60% of Malaysian employees believe that the quality of work has improved and 55% felt that their productivity has enhanced.   

What you should know

• 60% of Malaysian employees believe that the quality of work has improved and 55% of them felt that their productivity has enhanced. 
• Over 79% of respondents said hybrid and remote working has improved various aspects of it. 
• A comprehensive office management system is a key enabler of growth in the hybrid workplace.

Improve employee well-being 

Cisco research examined the impact of hybrid working on five categories of well-being – emotional, financial, mental, physical, and social well-being – with over 79% of respondents saying hybrid and remote working has improved various aspects of it.

Flexible working hour makes 79% of Malaysian employees have improved work-life balance, and 72% of respondents believe their physical fitness has improved with remote working.  

Also, 80% of respondents indicate that remote working has improved family relationships as it has shortened working hours than before. 44% of respondents reporting customizing their work schedules has helped them spend more time with friends, resulting in stronger friendships. 

Workplace Flexibility matters

Leaders need to rethink how to cultivate an inclusive culture, place employees – their experience, engagement, and well-being – at the center, and modernize their networking and security infrastructure to provide a seamless, secure and inclusive employee experience,

Hana Raja, managing director, Cisco Malaysia

Cisco Malaysia managing director Hana encourages leaders should focus on the well-being of their employees in the future, including providing flexibility. The reason is that flexible work allows employees have more time to take rest so to improve the quality of work.

Hybrid work also fulfills different types of co-workers’ needs, such as new co-workers, as they always need to ask for help. Thus, hybrid work not only improves the overall well-being of employees but also helps to increase their productivity as hybrid work implements technology to support employees to work. 

Enhances employee productivity 

A hybrid working style includes providing collaboration tools for employees to work remotely and an office management system for employees to use when they return to the office.

The benefits of working with technology are that it provides employees with excellent technical support, and more easily to solve simple and tedious daily tasks.

The last two years have shown us that work is no longer where we go, but what we do. In a hybrid normal, employees and employers in Malaysia are experiencing tangible benefits from improved employee well-being to better productivity and work performance,

Hana Raja, managing director, Cisco Malaysia

In addition, a hybrid office provides a friendly working environment, which makes employees happier and more engaged at work, and has a positive impact on productivity.

Hybrid work: Key working style in Malaysia

For employees, a hybrid work style is very inclusive for them that provides the freedom to choose where they work and how they work.

Therefore, 74% of Malaysian employees want a combination of a remote and in-office hybrid working model in the future, compared to a fully remote (22%) and fully in-office (5%) experience.

Also, based on a Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) poll, 61.7% of businesses emphasized the need to keep using hybrid work experiences. 

More details on A Full Guide to Hybrid Work: What is hybrid work model and why it is important? – ONEs Blog 

Suggestion for hybrid working

Meanwhile, hybrid work technology has a mature development and will remain critical to enabling a future with increasingly diverse and distributed workforces.

In the Cisco study, 82% of respondents said that networking infrastructure is essential for a seamless working-from-home experience. And 64% of respondents believe having connectivity issues regularly is career-limiting for remote workers.

Therefore, it is a necessity to have a comprehensive collaboration tool or office management system that can help companies in Malaysia to implement hybrid work easily. 

For collaboration tools, if you are a director in Malaysia, Microsoft Teams is a good choice for you. It is designed to help teams collaborate and provide real-time conversation windows. 

On the other hand, ONES Smart office system is one of the famous management systems that can help you to easily implement hybrid working with ease.   

Using ONES, you can easily perform virtual meetings, desk-hoteling, and digital office management with our Room Booking, Desk Booking, and Visitor Management features, in order to improve your office productivity, retain your talents and make your office more secure. 

Contact us: hello@ones.software, or visit ONES Software official website for more information: https://ones.software/my/ 

The post How hybrid working improves Malaysians’ well-being and productivity now first appeared on ONEs Blog.

Meanwhile, these reports will also show you how hybrid work is bringing some trends in Malaysia, and this future trend you should know.

What is Hybrid work?

Hybrid work is an approach that takes into account the individual’s needs, whether they’re at home or at the office. Our platform enables people to work from any location, and move between sites as needed.

Many organizations see hybrid work as the evolution of remote working, allowing employers to better integrate remote working into overall business processes while providing comparable work experience for remote workers.

The pandemic has proven that organisations can and must trust their people to be productive from anywhere, and anytime. Leaders now have the opportunity to define a hybrid workplace strategy that combines the best of the digital workplace and the physical workplace.

This includes empowering people with the flexibility and autonomy of remote work and enabling the crucial human connection with colleagues and customers in person.

 Michal Golebiewski, Chief Marketing & Operations Officer, Microsoft Malaysia

In the report “Making Flexible Work, Work: Towards Better and More Inclusive
Work-Life Practices” from Malaysia, Singapore & Brunei Darussalam, there are several excellent definitions for flexible working terms:

Work-Life Practices (WLPs)

Various work-life integration forms support, including leave, support networks, facilities, etc. This includes Flexible Work Arrangements.

Flexible Work Arrangements (FWAs)

Flexibility in the time and location of work. This includes Work From Home arrangements.

These arrangements aim to provide greater flexibility
in the following areas: the workplace, scheduling of hours worked, number of
hours worked and flexibility of job roles.

The top FWAs in the Life at Work Survey were:

1. Flexi Hours (48%)
2. Leaving Early From Work (34%)
3. Staggered Hours (22%)
4. Job Sharing (19%)
5. Work-From-Home/Telecommuting (16%)

Work-From-Home (WFH)

A subset of FWAs, in which employees may work remotely some or all of the time.

Learn more:

Post-MCO Safety Guidelines Info Page

How can hybrid working help Singaporeans and their companies save their daily expenses now? 

20+ Questions for your Hybrid Working Employee Survey

Why Hybrid Working is the winner in the APAC region? Experts explain.

More than two-thirds of Malaysian employees want flexible remote work to stay, Microsoft research reveals

Hiredly’s 2022 Work Culture Report

Malaysia Hybrid work statistics

Hybrid work is preferred across ASEAN markets

The Cisco study highlighted that hybrid work is now preferred by many employees across ASEAN markets:

• Malaysia – 74%
• Singapore – 71%
• Indonesia – 84%
• Vietnam – 76%
• Thailand – 69%
• The Philippines – 60%

The support for hybrid work extends beyond employees as well — with 90% of employees saying their employers have been supportive of hybrid working. In particular, 46% said their employers have been supportive, while 44% said their employers have been very supportive.

(Cisco)

Malaysian get used to the long-term WFH and enjoy its benefits

A 2021 report by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Talent Corporation Malaysia (TalentCorp) found that 80% of Malaysian employees prefer WFH (Work-from-home) weekly, with almost half preferring to do so at least three days a week.

Data shows that rigid return-to-office policies negatively impact employees with anxiety and work-related stress.

(UNDP)

Malaysian Government support hybrid working

The Malaysian Government announced that employees can apply for Flexible Work Arrangements (FWA) with their employers under the amendment to the Employment Act 1955, which will come into force on September 1, 2022.

It reflects that the Malaysian Government agreed that flexible work is very important to employees.

Redesign office space for hybrid work

To prepare for implementing hybrid work, business leaders (62%) in Malaysia are considering redesigning office space for hybrid work.

(Microsoft)

Emerging hybrid working trends in Malaysia

Flexible work is here to stay in Malaysia

According to a survey by Microsoft, 77 % of workers in Malaysia surveyed want flexible remote work options to continue.

Although people working remotely can save daily expenses, 42% of Malaysian employees said that they lack essential office supplies at home, and one in 10 don’t have an adequate internet connection to do their job.

Yet, over 46% say their employer does not help them with remote work expenses. Therefore, remote work can not satisfy all the needs of employees, so they still have a certain of necessity to return to the office.

(Microsoft)

Immediate response between employees

The outbreak has led to the development of collaborative working tools, where colleagues working remotely can get immediate feedback and work seamlessly.

However, some colleagues still need face-to-face responses to requests for help.

According to Microsoft’s survey, 75% of employees want more face-to-face time with their teams. And face-to-face responses can avoid the misunderstandings that come with a text-only response.

Half of the business leaders surveyed are faring better than their employees. Research shows that 46 percent of leaders in Malaysia say they are “thriving” right now – 16 percentage points higher than those without decision-making power.

(Microsoft)

Talent is everywhere in a hybrid work world

The remote working method supports employees to work regardless of borders and distance, eliminating the must for employees to return to the office.

47 % of Microsoft’s respondents surveyed in Malaysia are planning to move to a new location this year.

This indicates that people no longer have to leave their desks, house, or community to expand their career opportunities.

This has also led to 45% of workers and 57% of Gen Zs in Malaysia likely to consider leaving their employers this year. Remote job postings on LinkedIn more than quintupled during the pandemic.

(Microsoft)

Gen Zers suffer at work and need to be re-energized

The Gen-Z’ers are the future leaders. They are empowered and entrepreneurial, influential and independent, confident and competent, and are always looking to make a difference in the community in which they live.

However, 69% of Gen Z (those between the ages of 18 and 25) say they are merely surviving or flat-out struggling right now. The reason is that they feel work lonely since the move to fully remote work.   

Since the move to fully remote work…Without hallway conversations, chance encounters, and small talk over coffee, it’s hard to feel connected even to my immediate team, much less build meaningful connections across the company.

Hannah McConnaughey, Product Marketing Manager at Microsoft

Gen Z also reported that it is difficult for them to feel engaged or excited about their work. Ensuring that Gen Z feels a sense of purpose and well-being is an urgent imperative in the shift to hybrid.

(Microsoft)

Authenticity will stimulate happiness

According to Cisco’s recent study, 86% of Malaysian employees say the ability to work from anywhere has made them happier.

(Cisco)

Meanwhile, Microsoft’s report shows that co-workers rely on each other in new ways in the past year. Some interactions are working virtually, for example:

• 22%: Workers in Malaysia have cried with a colleague;
• 14%: while others met with co-workers’ pets; or
• 26%: family members virtually.

These increased interactions resulted in 44% of workers in Malaysia feeling they could be their fully authentic selves at work this year.

(Microsoft)

Improved employees’ productivity and relive their stress

Cisco’s study found that 60% of employees in Malaysia believe that the quality of work has improved because they work under less stress without supervisors’ monitoring, and 55% of respondents felt that their productivity has enhanced because they have flexible work hours.

However, only 20% of Malaysian employees think that their company is “very prepared” for a hybrid work future.

Moreover, some companies plan to change their offices as the co-working space to support their staff work more relaxed to increase their productivity, so the directors of those decided to provide a friendly environment to their staff.

A Shared office in Malaysia, Jaya One Common Ground, which recently opened in Petaling Jaya, encourages staff to bring their dogs or cats along for work.

(Cisco)

Network growth endangers company culture and sense of belonging

Before the pandemic, staff bonding was based on regular gatherings in the office and face-to-face communication at work.

Anonymized collaboration trends between billions of Outlook emails and Microsoft Teams meetings reveal a clear trend: the shift to remote shrunk our networks.

Teams are more siloed in a digital work world. 38% of workers in Malaysia experienced decreased interactions with coworkers with the move to remote work. Lack of interactions with the immediate team will damage new staff to foster a sense of belonging to their companies, and it might lead to loss the talent easily.

(Microsoft)

Solving Malaysia’s social problem and saving workers daily costs

After COVID-19 restrictions eased, many companies in Malaysia have switched back to in-office culture and required staff to report to work physically. 

However, traffic data has shown that road congestion levels in Kuala Lumpur are worse than before the pandemic, as people commute to work again and students head back to school.

Congestion at peak hours in the mornings and evenings has been consistently worse compared to 2019 and 2020. If people have flexible work, they can choose their work location. Also, they can save their daily expenses on commuting.

(TomTom)

More sustainable working method

Hybrid workspaces accommodate technological advances, the use of hot desking and room rotation features, etc., which will reduce the resource requirements of the office.

As mentioned above, flexible working helps to reduce carbon emissions from regularly commuting, as well as retaining and attracting talent.

The offices, which implement hybrid working, provide a variety of creating different types of innovative and stimulating workspaces, such as brainstorming rooms and entertainment zones.

According to Microsoft’s report, 58% of workers in Malaysia always feel overworked and exhausted, thus these facilities can help them to take rest and refill their energy for back to work.

(Microsoft)

And Cisco’s study also found that the majority of Malaysian respondents (73.5%) would prefer a hybrid arrangement in the future.

(Cisco)

Strategies for business leaders to make the necessary shift

Microsoft Work Trend Index identifies five strategies for business leaders as they begin to make the necessary shift:

• Create a plan to empower people for extreme flexibility
• Invest in space and technology to bridge the physical and digital worlds
• Combat digital exhaustion from the top
• Prioritize rebuilding social capital and culture
• Rethink employee experience to compete for the best and most diverse talent

(Microsoft)

Your Hybrid Working System: ONES

To implement hybrid working in your office, you should have a comprehensive office management system. ONES Smart office system is one of the famous management systems that can help you to easily implement hybrid working at ease.

You can easily perform virtual meetings, desk-hoteling, and digital office management with our Room Booking, Desk Booking, and Visitor Management features, in order to improve your office productivity, retain your talents and make your office more secure.

Contact us: hello@ones.software, or visit ONES Software official website for more information: https://ones.software/my/.

The post Hybrid work trends in Malaysia a business leader needs to know in 2023 and onward first appeared on ONEs Blog.

Referring to the latest report by telecommunications and technology company Telstra, it shows that nearly 85% of APAC organizations are promoting hybrid work arrangements, and seven in 10 organizations are now recruiting talent from all locations and allowing hybrid work arrangements. 

Also, 74% of employees in APAC believe that they and their teams are more productive with flexible work arrangements. So why hybrid working has become the winner in the APAC region?

Hybrid work is preferred across ASEAN markets

The Cisco study highlighted that hybrid work is now preferred by many employees across ASEAN markets:

• Malaysia – 74%
• Singapore – 71%
• Indonesia – 84%
• Vietnam – 76%
• Thailand – 69%
• The Philippines – 60%

The support for hybrid work extends beyond employees as well — with 90% of employees saying their employers have been supportive of hybrid working. In particular, 46% said their employers have been supportive, while 44% said their employers have been very supportive.

(Cisco)

Key factors that convert hybrid work to major trend in APAC

Recently, HRD (Human Resources Director) surveyed businesses around APAC about the processes and policies, and the business leaders explained that why they are implementing hybrid work and its benefits.

Providing more flexibility to work 

Implementing hybrid working provides flexibility for employees, which allows employees to choose where they work, “the office, home, or somewhere in between.” 

In a hybrid office, there has meeting rooms and hot desking with smart office system support, which allows the companies to reduce unnecessary space and rent, allowing employees to work at the place they wanted. 

Liz Moran, the director and HR business partner APJ, at software company New Relic, said they had implemented a “Flex First” work philosophy which is a hybrid working arrangement. Also, they understand flexibility is very important for their employees. 

Helping with staff retention and acquisition

Hybrid work provides flexibility to employees, which can satisfy employees’ needs for working flexibly. The reason why is this important is that flexible work has already become the core factor that can retain talents.

Based on a recent Swinburne University of Technology Report, 43% of Australian knowledge workers said they would consider leaving an employer that does not offer flexible working for one that does, rising to 46% in Sydney and Melbourne. Also, based on Cisco Global Hybrid Work Study 2022,  hybrid work is now preferred by many employees across markets in ASEAN.

“The Great Resignation has shown us that, overwhelmingly, employees are demanding flexible work arrangements – and they will change jobs to get them. We are also hearing from candidates that flexibility is a top priority,” said Moran.  

Combining Technology for Better Quality of Work 

Software company New Relic has invested in collaboration work tools to support the move to hybrid work. Their ‘Connections and Belonging’ hub also document when, where and how teams will work together.  

“The majority of our ‘Relics’ are choosing to work to a remote or hybrid schedule and the feedback has been positive,” said Moran.  

Therefore, working with technology has a positive impact, and the result of New Relic told us that implementing hybrid work is a smart choice.   

Establishing a positive office culture

Working in the office help to build a positive company culture, therefore a hybrid office provides flexibility and a friendly environment, such as co-meeting areas, so the staff can have enough conversations and gathering when they return to the office.  

“We always had an in-office culture prior to 2020 but our employees enjoyed working flexibly and so we decided to continue to provide that flexibility long after lockdowns,” Sidekicker co-founder Jacqui Bull mentioned.   

Many reports show that positive company culture can help a company to foster a sense of belonging among employees make employees more engaged in their work, and therefore increase their productivity.   

Successful examples across APAC

Hybrid working in Singapore

Citi Singapore: Hybrid work allows Singapore Citi’s staff to spend more time with their families and ensures the customers can have excellent service as the workers have high productivity.    

Redhill: Implementing a hybrid work arrangement helps Redhill to attract many new talents to join them, and their workers are increasing to over 150 people now.   

Hybrid working in Japan

NTT: Hybrid work helps reduce the costs of brain drain and high rents, increases opportunities for employees to spend time with their families, and make it easier for employees who need childcare and nursing care, to join the workforce. 

Hybrid working in Hong Kong

Hong Kong Technology Quest Limited: Hybrid work would provide a better working environment for its employees and reduce workers’ work stress. 

Klook: Hybrid work allows workers to explore different overseas destinations and experience local cultures in their spare time. 

As implementing hybrid work has brought success to companies in Asia, they focus on developing hybrid work and decided to implement it as a long-term development target. Reports also reflect that hybrid work is the future of work.  

With the support of companies’ decision makers in Asia, implementing a hybrid work method has become popular in Asia and a trend. Thus, it becomes the winner in Asia among all the new working styles. 

How to implement hybrid work? 

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 have remote work and virtual meetings with their colleagues in the office.  

ONES is one of the famous all-in-one smart office systems that can help you to easily implement hybrid working at ease.  You can easily perform virtual meetings, desk hoteling, and digital office management with our Room Booking, Desk Booking, and Visitor Management features.     

ONES Software now has a dedicated page to introduce a series of hybrid working measures to help you solve problems. You may wish to go to https://ones.software/hybrid-workspace/ for further reference.    

Contact us: hello@ones.software, or visit ONES Software official website for more information: https://ones.software/. 

The post Why Hybrid Working is the winner in the APAC region? Experts explain. first appeared on ONEs Blog.

This raises the question of how companies may best utilize their hybrid skills with the aid of modern technology, and how these businesses can assist their staff in striking a balance between work and personal life while still enabling them to provide their best work.

Recently Star Media Group has held a webinar “Enhancing Hybrid Working Culture with Intelligent Technology” with HP and AMD discussing how enterprises in Malaysia can adapt to embrace a new way of allowing people to ‘work happy’.

Enhance their hybrid workforce in a growth-first environment 

The webinar’s stellar speaker lineup included HP Malaysia and Singapore Business Director Yogesh Bhatia, AMD Asean Senior Solution Architect Eric Sugiono, and TM Research and Development Chief Executive Officer Dr. Sharlene Thiagarajah. It was moderated by 42 Kuala Lumpur Head Technologist Jeff Sandhu.

Firstly, the audience was given the chance to hear from the panelists about how they enable their organizations and staff to improve their hybrid workforce in a growth-first environment.

Burnout due to full remote working

Here comes the first two questions from TM Research and Development: When the first movement control order was announced in 2020, two things came to mind: Will TM R&D be able to deliver on their project commitments? Could they contribute to the fight against Covid-19?

Sharlene pointed out that these agendas turn out to point to the same thing: “Will I be able to engage with my team, will my team be able to work unsupervised, and will my team be able to work with one another with internal and external stakeholders to deliver results?”

Although in 2020/2021, Sharlene’s team had one of the best years in delivering on project commitments, she mentioned that there were signs of staff burnout and lack of social interactions whereby some employees were working round the clock.

In our early days, our online engagements were work-related but we started shifting into more social interactions. We had hangout, lunch and jamming sessions. We shifted, we learnt what was needed and we delivered

Dr. Sharlene Thiagarajah, TM Research and Development Chief Executive Officer

Hybrid work culture helps productivity 

Sharlene also mentioned that they allow their project teams to have the flexibility to decide the working location and how they work. Lots of surveys have already revealed that flexibility in the workplace is now one of the major factors to retain talent.

Learn more: Singaporeans now reject jobs that do not provide a hybrid work option

Retaining talent will boil down to the work culture – we strive to put in place a culture that is inclusive, collaborative and not afraid to fail

Dr. Sharlene Thiagarajah, TM Research and Development Chief Executive Officer

For measuring the effectiveness of the hybrid working, Sharlene mentioned that:

We will naturally evaluate performance, whether we are meeting the expectations of our customers and staff.

We will also look at the success of the organisation, our relevance and whether we are able to retain our talent and if they are happy to continue to work with us

Dr. Sharlene Thiagarajah, TM Research and Development Chief Executive Officer

Tech and security in hybrid working

Smart office technology and security are the main issues that are required to take care of when implementing hybrid working. The panelists discussed how smart office technology could facilitate a smooth transition while guaranteeing office security.

HP Malaysia and Singapore Business Director Yogesh Bhatia suggested that smart technology for your office should be reliable, seamless, and able to predict your needs and cut out mundane tasks.

The machine should be able to predict that you are sitting outside and the noise cancellation would be activated automatically instead of you having to do it manually.

Yogesh Bhatia, HP Malaysia and Singapore Business Director

He also mentioned that it was also important to keep employees happy and that the right tech could do it effectively.

One of the top concerns of employees when it comes to hybrid work is what tech they will use. If the machine is not working, the employee is unhappy the entire day.

Employers are now looking into the type of devices to give to employees and providing tools that would ensure they are happy and productive.

Yogesh Bhatia, HP Malaysia and Singapore Business Director

Smart office system for your office

ONES Smart office system is one of the famous management systems that can help you to easily implement hybrid working at ease.  

You can easily perform virtual meetings, desk-hoteling, and digital office management with our Room Booking, Desk Booking, and Visitor Management features, in order to improve your office productivity, retain your talents and make your office more secure.

Contact us: hello@ones.software, or visit ONES Software official website for more information: https://ones.software/my/. 

The post How to enhance hybrid working culture with Smart Tech in Malaysia first appeared on ONEs Blog.