Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on April 20, 2020 - April 26, 2020

WORK from home (WFH) may be the current popular buzz phrase — ever since Covid-19 gave the world little option but to experiment with remote working — but is it just a phase or here to stay?

Following the imposition of lockdowns by governments worldwide, organisations have been compelled to rethink their cost structures, business strategies and work procedures.

Significantly, some are already making arrangements to embrace WFH in a more permanent way post-MCO (Movement Control Order), although they recognise the fact that this may not be suitable for all employees and business sectors.

Take Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB). Its president and group chief executive Jalil Rasheed is open to the idea, given the advanced technology and digitalisation, but is mindful of the fact that WFH may not be appropriate for everyone.

“To this end, PNB is closely exploring how to implement WFH and more flexible working arrangements in a conducive manner, even after the MCO. This is part of PNB’s transformation process to become more agile, and reshape and embrace new ways of working as a run-up to PNB’s move to Merdeka 118 in the near future,” he tells The Edge.

“That said, for WFH to be effective, having the right technical capabilities is one of the key enablers. Stable high-speed internet connectivity is essential to ensure seamless interaction on digital platforms, and this may not be possible for all at this juncture. But there are ways to work around it.”

Jalil asserts that this must also be “balanced” by the fact that WFH may not be a long-term sustainable approach for all employees to take.

“Every employee should have the option to decide how he wants to work, that is, in the office or at home, as this would depend very much on personal circumstances. We must also understand that face-to-face interaction is still important,” he points out.

Citi Malaysia CEO Lee Lung Nien concurs, emphasising that some businesses, such as banking, are still a people business and that “face-to-face human touch is essential”, although work lifestyles will change with the evolution of technology.

“Clearly, there are work functions that can be performed from home, mostly the non-­customer-facing and non-critical functions. Now is also a good time to confirm network stability and security,” says Lee.

He stresses that it is about “striking the right balance” to ensure business growth and productivity are not compromised.

Moving forward, Lee expects more employers and employees to opt to work from home and recommends that companies revisit real estate in terms of cost efficiency and space utilisation.

Sunway Group Bhd chief human resource officer Foo Shiang Wyne weighs in by saying that if WFH becomes a permanent feature, companies will have to reassess the “optimisation of office space and restructuring of the overall organisation”.

According to Jalil, WFH opens up opportunities for more collaborative spaces and hot­-desking at work rather than the traditional fixed cubicles. This is a feature that PNB is exploring for its new office at Merdeka 118, he says.

“Covid-19 has essentially brought about a global realisation that with the digital platforms of today and of the future, WFH can be just as effective as traditional ways of working with a host of benefits, including doing away with the daily commute, reducing carbon emissions and saving on operational costs,” Jalil observes.

 

Not for everyone

Foo shares that this is the first time Sunway has implemented WFH on a large scale across all its 13 business divisions.  The conglomerate has a total of 16,000 employees.

In the process, the group realised that many of its business divisions, including healthcare, leisure, hospitality, construction and retail, require employees to be based on site to perform their duties.

Sharing Sunway’s experience, Foo says amid the MCO, the group has a large number of employees in the essential and critical services who need to continue to carry out their duties, namely frontline healthcare workers,  zoo­keepers who are taking care of the animals in Sunway Lagoon and Sunway Lost World of Tambun; hotel staff who are tending to Malaysian returnees under the 14-day mandatory quarantine at Sunway hotels; and security personnel across its townships nationwide and more.

For those who can work remotely from home, Sunway treats the situation as business as usual.

To effectively implement WFH, Foo says employees must first possess the right tools and capabilities as the prolonged MCO has uncovered an unexpected irony.

“We are hearing from many employees, who were previously strong advocates of WFH, that they cannot wait to return to office to work.

“We need to understand that there are many aspects to be considered before implementing WFH, such as self-discipline, self-motivation, home distractions, the need for professional and social interactions and more,” she points out.

Jalil — who has daily check-ins and video calls with his team — says communication and continual engagement are a must with WFH. “This has allowed us to maintain productivity and performance at almost the same level.”

He credits PNB’s technology team for being a big reason for the group’s success in WFH. Once the MCO came into effect, 95% of PNB’s workforce of more than 1,600 employees was already working from home and, today, the number is hovering at 97%.

Citi Malaysia’s Lee shares that 89% of the banking group’s 5,000 odd employees work from home in Malaysia.

The arrangement covers its banking operations and Citi Solutions Centre, which are regional transaction hubs in Kuala Lumpur and Penang that support Asia-Pacific, Europe, North America and Latin America.

Before the MCO was imposed in March, about 10% of Citi Malaysia’s employees worked from home. After the MCO is lifted, Lee expects more to opt for this arrangement.

Jalil observes that the current situation seems to be leading to a paradigm shift in how people perceive a “productive” working culture, as WFH has redefined the concept of work and accelerated the plans of companies across the world for greater digitalisation.

“It has also broken through the biggest resistance — first-time users — as they had no choice but to adapt to WFH. And having recognised the benefits, the sceptics have turned believers,” he remarks.

 

 

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