive years reflects the agency's structured management processes and team bonding. To foster connection, employees gather at the physical office twice a month and take part in quarterly feedback sessions aligned with clear individual and collective goals.
"What we see, and what research confirms, is that a lack of connection makes work relationships much colder—especially when deciding whether to stay with the company," Leme concludes. The full discussion on management and mental health is available in the video above.
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