The pendulum swings back on FWA in Asia

Recently, BusinessToday reported that “Flexibility Is Malaysia’s New Workplace Currency”, aptly commenting that in today’s workplace “flexibility is intertwined with agility; a term that denotes the organization’s readiness and speed to react to changes” with HR technology as the conduit to facilitate workplace flexibility. In fact, Malaysia amended employment standards and Singapore released a new policy in 2022 – both to recommend and encourage flexible work arrangements (FWA).

In a 2020 study by Talent Corporation Malaysia Berhad (TalentCorp) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Malaysia, 60% of respondents reported their productivity increased or remained the same when working remotely. And over 60% of respondents said remote work has improved their quality of life. Women (who often assume the primary caregiver role at home) felt their quality of life improved because working remotely helped them better manage work and family commitments.

Fast forward to today, the pendulum has swung back – with many organisations clawing back on FWA and indicating that it was a temporary measure to cope with the pandemic. Whilst flexibility has become an expectation for most, many countries in ASEAN have a long way to go on its journey toward workplace flexibility and a deeper conversation still needs to happen between managers and their team members to determine which roles should turn into remote-working roles permanently (Mercer).

The truth is closer to home that I would have liked to admit; my sister, a banker who has been working in Singapore for close to a decade shared with me her feelings of anxiety, burnout and stress. And she’s not alone - 29% of expats cited having too much work and 89% were unable to disconnect from work in Cigna’s 360 Wellbeing Survey. Randstad reported that 70% of singapore employees have poor work-life balance due to overwhelming workload. So whilst not enjoying the benefits of FWA may be just the tip of the iceberg, it is definitely one of the key solutions to the situation.

Asian leaders’ unease with FWA

When I asked ChatGPT on ‘Why leaders do not support flexible work arrangement?’ the answers for both Malaysia and Singapore had the following similarities:

1.  Traditional working culture: Malaysia/ Singapore has a traditional work culture where employees are expected to be physically present in the office during normal working hours.
2. Lack of trust: Leaders may not trust their employees to work efficiently from home or in a flexible environment.
3. Resistance to change: Change can be difficult and some leaders may be resistant to implementing new ways of working.
4. Lack of understanding: Some leaders may not fully understand the benefits of flexible work arrangements and how they can benefit both employees and the organization.

The minor differences are:

Singapore

• Concerns about productivity: Leaders may have concerns about maintaining productivity levels if employees are allowed to work from home or have flexible work arrangements.

Malaysia

• Technical difficulties: The lack of adequate technology infrastructure and support systems may make it difficult for leaders to implement flexible work arrangements.

Back to square one

When I left Malaysia, one of my main sources of discontent was with work-life-balance and flexible work arrangements (FWA), which virtually was almost non-existent back in 2015.

I’ll share with you my personal experience from one of my previous organisations; one of Malaysia’s top employers. Like most leaders in Asia, the senior management prided itself in staying long hours, working hard and to be seen as working hard. The unwritten rule was that you shouldn’t leave the office before your boss, otherwise you would risk being seen as less committed and unworthy of being a top talent. And it doesn’t matter if you worked better in the morning, or you came in earlier than your boss, so if you can’t adapt to your boss’ work preferences, well, that’s just too bad for you.

Legend has it that one day, the CEO met with the CHRO at his office one day and for some reason, many people weren’t around – so he made a comment just about that. And lo behold, a number of unwritten office policies came to life including people cancelling all meetings outside of the office if the CEO was coming to the HR department.

Yes, I know that this may all seem to be an outdated, archaic, and stereotypically old-fashioned work expectations/ style, but I know of many people in my network who say the same of their manager, even though it has been 7 years since I left Malaysia.

Ironically, many of my friends who are in senior management positions in Malaysia and Singapore have also indicated their personal discomfort in continuing with the FWA now that the pandemic has normalised; they casually admitted that they are concerned that they won’t know if people are working because they can’t see them working in flesh and are worried that people may loaf away during work hours.

What is amusing (and tragic at the same time) is that many organisations not only survived for more than 2 years, but also grown and thrived over the pandemic whilst finding new ways of working, communicating, and collaborating in a remote environment.  

Catching fire

Call me dramatic if you must, but the reality is that times have moved on and that is surely the case for FWA, even if leaders in Asia are traditionally unprepared to take the leap forward. In a recent research, over half of respondents in Singapore expressed burnout and have considered to switch jobs in 2023, whilst 16% are part of the ‘quiet quitting’ movement.

50% of respondents also cited the lack of inspiration by their leaders and also that they found theirs leaders being inflexible – being “stuck in their ways of working”. The pandemic has forced people to revaluate their lives and work; and are likely to be less accepting of disconnected leaders and to immerse in a ‘forced culture’. People want more voice, less control and more autonomy over their work. On flexible working, over two-thirds of respondents want to be trusted to do their job regardless of location or work hours. The EY 2021 Work Reimagined Employee Survey reveals that 9 in 10 respondents in Malaysia want flexibility regarding where and when they work, and 7 out of 10 respondents say that hybrid work will increase productivity and creativity. Even more staggering is the finding that 50% of survey respondents would quit their jobs if not provided with post-pandemic flexibility.

Asia stands to lose out in the war for talent; in Australia, there are changes to federal law to enable employees to request for flexible work where it will be easier for anyone to challenge a boss who refuses such a request. Flip over to Singapore, you will find the tripartite statement on FWA which stops at only encouraging companies to sustain and promote flexible work as a permanent feature of the workplace. Similarly, HRD reported that flexible working hours will not be mandated in Malaysia.

Although not everyone has the privilege to migrate and leave their countries of origin like me, especially those who are older or do not fall into skilled occupation categories, those who are younger and possess the desirable skills are likely to be enticed by countries that emphasise on better wellbeing, and work life balance, which in turn support FWA – like Australia, or New Zealand.  

War for talent  

For your organisation to gain a foothold and step ahead of your competitors, I’d recommend for you to embrace FWA, wellbeing and mental health as starting points to better engage with people whom you employ. Consider the following:

• Encourage work-life balance; adopt flexible work arrangements such as telecommuting and flexible hours to help people manage their work and personal commitments better
• Unshackle flexibility; provide universal flexibility to transcend manager’s preferences/style, carer responsibilities, time, location, or schedules, with focus on quality and outcomes
• Promote and support mental health; provide access to mental health resources, such as counseling services, and create a supportive work environment to reduce stress and improve mental well-being
• Invest in employee development; provide opportunities for people to learn and grow through training, mentorship, and professional development programs to help boost their overall well-being and job satisfaction.
• Foster a positive workplace culture; encourage open communication, promote teamwork and collaboration, and create a welcoming and inclusive environment to improve morale and reduce stress
• Provide comprehensive benefits; offer comprehensive benefits packages that include health insurance, paid time off, and other wellness-related perks to support the physical and mental well-being

In a recent conversation with Alif Latif , I shared with him that if organisations in Asia want to truly progress in the space of DE&I – one of the challenges is to truly enable people of various backgrounds, lifestyles and needs to be able to bring their whole selves and identities to work – and I would emphasise that FWA stands right in the forefront amongst other challenges to be tackled. 

So I end this article with some questions to for you to reflect on:

1. To what degree does my organisation appreciate the benefits of FWA, mental health and wellbeing?
2. To what degree are people decisions influenced by various kinds of unconscious bias?
3. What are your organisation's recent decisions on FWA, mental health and wellbeing of people? To what degree have they impacted people?