SINGAPORE: Perhaps you and your colleagues are waiting in line for your after-lunch bubble tea, and start discussing how the latest tripartite guidelines on flexible work arrangements may benefit you.
Would you have thought about how flexi-work arrangements can apply to the server making your bubble tea?
The guidelines set a framework for employers and employees in Singapore to handle formal flexi-work requests from Dec 1, and are readily applicable for most white-collar job roles.
However, flexi-work arrangements are more challenging to implement for frontline workers like your bubble tea server.
Frontline workers come from industries such as food services, logistics, construction, retail, manufacturing, security, healthcare and education. Their roles became more prominent and appreciated after the COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2020.
Also known as deskless workers, most of their work tasks are location-specific and time-specific - to be performed onsite, during day or night shifts.
According to the tripartite guidelines, there are three categories of flexible work arrangements: Flexi-place, flexi-time and flexi-load.
Flexi-place, where workers can work from locations outside the office, are largely irrelevant for deskless workers. Your bubble tea server cannot make your drink at their home and have it appear in your hand immediately (at least with today’s technology).
Flexi-time and flexi-load arrangements, which refer to flexible work hours and workloads respectively, appear possible for deskless workers. Your bubble tea server can formally request to be rostered only for shifts that fit their availability, or to work fewer shifts based on their personal circumstances.
However, there are challenges.
This could present rostering difficulties as the employer needs to make sure there are enough workers to fill every shift.
Meanwhile, flexi-load arrangementscould raise business costs, as hiring two workers to work four hours a day can be more costly than one worker working eight hours.
For instance, the employer must provide twice the number of staff uniforms, twice the amount of training and additional wage costs for handover periods when shifts overlap.
Additionally, some deskless work roles are lower-skilled and lower-paying. This can create an imbalance of power when the worker’s circumstances necessitate a formal request for flexi-work arrangements.
So is flexi-work a pipe dream for frontline workers?
The benefits of flexi-work for workers, such as greater well-being, happiness and productivity, are usually acknowledged by employers.
Moreover, many employers in service industries face non-trivial challenges in attracting and retaining workers. This staffing challenge cannot be “offshored” to a remote workforce, since flexi-place is a non-starter for frontline workers.
Workforce turnover is also high in industries such as food services and accommodation. In 2023, the resignation rate of service and sales staff in that sector was about 40 per cent higher than the economy-wide average.
Professions such as nursing and education also see high incidences of work-related stress and burnout.
Flexi-time and flexi-load options could help improve frontline workers’ mental health and make these sectors more appealing to jobseekers, reducing the manpower crunch.
With prospective hires’ increasingly universal desire for flexi-work, receptive employers will gain an advantage in competing for already scarce talent. Offering flexi-work also opens previously inaccessible talent pools such as stay-at-home parents, caregivers or students looking for part-time work opportunities.
Employers also benefit from having a larger team of flexi-work employees. The cost of having a larger headcount may be lower than the lost revenue that results from unfilled shifts. Employers would also have an easier time finding substitutes for rostered staff who fall ill or have last-minute emergencies.
Multiple shifts of a flexi-time
Accommodating employees’ flexi-work requests could create loyalty that translates into lower turnover, which also means lower hiring costs. Fewer hours would be wasted repeatedly onboarding and training replacement hires.
Implementing flexi-work benefits employees and employers. The Singapore government has been providing support for companies - such as Workforce Singapore’s job redesign grant - so job roles can be reworked from the ground up to accommodate flexi-work arrangements.
There are also various technologies that businesses can utilise to support flexi-work operations for deskless workers. Examples include rostering software for businesses to plan and manage the schedules of their staff, and mobile learning platforms for staff training.
Employers and employees have a symbiotic relationship. Without employees, there is nobody to do the work; without employers, there is no job to begin with. It is never “us” vs “them”.
Flexi-work for every worker, whether deskbound or deskless, not only makes for a more inclusive Singapore, but is also good for business.
James Chia is Co-Founder & CEO of ArcLab, a workforce mobile training platform.
Continue reading...
Would you have thought about how flexi-work arrangements can apply to the server making your bubble tea?
The guidelines set a framework for employers and employees in Singapore to handle formal flexi-work requests from Dec 1, and are readily applicable for most white-collar job roles.
However, flexi-work arrangements are more challenging to implement for frontline workers like your bubble tea server.
Frontline workers come from industries such as food services, logistics, construction, retail, manufacturing, security, healthcare and education. Their roles became more prominent and appreciated after the COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2020.
Also known as deskless workers, most of their work tasks are location-specific and time-specific - to be performed onsite, during day or night shifts.
FLEXI-WORK ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE DESKLESS WORKFORCE
According to the tripartite guidelines, there are three categories of flexible work arrangements: Flexi-place, flexi-time and flexi-load.
Flexi-place, where workers can work from locations outside the office, are largely irrelevant for deskless workers. Your bubble tea server cannot make your drink at their home and have it appear in your hand immediately (at least with today’s technology).
Flexi-time and flexi-load arrangements, which refer to flexible work hours and workloads respectively, appear possible for deskless workers. Your bubble tea server can formally request to be rostered only for shifts that fit their availability, or to work fewer shifts based on their personal circumstances.
However, there are challenges.
This could present rostering difficulties as the employer needs to make sure there are enough workers to fill every shift.
Meanwhile, flexi-load arrangementscould raise business costs, as hiring two workers to work four hours a day can be more costly than one worker working eight hours.
For instance, the employer must provide twice the number of staff uniforms, twice the amount of training and additional wage costs for handover periods when shifts overlap.
Additionally, some deskless work roles are lower-skilled and lower-paying. This can create an imbalance of power when the worker’s circumstances necessitate a formal request for flexi-work arrangements.
So is flexi-work a pipe dream for frontline workers?
Related:
GOOD FOR WORKERS, GOOD FOR EMPLOYERS
The benefits of flexi-work for workers, such as greater well-being, happiness and productivity, are usually acknowledged by employers.
Moreover, many employers in service industries face non-trivial challenges in attracting and retaining workers. This staffing challenge cannot be “offshored” to a remote workforce, since flexi-place is a non-starter for frontline workers.
Workforce turnover is also high in industries such as food services and accommodation. In 2023, the resignation rate of service and sales staff in that sector was about 40 per cent higher than the economy-wide average.
Professions such as nursing and education also see high incidences of work-related stress and burnout.
Flexi-time and flexi-load options could help improve frontline workers’ mental health and make these sectors more appealing to jobseekers, reducing the manpower crunch.
With prospective hires’ increasingly universal desire for flexi-work, receptive employers will gain an advantage in competing for already scarce talent. Offering flexi-work also opens previously inaccessible talent pools such as stay-at-home parents, caregivers or students looking for part-time work opportunities.
Related:
Employers also benefit from having a larger team of flexi-work employees. The cost of having a larger headcount may be lower than the lost revenue that results from unfilled shifts. Employers would also have an easier time finding substitutes for rostered staff who fall ill or have last-minute emergencies.
Multiple shifts of a flexi-time
Accommodating employees’ flexi-work requests could create loyalty that translates into lower turnover, which also means lower hiring costs. Fewer hours would be wasted repeatedly onboarding and training replacement hires.
SUPPORT FOR BUSINESSES TO PROVIDE FLEXI-WORK
Implementing flexi-work benefits employees and employers. The Singapore government has been providing support for companies - such as Workforce Singapore’s job redesign grant - so job roles can be reworked from the ground up to accommodate flexi-work arrangements.
There are also various technologies that businesses can utilise to support flexi-work operations for deskless workers. Examples include rostering software for businesses to plan and manage the schedules of their staff, and mobile learning platforms for staff training.
Employers and employees have a symbiotic relationship. Without employees, there is nobody to do the work; without employers, there is no job to begin with. It is never “us” vs “them”.
Flexi-work for every worker, whether deskbound or deskless, not only makes for a more inclusive Singapore, but is also good for business.
James Chia is Co-Founder & CEO of ArcLab, a workforce mobile training platform.
Related:
Continue reading...