- Singapore employees are used to hybrid working now.
- The advice of the Singapore National Employers Federation’s executive director is that the companies are against reverting to pre-pandemic work arrangements.
- Hybrid working benefits both the companies and employees.
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SNEF Advises to the Singapore companies
The SNEF(Singapore National Employers Federation) recently suggests Singapore companies implement flexible working arrangements (FWA), which is also supported by the Singapore Government.
As we gradually move to a post-vaccination world, working models will likely evolve from remote work to flexible, hybrid work.
This means that employers will have to strategically plan their workforce and work patterns, identify new skills requirements, rethink physical workspaces, and enhance productivity through a greater work-life harmony approach.
SNEF
FWA is a new set of tripartite (Policymakers, employees, and unions) guidelines and the aim is to require employers to consider flexible work arrangement requirements fairly and properly by 2024.
The meaning of a fairly and properly flexible work arrangement is that reminding the directors to decide on the working method should be balanced between the needs of the companies and employees, not only benefits one side.
By the end of 2022, the Singapore Government hopes to increase the voluntary tripartite norm on flexible work arrangements, which is now adopted by companies and covers 27% of all employees, to 40%.
How important is flexible working in Singapore
Singapore National Employers Federation
The Singapore Newspaper – TODAY has interviewed 10 firms, 6 firms said that they would retain their present hybrid work arrangements after the Covid-19 pandemic.
The reason is FWA allows the employees to work more flexibly so that they can arrange the work location, work schedule, and workflow by themselves, which can ensure their workflow is smooth and work efficiently.
Based on the result of TODAY’s survey, Mr. Sim Gim Guan, executive director of the Singapore National Employers Federation, said that there “is no one-size-fits-all approach to work arrangements“.
He also mentioned that the environmental factors and employees’ job demands are changing. Singapore companies need to adopt an approach that can balance the needs between employees and companies.
They can build on the work-from-home arrangement and introduce other types of flexible work arrangements such as staggered working hours and part-time work to cater to the different needs of employees.
Mr. Sim Gim Guan, Executive director at Singapore National Employers Federation
A study by the Institute of Policy Studies in Singapore showed that 83% of respondents said they were more concerned about work-life balance and 81% wanted to spend time with their families.
42% of workers who prefer flexible work arrangements would consider quitting if they were forced to go to the office most days.
Mr.Sim advised the companies against reverting to pre-pandemic work arrangements, they might face the loss of lots of their talents if the companies don’t implement hybrid working.
This shows how important flexible work is to most employees and that hybrid working can meet the flexibility to work both for staff and companies.
(Learn more about Hybrid work trends in Singapore)
The advantages of hybrid working benefits for the companies
There are lots of Singapore companies that have followed the advice of Mr. Sim that implements hybrid working.
Achieve work-life balance
Mr. Suhaimi Salleh, chief executive officer of training consultancy SSA Group, said that his plan is to introduce an FWA because there are some departments that need to work at the office.
The plan can satisfy both the work-from-home(WFH) and office employees. FWA allows WFH employees to achieve work-life balance and addresses the needs of employees who need to work in an office.
Improve productivity
Ms. Lee Yan Hong, head of the group human resources at DBS bank, said the policy of DBS allowing employees to work from home 40 percent of the time now, also has introduced new initiatives such as “Focus Friday Afternoons”, which is allowing the employees to keep free from internal calls or meetings on Friday afternoons.
“This is our conscious effort as an organization to ensure that our employees have a few hours of protected time for focused work, learning, or even quiet reflection before transiting to the weekend,” Ms. Lee said. This shows that she believes hybrid working can increase employee productivity.
As you can see, hybrid working has many benefits for Singapore companies: it addresses the needs of employees who need to work remotely and in the office and allows employees to achieve work-life balance. Also, it helps to increase employee productivity.
A perfect system for hybrid working in Singapore
A hybrid office should use a comprehensive office management system, which helps Singapore employees use office resources efficiently, such as rooms, desks, and office equipment, and support them to have remote work and virtual meetings with their colleagues in the office.
If you are the company director in Singapore, using the management systems can help you consider how to reduce the operational cost such as reducing the office workspace and fulfilling the expectations of both employees and administrators.
ONES, one of the famous smart office management systems, can help you to easily implement hybrid working with ease. You can easily perform virtual meetings, desk-hoteling, and digital office management with our Room Booking, Desk Booking, and Visitor Management features.
Contact us: hello@ones.software, or visit ONEs Software official website for more information: https://ones.software/.