Let’s face it: The traditional work model is broken and persisting with it will be a costly move.
Microsoft’s Work Trend Index report reveals that workers in Singapore feel overworked (58%) and exhausted (49%) due to the increasing digital intensity of their workdays as they pivoted to work-from-home arrangements during the pandemic. For instance, the average meeting takes 10 minutes longer in February 2021 compared to the same month the previous year. During the same period, average users of Microsoft Teams are also sending 42% more chats per person after work hours.
Faced with digital exhaustion, nearly half of the Singapore workforce Microsoft surveyed consider leaving their employer this year. How should leaders redesign their organisation to combat workforce exhaustion, retain employees, and attract talent?
Hybrid work will be the default
Offices were conventionally known as the primary space for productivity and collaboration. But technological advancements over the years have enabled many employees to work beyond their cubicles as long as they have a computer, smartphone or tablet connected to the Internet.
Recognising this, some companies like Dell and SAP have been offering hybrid work arrangements – wherein employees can choose to work from the office or remotely – years before the pandemic. The majority of organisations, however, were hesitant to adopt such practices. “There wasn’t an imminent need to switch to hybrid work [in the past] because people could work, socialise, and collaborate in offices,” explains Joanna Lim, modern work and security business group lead, Microsoft Singapore.
Organisational inertia also hindered the adoption of hybrid work models. Leong Chee Tung, CEO and co-founder of employee experience platform EngageRocket, shares that many companies used to be “reluctant to make significant changes to the existing way they worked and invest in IT tools for hypothetical productivity gains”. He adds that it was previously considered “impersonal, bordering on rude, to suggest a video call over connecting over coffee, even for low-stakes business networking”.
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The Covid-19 outbreak has broken through some barriers of remote work. In particular, the mass work-from-home “experiment” during the global lockdowns has led to employees having new expectations of work.
According to Microsoft’s study, Singapore workers want flexible remote work options to stay post-pandemic (82%) but they also crave more in-person time with their teams (66%). Generation Z employees – those between the ages of 18 and 25 – are also not coping well with remote work, with seven in 10 citing they are merely surviving or flat-out struggling.
“Generation Z [workers] are likely to be single and early in their career amid a time of great disruption – making them more likely to feel the impact of isolation, struggle with motivation at work, and lack the financial means to create proper workplaces at home. Without hallway conversations, chance encounters and small talks over coffee, it’s harder for them to build meaningful connections with colleagues, bring new ideas to the table, and feel engaged or excited about work,” says Lim.
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What does this mean for the future of work? Instead of having a fully remote or on-site workforce, organisations should embrace a hybrid work model that lets employees decide when to work from home and the office.
The changing face of workspaces
As employees increasingly expect the flexibility to work from home and economic recovery remains uncertain, organisations are rethinking their approach to real estate commitment. “Against an economic landscape that increasingly focuses on cash flow efficiency and productivity lies a growing demand for flexibility in supporting business operations,” says Samit Chopra, president & COO, International (EMEA & Pacific) at WeWork.
He adds that regardless of company size, many organisations are reducing their existing office footprint or moving away from traditional leases and turning to flexible workspace solutions to flexibly scale and support long-term business success. They are also redesigning their current office or seeking a workspace that “fosters interactions, team culture, planned and spontaneous exchange of ideas, as well as training” — which is what WeWork terms as a “collaboration hub”.
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“A collaboration hub is created by converting an existing office [to be less dense] and to support diverse work environments. The point is to have more social and breakout meeting spaces and make those spaces much more integrated to enhance teamwork and individual productivity. Collaboration hubs can also better foster creative processes like brainstorming and design thinking,” Chopra explains.
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An example of a collaboration hub, which consists of different working zones to enhance teamwork and foster creative processes. Photo: WeWork
One company that has experienced the benefit of building a collaboration hub is PayPay. With WeWork’s help, the Japanese cashless payment service provider divided its existing office into several zones. This includes active collaboration areas that support team-building activities and meetings between employees working remotely and in the office; the community and social zone for work breaks or water cooler chats; and the learning zone to onboard new employees or help workers learn more about the company’s culture. Thanks to the office revamp, PayPay saw improvements in employee productivity.
Hybrid work adoption requires thinking outside the cubicle
Embracing hybrid work successfully requires more than just having a flexible workspace. “Businesses will need to create a new, flexible operating model – spanning places, processes, and people – to fundamentally rewire their organisation for hybrid work,” says Microsoft’s Lim.
In terms of processes, organisations should not only digitise business processes but also transform them in bold ways. “For example, organisations can leverage modern collaborative platforms like Microsoft Power Platform to build custom apps, bots and workflows directly within Microsoft Teams to transform business processes and change the way people work, learn, and collaborate,” says Lim.
As for the people aspect, Lim advises leaders to develop a clear plan that empowers people to work flexibly while helping employees balance productivity and well-being to reduce the risk of burnout.
Agreeing with Lim, EngageRocket’s Leong says, “Setting clear expectations around communications, availability, and performance are becoming more important than before. Being explicit about tasks and objectives is necessary in an environment where the team doesn’t have as many non-verbal cues to calibrate understanding.”
“Everyone also needs to understand protocols on checking in and mental well-being, as well as enhancing respect for off-hours. Chat and team call protocols — including when to turn on video or audio and the requirement to hold most meetings virtually — also need to be established upfront with the ability to evolve as no leader or HR professional can pre-define these in full ahead of time,” he adds.
As hybrid work looks to be the “new normal”, organisations in the Asia Pacific region need to rethink the definition of work and develop a plan that empowers employees to do their best work. Those that can do so successfully will be in a better position to lead out of the pandemic as they meet new employee and customer expectations, attract and retain talent, and gain a competitive advantage.
Main photo: Unsplash
