HR Briefing: Working arrangements before the 'new normal'

Flexible working options are likely to be implemented for the long term, even as vaccination programmes help to speed up recovery from the pandemic.

A post-pandemic return to how things were isn’t achievable soon. Local government officials in Singapore have predicted the pandemic will last four to five years before slowing down to let us get the first real view of the "new normal".

As Singapore eases into the Phase 3 of its reopening, employees are likewise starting to wonder how the foray into the period before a post-pandemic workplace would look like. Last year, non-essential workers were thrust into working from home indefinitely—most of them for the first time.

According to Joey Lim, vice president of commercial for Asia at ByteDance-owned digital collaboration suite Lark, in-person collaboration has dramatically dropped amidst the pandemic and small and mid-size enterprises (SMEs) have had to adjust to a hybrid workforce wherein only half of employees are in the office whilst the rest are at home.

“As such, physical oversight has become virtually impossible and communication is more likely [to] falter, thus highlighting the need for SMEs to understand how their employees are communicating and across which channels,” comments Lim.

In a study recently conducted by Lark, it’s revealed that local professionals, managers, and executives (PMEs) are expecting to see a longer implementation of what began as a short-term measure—the offering of flexible work arrangements for the long term.

According to the study, a whopping 94% of PMEs want flexible working arrangements to stay. However, there’s still a need to make sure that the correct collaboration tools are in place to successfully connect a dispersed workforce.

“It's important for organizations to adopt an all-in-one platform, if possible, to provide more seamless communication across the top three most used channels amongst Singapore PMEs: chat or messaging, video meetings, and emails. It's not enough to look at collaboration tools as something that's independent to productivity when in reality, employees rely on this to connect, communicate, and collaborate, all of which are important elements that make work enjoyable,” says Lim.

Satisfaction with the current work setup
Lark’s study shows that only one in five PMEs express satisfaction with their current remote and online collaboration work setup. Half are “somewhat satisfied” whilst the rest of the respondents are “neutral” (22%) or “dissatisfied”.

Meanwhile, seven in 10 PMEs agree that having one tool that supports all needs is essential in making work more enjoyable, emphasising how collaboration tools can “go beyond just the purpose of work productivity but also serve as a tool to make work more enjoyable” for employees.

In terms of benefits, 64% of respondents say the correct collaboration tools make their work seem easier, whilst 60% claim those give them a boost of productivity.

A further 39% of respondents say that having the right tools makes work more enjoyable, a sentiment echoing throughout all age groups polled, but most resoundly amongst Millennials (25 – 39 years old).

Moreover, the findings from the study show the dissonance between employees and leaders.

“Most employees aren't fully satisfied with their current setup, but unfortunately decision-makers don't know it,” remarks Lim, noting that whilst 40% of directors and above say their team is very well adapted to using collaboration tools, only 25% of all respondents share the sentiment.

That shines a light on the disconnect between satisfaction and perceived adoption amongst employees. According to Lim, enhancement of efficiency, productivity, and overall enjoyability will be challenging until decision-makers remain oblivious to challenges faced by their employees.

“2020 was a difficult year for many as we were forced to stay indoors, adjusting to a new way of life and work,” says Lim. “The uplifting results of this study proves that Singapore PMEs are resilient and have done extremely well adapting to the new normal.”

“Though the country has done well with keeping numbers low post-circuit breaker, COVID-19 is still affecting millions around the world and hybrid work arrangements will continue to be the norm,” adds Lim.