2. Career Progression
1. As for career development opportunities, PETRONAS is always looking
forward to identifying potential employees at various levels of positions
(Manager/ Senior Manager/ General Manager/ Vice President) for the next
20 years. Career progression refers to two progression scenarios which are
Upgrading and/or Promotion.
2. The following 3 Progression Principles is the basis of the implementation to
effectively manage employee’s progression:
(a) Role-based Progression:
Progression should be based on role requirement defined by business
(b) Anchored on Competency:
Progression should be based on acquisition of required competency
demonstrated by the talent and assessed through fit-for-purpose
assessments.
(c) Appropriate Decision Level:
Progression decision should be empowered to the appropriate level of
authority of respective entity.
3. For promotion, the probation period is applicable to officers at Senior
Manager level and above only and the minimum period is 6 months. In
Implementing the Progression Principles, the following generic
implementation rules shall apply to all employee groups when making talent
decision for Upgrading or Promotion.
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(a) Role-based Progression
Progression should be based on role requirement defined by business
and enable talent to progress within (Upgrading) and across role
(Promotion)
(b) Meeting the required competencies of the roles
Assessments should be fit-to-purpose and provide sufficient
datapoints should be considered when evaluating talent’s
competencies based on role requirements. Additional rules on
competency requirement may be established by the respective Skill
Groups or Technical/Business Talent Committees for progression
decision.
(c) Tenure in role
Requirement on tenure for each employee group is described in
respective section.
(d) Performance
Meeting requirement on performance for each employee group.
Disciplinary record will be a reference for progression decision.
(e) Approving Authority
In cases where mobility is involved during the progression e.g., a
promotion to a different business/Operating Unit (OPU), the approval
will be at the receiving/hiring Talent Committee.
(f) Timing of progression
Promotion & Upgrading date shall be on the 1st of every month, no
backdating is allowed.
3. Mobility
(i) There are three (3) different types of mobility: -
(a) Appointment
Appointment refers to appointment of Executive to a position within
PETRONAS or from OPU to PETRONAS as part of mobility.
(b) Secondment
• Secondment refers to mobility of Executive from one entity
(Home Company) to another entity (Host Company), for a
defined period of time and for a specific purpose.
• During the secondment period, the Executive shall report to and
be under the direct control, supervision and instruction of the
host Company.
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• In some cases, Executive who are already on secondment may
be further seconded to another host Company, due to business
requirement.
(c) Assignment
• Assignment refers to a temporary appointment of an Executive
to take up specific additional roles and responsibilities for a
specific duration, e.g. to cover for another position within
PETRONAS / its subsidiaries or assignment to any particular
projects.
• Typically, the Executive continues holding his current position
while performing the additional assigned duties.
(ii) Requirement for Mobility
It is the prerogative of the Company to mobilise the Executive through
appointment, secondment or assignment, to any position, at any location
where PETRONAS and PETRONAS Group of Companies’ businesses are
being operated including at any subsidiaries, joint ventures, affiliate
companies, associate companies or any other location based on business
requirements and talent development needs. Any mobility proposal will be
deliberated and approved at respective People Development Committee
(PDC). Below is illustration for promotion guideline under Upstream,
Exploration (SKG9).
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(a) Strong Performance Track Record
• PETRONAS performance level is divided into 6 ratings which is:
(b) Technical Competency
• Information on Personnel Competency Profile (PCP) is also one
of the mandatory information for mobility in PETRONAS. PCP
information is a comparison of the competence of the officer with
the Job Competency Profile (JCP) of the relevant position.
Referring to the diagram below, item 1 is a measure of the
officer's competence towards a listed competency (note: if the
line is red, the officer still has a gap in the competence).
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• In the PCP, there is also information on the Development Plan
(recommendation from the supervising officer) which provides
information on how the officer gap can be overcome. This is one
of the references for Human Resources officers to be able to
identify the direction of officers to develop their talents.
• In addition, the staff's 3Ps information which includes Passion,
Performance and People Centric is also mandatory. This 3Ps
information will be provided by the supervising officer. This
format reflects the personality of an officer in managing an
assignment and a summary of achievements while on duty.
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(iii) Leadership Behaviour and Values
In addition, the assessment of officers for PETRONAS Cultural Beliefs
Behavioural Evaluation (Be PCB) will also be consulted to identify the stages
of personal development (Distinctive/Effective/Development).
B. Talent Review
1. The Talent Review session highlights the potential of staff based on a variety of
factors such as length of service, assessment of skill level, talent, aspiration,
limitation, Leadership Insights, Development Action and Suggested Development,
and reviews of supervisors and colleagues. Each Talent Review session will
discuss the officers' potential, and each relevant top talent will be categorised as
Business Talent (BT), Corporate Talent (CT), or Other Talent (OT).
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2. Those classified as BT and CT are the most likely to be identified as a successor
in Corporate Critical Position (CCP) and Business Critical Position (BCP). CCP
and BCP are divided into three stages, which are as follows:
(i) First line successors (0-3 years)
(ii) Second line successors (3-5 years)
(iii) Third line successors (after 5 years)
C. Exit Skill Group (SKG)
1. PETRONAS will place each employee based on their skill set (SKG).
2. PETRONAS allows, but does not encourage, employees to leave the designated
SKG. Any SKG conversion must be discuss, endorse/approved in the PDC.
Personal information about officers such as JCP, 3Ps, Be PCB, and staff
interested in their career development is required for discussion. Aside from staff
applications, a list of officers who have not demonstrated satisfactory
achievements or good performance rating will also be monitored and possible to
be transferred to another SKG. However, those who listed with low level
performance will be comply under Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) for 6
months before termination/transferred if necessary.
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D. Staff Development Program
All PETRONAS employees are eligible to apply for the allocation under the Staff
Development Program (SDP). Scholarships (Full Sponsorship), Financial Assistance,
and Unpaid Study Leave are all provisions of the SDP. PETRONAS offers a scholarship
to Executive Officers pursuing a Master's or Ph.D. degree. Each application must meet
the requirements of the Business/Department.
1. Full Sponsorship
(i) Full Sponsorship is granted by PETRONAS, for eligible Executives to further
their study at a recognised institution/university (either locally or overseas)
for either one of the following degree programs:
(a) Master’s - inclusive of MBA, as part of Techno-Commercial Leaders
Development [TCLD].
(b) Doctoral (PhD).
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(ii) Among the full sponsorship SDP's eligibility criteria are the following:
2. Financial Assistance
(i) Financial Assistance (FA) is granted to Executives who intends to pursue
his/her study at a recognised institution / university and program, either on
part-time or full-time basis at their own expense. The FA is in the form of
reimbursement of certain amount of monetary assistance.
(ii) Among the Financial Assistance SDP's eligibility criteria are the following:
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(iii) The reimbursement of the monetary assistance shall be made upon
successful completion of the academic program based on the following level
and amount: -
(a) Diploma: RM 8,000.00
(b) Bachelor’s: RM 10,000.00
(c) Master’s: RM 12,000.00
(d) PhD: RM 15,000.00
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Talent Development |
Supporting
Woman in The
Male Dominated
Industry
By:
Syarifah Zakirah binti Syed Hamid
CSR Manager
Huawei Technologies (M) Sdn. Bhd.
A. Introduction
1. The new normal has pushed forward the need for enhanced productivity, speed,
innovation, convenience, and efficiency – demanding a smarter, more intelligent
present and future, which is made possible with the advent of advanced
technologies and solutions such as automation, cloud computing, 5G, and
machine learning.
2. With this acceleration comes the urgency for skillsets to see these technologies
applied. The World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Future of Jobs 2020 report
published in October last year listed Cloud computing, Big Data, and e-commerce
as the top technologies most likely to be adopted by companies. The report also
highlighted a significant rise in interest in encryption among employers, reflecting
the new vulnerabilities of our Digital Age, and a notable increase in the number of
firms expecting to adopt non-humanoid robots and Machine Intelligence, with both
technologies slowly becoming a mainstay across industries.
3. Talent strategies must be immediately structured towards succeeding with digital
to avoid being left behind. Mastering new skills, upskilling and reskilling must be
the new mantra for companies’ strategies towards their workforces. In short, apart
from utilising readily available technologies that we have at our disposal today,
having and developing talent with digital skills is extremely important in order for
us to tap on the power of technology to enhance efficiencies, optimise productivity,
and on the overall, ultimately improve lives.
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4. This also have surfaced the necessity to bring more people into technical
positions, and this means more space for women. Empowering women with digital
knowledge and skills will enable them to be active participants in the digital world,
especially in the digital economy, which will ensure the sustainability of their
livelihoods.
B. Statistics of Women in Education and Tech Industry
1. Globally, 55% of women venturing into tech careers would start out with an entry-
level position with men likely to kickstart their career at a higher-ranking position
in the same field. Deloitte Global predicts that large global technology firms, on
average, will reach nearly 33% overall female representation in their workforces in
2022, up slightly more than 2 percentage points from 2019. The proportion of
women in technical roles will also nudge up, though it has tended to lag in the
overall proportion of women by about 8 percentage points. In Malaysia, the total
women workforce stands at 55.1% or 6.21 million but women make up only 35%
of the digital economy.
2. According to MOHE, the statistics of student enrolment in public universities
increased in 2020 compared to 2019. The total number of students enrolled in
Science, Mathematics and Computer Science increased to 91,453 in 2020, with
females making up 60.5% of the enrolment. This showed an increase of roughly
3%.
Table 1: Student Enrolment in Public Universities by Sex and Field of Studies, 2019
and 2020
3. Women’s participation in education has increased substantially. In 1957, only 33%
of girls were enrolled in secondary schools, but in 2018 this rose to 75%. Despite
this, women are still absent from leadership and decision-making positions in their
work fields. According to Graduate Statistics 2020, the graduate labour force
participation rate of female graduates (Kadar Penyertaan Tenaga Buruh Siswazah
– KPTBS 2020) recorded an increase of 2.2 percentage points from 79.8% (2019)
to 82.0% (2020). This is higher than male graduates which saw an increase of 0.8
percentage points, from 87.7% (2019) to 88.5% (2020).
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Table 2: Graduate Statistics 2020
4. According to Coursera, in Malaysia, there’s a notable difference in participation by
women learners in STEM courses, where the enrolment increased from 29% in
2019 to 36% in 2021. However, in the tech field, despite men and women being
on the same level in positions, men are more likely to receive a higher salary 60%
of the time
C. Challenges for Women in the Male Dominated Industry
Although more women are dominating the headlines, they are still largely
underrepresented in many fields, be it in Malaysia or across the globe. Despite efforts
to encourage more women to enter Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics
disciplines, and retain these female talents, the number of men in STEM fields remains
much higher.
1. Work culture and gender discrimination
Work culture and gender discrimination are often the reasons for the lack of gender
equality in the tech industry. One big challenge that women facing in business has
to do with the policies that support women in the workplace. For example, with
childcare or wage, it can be challenging to negotiate a higher salary and to be bold
with one’s career growth. Therefore, there is a wide gap in terms of salaries
between women and men. It was reported that women are offered 3 to 4 percent
less than men for the same tech job at the same company.
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2. Balancing a career, home and child care
Balancing a career, home and child care usually fall on the women. Women
entering the workplace already has a major factor working against them. There’s
an assumption of interest in childbearing. The motherhood penalty, often referred
to as, extends to more than just mothers, though they do get hit by it the hardest.
Married women are often never hired, in fear that they will quit to have children.
3. Lack of positive messaging around women in technology
Last but not least, there’s a lack of positive messaging around women in
technology. Typically, the jobs that we hear are the most “sexy” and “interesting”
are those in business, marketing, and finance. More awareness should be spread
about the perks of technology careers. In the technology industry (technical roles),
women have access to multiple job opportunities. These roles often come with
increased flexibility from working remotely and having more control over their
schedules.
D. Strategies to Encourage More Women in the Tech Industry
1. Empowering girls from a young age
(i) Expose young girls to STEM: encourage girls to study STEM subjects.
(ii) Introduction to technical skills to begin in primary schools.
(iii) Instil confidence and interest by encouraging girls to explore technology,
through books, games, and inspirational women. Allow them to participate
in special programmes and workshops that relate to STEM.
(iv) Explore technology with young girls to build enthusiasm and show that
technology is interesting.
(v) Empowering women, building their confidence in the sector and establishing
their positions in their respective fields.
2. Eliminate gender bias
(i) Remove gender bias from job descriptions i.e. the language and structure of
descriptions.
(ii) Redesigning hiring processes i.e. broaden recruiting efforts by engaging in
more diverse sourcing (headhunting; no stereotyping; don’t rely on just
paper qualifications); clarify criteria for hiring and evaluation – women are
held to a higher bar. Ensure all employees are held to a consistent standard.
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(iii) Gender-blind decision-making when it comes to promotions as well as other
processes such as roles or project allocation.
(iv) Address the issue head on with company-wide training programmes and
workshops which address gender discrimination.
(v) Changing the mindset of employers to “want” to hire women, rather than to
be “forced” to be hired.
E. Initiatives and Supports to Encourage More Women in the Tech Industry
1. Empowering women with digital knowledge and skills
Empowering women with digital knowledge and skills will enable them to be active
participants in the digital world, especially in the digital economy, which will ensure
the sustainability of their livelihoods.
2. Equal digital access and ability to utilise technologies
For women to be empowered with digital knowledge and skills, other factors must
be addressed to lay the foundation for equal participation. These prerequisites
include equal digital access, equal ability to utilise technologies in beneficial ways,
and equal ability to gain the requisite basic and advanced digital skills to be
consumers and producers in the digital economy.
3. Gender digital equality and inclusivity
Being tech-savvy will help women inch closer towards achieving gender digital
equality and in levelling the playing field for them. For a level playing field, the
opportunities of today must include women, for the jobs of tomorrow to be held by
them. This is the path to digital inclusivity.
4. Malaysia Budget 2022
Malaysia Budget 2022 has provided that Malaysia’s public listed companies must
have at least one-woman director on their boards from Sept this year, while other
listed companies will have to do so by June 1, 2023, as the government seeks to
ensure more female oversight in the running of companies. This has been a long
time coming and is a welcome move.
F. On-going Initiatives Started by Huawei to Support Women in Tech
1) Women Leadership Programme
This programme is designed to better equip women, especially female leaders,
with the tools to navigate challenges within the workforce from both the private
and public sectors. It also aims to develop and nurture critical leadership among
women which will also help in effectively guiding, influencing and mentoring others.
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In 2021, Huawei signed a MoU with Malaysia’s Women Leadership Foundation
(WLF) to train 2,500 female experts in business analytics, big data, AI and
blockchain. There is also a Sarawak Women of Tomorrow (SWOT) Bootcamp
being organised by Huawei and WLF from March 19 to March 21, which aims to
provide women leaders an understanding of the importance of sustainability,
digitalisation and its benefits as well as insights into government policies in
Sarawak.
2) Huawei Seeds for the Future
Seeds for the Future is Huawei’s flagship global CSR programme. Launched in
2008 with the aim to develop skilled, local ICT talent and bridge communications
between countries and cultures. Allowing the younger generation from different
countries to learn about advanced technologies in the ICT industry and to
accumulate ICT expertise and skills by sharing Huawei’s ICT expertise and
experiences in the global business environment. 8,774 top talents have benefitted
from this programme, including 116 students in Malaysia.
3) Huawei ASEAN Academy
Huawei ASEAN Academy is launched in May 2020, this is a dedicated training
Academy set to empower digital talent. This is in support of Malaysia’s vision of
becoming the region’s Digital Hub. Huawei aims to nurture 50,000 Malaysian
talents over 5 years. The Academy will provide more than 3,000 ICT courses
involving 100 skilled trainers to nurture national digital talent.
G. Summary
1. The tech industry has seen explosive growth. To ensure that there is a critical
mass supply of women leaders in tech, we must improve education, champion
more role models, challenge negative stereotypes and strengthen networking and
mentoring opportunities. Furnishing women with the digital knowledge and skills
they need to address existing skills gaps will enable them to be active participants
in the digital world.
2. Leaders are not born, they are made. If the tech industry is to get brighter as it
goes along, we have to get a lot better at making the right decisions. If ‘gender-
blindness’ is being practised during a decision-making process involving hiring,
promotions, roles or project allocations, women will still
have the shorter end of the stick as they are held to a
higher bar. The future of tech is female. We must
recognise this, embrace this and not miss out on this.
Picture 1: Women in Tech. From left, Rita Irina Wahab (VP, Huawei
Malaysia), Dr. Nagulendran (MOSTI), Shazurawati Abd Karim
(CEO, TM One) and Dzuleira Abu Bakar (CEO, Mranti)
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Working from Home |
How to Identify
Crème De La Crème
By:
TANG CHUN HUAN
HR Specialist
Paynet Sdn Bhd
A. Introduction
Employers probably never imagined that they would face new difficulties and opportunities in
their lifetimes as a result of the era of remote work. However, it has inspired a new vision of
the future of work - one that may or may not require full-time work in an office. As such, it
provides employers with a valuable opportunity to actively hone their new skills as remote
managers through purposeful practice. In a globally dispersed remote work environment,
remote talent management will become the new norm, so it is important to consider the
possibilities of this new world of work.
B. Work from Home | Challenges & Key Issue
1. Due to the COVID-19 epidemic, work-from-home policies are creating challenges
for all organisations at a time when many companies are implementing telework
policies for the first time. Survey results show that 71 percent of employers are
finding it difficult to adapt to telework as a way of doing business, according to a
recent study by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).
2. As talent managers in the work-from-home era, managers need to understand the
factors that can make remote work particularly demanding. Otherwise, high-
performing employees may experience a decline in performance and engagement
when they begin working remotely, especially if they lack preparation and training.
The challenges inherent in working from home include:
(i) Supervision
(a) The lack of in-person supervision can be burdensome for managers,
but it can also have an impact on the people you manage, as they may
not feel they are getting the supervisory help they need. This is one of
the areas where there must be a clear change from the old approach
and there is an opportunity to adopt tools such as human resource
management systems, which often include talent management
modules.
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(b) While this is not typical supervision, it may be beneficial to check in daily
with each of the work-at-home staff. By using Microsoft Teams, Skype,
Zoom or WhatsApp, you can maintain a personal approach to
managing everyone rather than a one-size-fits-all strategy.
(ii) Access to information
(a) The extra time and effort required to find information from peers often
surprises new remote workers. In an office environment, workers can
go to the workstations of their colleagues who need information;
however, this is not possible when the team is working from home. This
phenomenon goes beyond task-related labour to include the
interpersonal issues that can arise between remote co-workers.
(b) According to research, remote workers who lack "mutual
understanding" are less inclined to give their colleagues the benefit of
the doubt in difficult situations. In fact, a great deal of time is wasted
waiting for colleagues to respond to relevant information. Dropbox,
Google Drive and other cloud storage services can help solve this
problem.
(iii) Distractions at home
(a) Employers can urge employees to be less distracted by requiring them
to have a workstation at home. The goal is to have a room dedicated to
work, so they don't waste time searching for the suitable work area each
day. In such a space, they also don't have to waste time looking for the
tools and equipment they need.
(b) Employees with children should be encouraged to arrange childcare
when necessary. Before allowing remote workers to work, employers
must ensure that they have a designated workstation, as well as
adequate childcare. There are also some family situations that are
unavoidable. The best thing you can do as a manager is to anticipate
that they may arise and to provide or show support whenever possible.
(iv) Social interaction and company culture
(a) One of the most common concerns about remote employment is that
employees will miss out on informal social relationships in the office
environment. Extroverts are perceived to be more likely to be isolated
in the short term, especially if they have no opportunity to connect with
others in a remote work environment. On the other hand, over time,
isolation can lead to a "lack of belonging" in the organisation, as well as
an increasing desire to leave.
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(b) In the age of work from home, one of the most important aspects of
talent management is for employers to create these options for their
teams. For example, allow a few minutes of general conversation at
the beginning of a group video conference call to allow your
employees to discuss how they spent their weekend. Order food to
be delivered to each employee's home or give food vouchers for
everyone to enjoy together on a group video call. All are important
ways to maintain the social element and help combat feelings of
isolation that can negatively impact some employees who work from
home.
C. Understand Organisation Culture | How to Identify Crème De La Crème?
1. Organisational culture has an
impact on all elements of
operations, from why a person
chooses to work for that company
to employee benefits. Employees
are more likely to feel comfortable,
supported and valued when the
workplace culture is aligned with
their needs. When it comes to
attracting talent and outperforming
the competition, culture is an
important advantage. 77% of
employees would consider a
company's culture before applying,
and almost half would leave their
current job for a lower-paying
opportunity at an organisation with
a better culture. Employee
satisfaction is influenced by
organisational culture, which is one
of the key reasons nearly two-thirds
of employees (65%) stay in their
jobs.
2. There are four types of people in
any organisation, whether it is a
small entrepreneurial business or a
multinational corporation. By
understanding the people in an
organisation, employers can
identify talent from the talent pool
and manage their teams more
effectively.
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3. A leader who builds the team, who manages people in a predictable way, or a
person who tears the team apart. More likely, this last person is someone else on
the team who slows down the best efforts of the others; they are the Cultural
Disruptor. By that time, the Disruptor will have destroyed the entire operation.
When they leave, the team will look like a bunch of smouldering embers. Ultimately,
Disruptor will kill team morale as well as the company's reputation and brand image
When this happens, re-establishing a healthy team climate and trust in the team
might take years.
4. You owe it to your team to eliminate the cancer of a Destroyer, otherwise you’re
telling them that bad behaviour is acceptable in your organisation. Coach them into
Maintainers, then do what you can to empower your Maintainers to grow into
Builders.
5. Promote the Builders into new leadership roles, because they’re demonstrating
true leadership that can be rare in our business model. That’s the progression that
is possible for any management team. It’s not always going to work that way but
having that thought process will undoubtedly have a positive effect on the entire
organisation.
D. Conclusion
The key to a successful organisation is to have a culture based on strong and widely
shared beliefs, supported by strategy and structure. When an organisation has a strong
culture, three things happen. Employees know that senior management expects them to
respond in any situation, employees believe that the expected response is the right one,
and employees know they will be rewarded for demonstrating the organisation's values.
Employers play a critical role in perpetuating a strong culture by first developing a clear
vision and strategy for the organisation, selecting the right people to share the
organisation's beliefs and thrive in that culture, developing coaching, training and
performance management programs that outline and reinforce the organisation's core
values, and ensuring that appropriate rewards and recognition go to Crème De La Crème
who truly embody the values.
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Remote Working |
Beyond the Pandemic
By:
MUZAMMIL BIN ZOLKARNAIN
Manager, Corporate Communications, Corporate Services Division
Paynet Sdn Bhd (Payments Network Malaysia)
A. Introduction
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the job market in 2020 changed in a way that has never
been seen before. It used to be a perk at some companies to be able to work from home.
Now, it's the norm at most companies. By 2025, about 70% of the workforce will be doing
at least five days a month of their jobs from home.
B. Remote Working – The New Norm
1. In a recent Gartner CFO survey, more than two-thirds (74%) of companies in North
America said they plan to move all employees to remote work after the COVID-19
crisis is over. Big Tech companies are, as expected, showing the way. Twitter is
based in San Francisco and in May 2020, the company told its employees that they
could work from home for as long as they wanted. Square, which is also run by
Twitter's Jack Dorsey, adopted a similar policy around the same time and will let
employees work from home indefinitely, even after the offices reopen. Mark
Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook, told employees at the end of May 2020 that
many of them would work from home indefinitely.
2. Even so, there are still companies that are reluctant to adapt and are eager to force
employees to come back to work, but data scientists at Ladders say that the signs
are clear. Working from home is here to stay. They think that by the end of 2022,
25% of all professional jobs in North America will be done remotely, and the
number of remote jobs will continue to grow through 2023. Since the pandemic
started, researchers from Ladders have been keeping a close eye on the number
of remote jobs offered by the 50,000 largest companies in North America. Before
the pandemic, less paying jobs could be done from home. Now, more than 15% of
all high-paying jobs can be done from home.
3. Owl Labs' 2021 State of Remote Work Report says that 2021 was the year that the
world stayed remote. Ninety percent of the 2,050 full-time remote workers surveyed
said they were as productive or more productive working remotely than when they
worked in the office. Another 74 percent said that working from home after the
pandemic is better for their mental health, and 84 percent said that working
remotely after the pandemic would make them happier, with many even willing to
take a pay cut.
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4. The Owl Labs study was confirmed by an Ergotron survey of 1,000 full-time
workers in January 2022. The survey showed that as workers have become more
used to hybrid and remote office environments since the start of the pandemic,
their physical and mental health has improved. When put together, these two
findings show that businesses should pay attention and look beyond the present
to make workplace policies that are more progressive and help employees do well.
The report's conclusion was that leaders need to rethink their workplace culture to
make it more open to remote and hybrid work, which is now the norm.
5. Despite this, several big banks and tech companies have resisted the idea of
having a permanent remote workforce. As the number of COVID-19 cases rises,
companies like Goldman Sachs and Chase are now pulling back and announcing
flexible work from home policies, just like their competitors. As research has shown
that resistance to remote working will force employees out the door and they will
continue to quit in record numbers if companies don't change to meet the needs of
their employees. Employers who still think of remote work as temporary or unusual,
instead of a complete change in the way we work, and who stick to the "old way of
doing things" risk losing employees and becoming less competitive as the
workplace changes around them. Undoubtedly, the pandemic changed the
workplace and sped up the need for remote workers, which was already growing.
The pandemic was a huge wake-up call that showed us not only that work could
be done from home, but also that employees need to be able to make their own
schedules. This is especially important for people who have long commutes, pay a
lot for childcare, or just want to spend more time with their families.
6. The rise in remote working will cause a significant societal transformation that will
affect everyone. It will relieve employees from being confined to a huge city, thus
smaller cities beyond metropolises will continue to thrive. Cities with enticing
lifestyle characteristics but lacking solid professional opportunities will experience
tremendous expansion. These cities will experience an influx of high-earning, well-
educated professionals, which will have an impact on their school boards, planning
commissions, and even the services provided to their constituents. Remote
working on this huge magnitude will have a significant socioeconomic impact on
these communities.
C. Remote Working – Optimising Resources
1. Completely remote enterprises with no headquarters will continue to form as other
organisations decide to downsize or eliminate office space for hybrid teams to save
money. Companies are already moving in this direction. REI, an outdoor lifestyle
retailer in the US stated earlier this summer that it is selling its brand new,
underused 8-acre headquarters campus in Bellevue, Washington. CEO Eric Artz
stated in a statement that the company would "lean towards remote working as an
ingrained, supported, and normalised approach" for staff. Many businesses are
also contemplating a new hybrid work model that combines remote and on-site
work. One approach that most remote working companies apply is by having
designated days for in-person meetings and cooperation, and then other days
designated for remote work. In-person meetings may be used for brainstorming,
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introducing new initiatives, or team-building exercises, while remote days could be
used for work that can be done independently. The office might be downsized and
restructured by removing cubicles and introducing more collaborative meeting
areas.
2. Employers who use entirely remote workforces have access to a significantly larger
pool of potential employees. They do not restrict themselves to personnel who
currently reside in or have a desire to relocate to their immediate geographic area.
It is possible for a company located in rural or suburb areas to have access to the
same level of talent as a company located in major cities like Kuala Lumpur or
Johor Bahru. Because they don't have to contend with the high cost of living those
employees in major cities do, businesses that are located in completely isolated
areas are likely to have an advantage when it comes to recruiting skilled workers.
When employees can work from home, the business itself, rather than its physical
location, becomes the most important factor in the recruitment of qualified
candidates. This indicates that a company located in a rural, or suburb area is able
to hire workers of the same quality as a comparable company located in major
cities. This is beneficial to both large enterprises and smaller cities.
3. Both the purchase price of commercial real estate and the monthly operation
expenditures of office buildings are expensive. One study found that companies in
the United States save an average of $22,000 for every person that works
remotely. Even if a corporation is required to have some of its employees operate
out of an office, the expense can be reduced because a smaller amount of space
is required. When employees can complete their work from home, they can save
between $2,000 and $5,000 annually. The time and stress that are saved as a
result of not having to commute are possibly even more significant. If you do not
commute, you will not have to cope with the frustration of waiting for public transit
or sitting in traffic. Employers also benefit because employees who report lower
levels of stress are more productive and engaged in their work.
4. Working from home has positive effects on the environment. The amount of
pollution in the air, the emissions of greenhouse gases, and the carbon footprint
that are caused by everyday commutes can be reduced or eliminated entirely. In
light of the climate crisis that we are currently facing, these adjustments would have
a tremendous impact. The time has come to seize a once-in-a-lifetime chance to
create a working environment that truly benefits both companies and employees.
It will take some time to adjust to the new circumstances and become accustomed
to them, but if the past year is any indication, everything is possible.
D. Remote Working – Evolution of Performance Management
1. Performance management has changed a lot because of remote work.
Organisations will pay more attention to the work done instead of the hours worked.
This will make tools and apps that help manage the performance of remote
employees even more important. To get the most out of their workers, employers
need to know what they are doing. Time Doctor, Timely, and Transparent Business
are all examples of tools that can be used to manage remote employees. At some
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point, it may even be necessary to make a new job position, like "Director of
Remote Work," to oversee production and collaboration and make sure operations
run smoothly. Some companies are also moving away from doing performance
reviews once a year and doing them more often. As managers try to help their
employees do their jobs well and meet performance expectations, they will need
to give them feedback all the time. In the new normal, it will be important to rethink
how goals are set and figure out what the key performance metrics are.
2. As the number of digital devices, we use has grown, the lines between our work
and personal lives have become less clear. During the COVID-19 pandemic, when
many people started working from home, this line was completely broken. This has
made employees want to be able to leave work at work and not have to work during
their free time. In fact, this right has even been written into law in a few European
countries.
3. People were supposed to be able to work when and where they wanted thanks to
digital technologies. We were supposed to be freed from the 9-to-5 grind. It's the
kind of freedom that people have said for a long time makes us happy and engaged
at work. As more and more digital and mobile technologies have made their way
into the workplace, people have felt that this vision hasn't really come true. In the
past, there have been serious concerns that working from home hurts people in
terms of pay, promotions, and getting the best jobs. People have thought that the
use of digital devices has been skewed toward the employer because employees
are expected to be "clocked on" almost all the time.
4. The pandemic has shown how far we still have to go to make work as fair as it
should be. Not only have working hours increased, but there has also been a clear
difference between men and women. Women are still expected to do most of the
housework, including teaching their children at home when schools are closed.
Digital technology has promised more freedom and flexibility, but regular working
practices still have very clear rules about when you're supposed to be on the
company's time.
5. A new paper from Harvard Law School tries to tell the story of how our ideas about
working time have changed. It looks at the legal, social, and business literature to
try to come up with a new model that pays us fairly for any work we do outside of
normal business hours. It's a model that depends heavily on the latest wave of
smart surveillance technologies.
6. The researcher suggests using digital tools to closely watch everything that people
do, whether they are using messaging apps, office tools, or communication
platforms. Obviously, when work isn't digital, it would need to be entered by hand,
which shows that this method still seems to be based on measuring inputs instead
of outputs.
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7. It's clear that legacy metrics aren't useful for evaluating a remote workforce
anymore. KPIs will need to be updated to accommodate a world in which the lines
between work and home life are more blurred than ever before. Digitally taking
over the home is not the answer, even if the tools are there to do so. This hurts
trust and transparency, which are important for a fair workplace, which is what
everyone wants.
8. If there is trust and openness in the workplace, monitoring can be seen as a good
thing that helps to support the workforce. Without it, it quickly turns into invasion
and oppression. It has also made old management methods like "management by
walking around" and "open-door policies" useless, as companies around the world
have quickly realised how little they know about how well their teams actually work
together.
9. There is also a huge drive for monitoring to move away from the old set-piece
events that took place at regular intervals and become more real-time so that
efforts can be better coordinated. No matter what managers decide to do, trust will
be key, both in terms of managers trusting their employees to work well and
efficiently and in terms of employees trusting their managers to act in a fair and
constructive way.
10. As is the case with a lot of things, COVID-19 has made trends in performance
management even stronger in many ways. For example, research from last year
showed how performance management is becoming more digital. Organisations
that can manage their people and their performance based on data have a clear
advantage.
11. The report says that feedback time, speed, and impact will be the most important
cultural and organisational effects of the next generation of performance
management systems. Instead of annual, quarterly, or ad hoc reviews, businesses
that focus on talent and accountability will encourage and make it possible for near-
constant feedback.
12. The key to managing the performance of a remote workforce is to let people give
and act on feedback all the time. Better quality results can only be achieved with
better quality feedback. This has always been true, but COVID-19 has shown how
important it is.
13. For such a culture of feedback to develop, there needs to be clear communication
between the assessments made and the development options for the people being
evaluated, as well as clear communication about the process itself, so that trust
and fairness remains. Work is a place where there is a lot of tension and uncertainty
right now. Trust and fairness should be at the heart of everything an organisation
does if it wants to get the most out of its highly skilled workers.
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E. Remote Working – Prioritising Cybersecurity
1. In 2021, cybersecurity will become an even bigger issue as more companies let a
large part of their workers work from home. In Cisco's Future of Secure Remote
Work Report, 85 percent of all respondents said that cybersecurity is very important
or even more important than it was before the pandemic. A real concern is how
data is being accessed and how to keep it safe. Organisations must consider
cybersecurity spending more strategically, as well as how to effectively safeguard
personnel, data, and equipment. Since more people are working from home, many
companies have had to make big changes to their IT systems and infrastructure.
Even though the change has already happened for a lot of people, the security
debt that came with it hasn't been dealt with in many places. Keeping a remote
workforce safe requires a different way of thinking, and an attack has a wider target
to protect.
2. The COVID-19 epidemic has shown that we may work from home and be
productive at the same time. In a survey by Mercer, an HR and workplace benefits
consulting firm, 94% of employers said that even though their employees were
working from home, productivity was the same or higher than before the pandemic.
For remote work to be successful in the future, there will need to be a lot of
changes, such as investing in digital infrastructure and freeing up office space.
Most companies will have to change a lot of their processes and policies to let
employees work outside the office. The question is whether the pros will outweigh
the cons, which will be answered in time.
3. 2020 will go down in history for many reasons, including the fact that it was the
year that businesses and organisations of all sizes were forced to change their
operations so that people could work from home. Most of the time, we've done
pretty well, but we've had some problems, too, like being burned out, having to
hold group meetings through less-than-ideal videoconferencing, and wanting to
work together in person again someday.
4. As a result of this distributed work environment, there are new security threats that
are less obvious but still very important. In the digital age, companies have had to
get better at cybersecurity, but cybersecurity threats have grown a lot since work
has become more distributed. People who work from home are much more likely
to be harmed than those who work in an office. Since home connections aren't as
safe, cybercriminals can get into the company network more easily. Also, the
growing number of online tools, services, and solutions for collaboration and
productivity tend to have the bare minimum of security settings by default, and
updates from third-party vendors can change security settings in ways that are
easy to miss.
5. Threats like phishing and ransomware are easier to get past corporate defences
when they are not in an office. In a traditional office, phishing is less likely to work
because workers can easily ask questions of their colleagues. In fact, this kind of
checking may be harder to do when employees work from home, especially if they
aren't tech-savvy or aren't connected to the IT security channels on Slack or Teams
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(if the organisation even has those). For instance, before the pandemic, a test
phishing message was ignored by managers who knew that corporate security was
stepping up fraud detection. However, the same employees who worked remotely
were more likely to click on phishing emails because they weren't informed
beforehand.
6. In the remote working model, ransomware also has an advantage. If workers can't
connect to the company, it's harder for them to get help from the right experts and
authorities. And because trust is lower when people work from home, some
workers will worry that they made an error or broke ICT rules and be less likely to
ask for help. This risk can be dealt with by giving people more training and letting
them know that being careful and using corporate IT will pay off, but it can still be
hard to do.
7. Comprehensive and frequent cybersecurity training is no longer a luxury for
businesses. In today's remote working landscape, where cybersecurity threats are
constantly changing, it is now essential for all businesses. In addition to teaching
employees how to spot phishing emails, companies should really invest in a strong,
integrated suite of cybersecurity solutions that can prevent, detect, and cope with
ransomware and other cybersecurity threats.
8. Organisations needs to understand three facts about cybersecurity in a distributed
environment. If they don't, the threat won't be fully dealt with:
(i) Many cyber risks are caused by the growth and virtualisation of the work
force.
(ii) Cyber risk is not an issue if the endpoint is clear.
(iii) The weakest link in any organisation's security is the people who work there.
9. The first fact is that as a company grows, it has more interactions with the outside
world. This means that it has to communicate with new people and their networks.
In other words, the company gets a bigger target for antagonist to exploit on these
vulnerabilities. Even worse, cybersecurity can be hard to plan because growth
doesn't always happen in the same way or in the same places. So, cybersecurity
is important, but it may be seen as a direct barrier to growth. If your stockholders
prioritise growth, the same cost/benefit to security may not apply. Trying to control
growth can be fatal, especially in the early stages when ownership of markets is
still being formed.
10. Still, improving cybersecurity doesn't have to stop work from getting done. Some
tasks may take more time because of new cybersecurity processes, but there are
many ways to keep the organisation safe without slowing it down. One example is
the use of identity and access management solutions with multi-factor
authentication (MFA) and single sign-on (SSO) features. Even though MFA
requires an extra step when employees log in, SSO not only makes it easier for
employees to log in to a number of key applications at once, but it also makes it
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easier for IT administrators to change permissions to stop unauthorised access.
The small extra step is worth it because it gives you more security.
11. The second fact is that cybersecurity is not a problem that can be solved once and
for all. Cybercriminals are always trying to figure out how to get around the next
better model. Cyber risk will have no clear solution or end point, just like any other
crime. Theft, destabilization, political agendas, and setting the stage for future acts
are all goals of cyber-attacks. Governments and even employees can be hackers.
There is neither a simple answer nor a set game plan. Organisations need to
develop the skills and abilities of the company, just like it does for marketing and
other functions.
12. More and more, governments, not just hackers, are becoming a threat. Because
of this, the industry needs to work together. A sign of how bad the problem is, is
that in some cases, major security holes have been there for six months or more
before the target organisation found out about them.
13. The third and most important fact is people are the weakest link in an organisation's
security. Figuring out how to deal with this fact is the biggest worry. Too many
organisations see cyber risk as an afterthought or an unnecessary investment. In
order to deal with these risks effectively, organisations need to give all of their
employees regular training and workshops. Cybercrime advances quickly, and
employees must be kept up to date and informed on a regular basis. Organisations
need to do health checks just like people do. That involves recognising and
identifying all possible endpoints, both inside and outside the company, so they
can be monitored.
14. Corporate security is changing dramatically as more and more employees opt for
long-term remote working or hybrid models. Organisations considering these
models must be more attentive in monitoring and mitigating the dangers associated
with working from home.
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Remote Working Arrangement |
Reimagining
the Post-pandemic
Workforce
By:
FARHANA BINTI MD HILAL
Razak School of Government
A. Introduction
1. There is no doubt that the start of this decade is alarming. Around the world,
infrastructure designed to protect our health, society, and economy requires radical
reconsideration. The clearer the implications of these changes, the question of how
we work has been placed at the forefront of the global debate.
2. As the pandemic eases, many companies are starting to implement a hybrid virtual
model that combines on-site and remote working. This new approach is designed
to help employees improve their productivity and experience, while reducing their
costs. It also promises to provide them with more flexibility and lower risk.
3. Companies have learned that they can quickly close plants and offices without
notice, and millions of workers have suddenly abandoned their daily commute to
work from home. Due to the advantages of remote working, many organisations
are now exploring the various models that can accommodate their workforce. They
see no reason to turn back now, and are trying to find the right balance between
the needs of their employees and the cost savings.
4. Despite the potential benefits of this new approach, it’s still not without its risks. In
many cases, remote working proved to be more challenging than it initially seemed.
The various risks associated with remote working include the lack of cohesion and
culture, as well as the potential erosion of these factors over time. These factors
can be prevented from happening by implementing the right culture and standards.
5. The loss of the sense of belonging and shared identity that inspires employees to
do their best work undermines the effectiveness of organisations. With all the
transformation, more attention should be put to the impact of decisions on its
culture and norms. This will allow an organisation to make informed decisions and
improve the effectiveness of the organisation. One of the most important factors
that we should consider is the connection that binds all of the people together.
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6. In order to avoid the pitfalls of remote working, it is important to consider the
management and leadership styles of the organisation when it comes to adopting
a hybrid virtual work environment. The interactions between the teams and leaders
can help create a cohesive hybrid culture.
7. These changes will give people the opportunity to work anywhere. They will allow
for multiple work schedules, urges for employees to meet, collaborate, and learn
from each other, as well as enabling new approaches to careers. Many companies
are planning to implement a hybrid virtual working model, which allows employees
to work from home while they're at work. It's expected to provide them with
increased productivity and lower costs.
8. While the potential benefits are huge, mixing virtual and on-site working can be
hard. During the pandemic, for instance, mixing remote and on-site work didn't
work well. The biggest downsides of working remotely come from the
organisation's norms and values, which are designed to create a common culture
and build shared trust. Getting caught up in these issues can lead to an erosion of
these values and the trust that they contribute.
9. The creation of two cultures could lead to the isolation and discontent of the remote
workers, who are the victims of workplace misconduct. This could also create a
sense of belonging and security for the in-person workers, who would be the
victims of misconduct. The loss of the sense of belonging and common purpose
that makes us perform well leads to organisational performance decline.
10. As we re-imagine a new working environment, we need to pay attention to the
cultural and operational factors that may affect people's relationships. Our goal is
to create a hybrid virtual model that enables employees to work seamlessly from
anywhere, while still maintaining a sense of belonging and stability.
B. Managing the transition
1. The goal of organisations is to maintain a sense of belonging and purpose, but
when two cultures emerge, they can quickly lose this. This is caused by a thousand
small instances of team misdirection, such as when workers use on-site
whiteboards for meetings instead of online collaboration tools.
2. The culture can also split apart in ways that are not always apparent, such as when
the promotions are more likely to go to on-site workers or when the more highly
sought-after positions are given to on-site employees. Some of the more
challenging factors that remote workers face when it comes to learning and
adapting to new roles are developing new skills and talents, undertaking complex
and ambiguous projects, and fostering creative collisions.
3. Although many people support the concept of a hybrid work arrangement, many
also are not convinced that it is a viable business practice. To be successful, the
rules must be changed to create an environment that is conducive to working.
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Despite the scepticism, it is still possible to implement hybrid work arrangements.
It is important to find out what makes your team passionate about it and how it can
be improved. Managers can also build strong emotional connections with their
team members by using digital work management systems.
4. The key factors that organisations consider when it comes to developing a hybrid
virtual culture are the leadership styles and approaches that support small teams.
Team experience is a critical component of this strategy, as it can help them
develop a more effective and efficient hybrid workforce.
(i) Leaders and managers
(a) The more dispersed a team is, the less effective its leadership. This is
because leaders who previously worked on-site may not have the
necessary skills to effectively lead a team. They will also need to show
up differently when interacting with other employees.
(b) To effectively lead a team, leaders should embrace new behaviours and
make space for informal interactions with their virtual employees. This
can help build trust and social cohesion within the group.
(c) By carefully defining goals helps in the clarity of purpose and task for
the team. After employees and teams have defined their goals, leaders
should start monitoring the results of their work. This will help them
improve the quality of their work and ensure that their teams are
delivering on their commitments.
• Motivate and inspire
The hybrid workforce, which is characterised by the lack of
traditional hierarchical structures, requires leaders to rely more on
inspirational leadership. This can be done through the
development of new behaviours to compensate for the decreased
social cues that employees experience when they work from
home.
According to studies, leaders are not aware of how their actions
will be interpreted by others. For instance, even if you want to
show that you are open to working from home, go into the office
and join meetings in-person with people who are in the building.
This will likely result in a belief that the physical office is the centre
of gravity, and that face time is important.
In addition to giving teams clear goals and autonomy, leaders also
need to inspire, motivate, and enable them to reach their full
potential. This can be done through the development of strategies
and methods that help them overcome obstacles such as
organisational silos, resource inertia, and the lack of expertise.
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• Cultivate new culture – if needed
Hybrid virtual model should be designed to provide a stable and
inclusive environment for all of its employees. This can be done
through the establishment of a new shared culture that includes
both on-site and remote workers.
Unplanned encounters and informal interactions are often the
spark that ignites the exchange of ideas, which is vital to a healthy
and innovative organisation. They also help build strong social
networks and improve the efficiency of your company. Through
these interactions, people can also start to develop a framework
for collaboration, which can help bridge the silos within your
organisation.
In a virtual work environment, informal interactions can be more
challenging to create. Leaders need new ways to create these
types of interactions as people are working from different locations
and under time constraints. One strategy that can help create
these types of interactions is to leave a portion of the meeting
agenda-free.
This strategy can also help create a more informal environment
for employees by creating a space for people to connect without
having to go to formal meetings. The goal is to make sure that
employees feel like they have access to the same kinds of
interactions that happen in the cafeteria.
Other approaches include social events and virtual conferences,
where participants can meet in private chat rooms or on the same
platform as the main presentation. In between meetings, make
sure that you and your team members are regularly texting each
other and conducting informal check-ins. These norms can help
build the habit of connecting informally.
• The importance of communication
Despite technological advancements, face-to-face interactions
still remain the most common form of communication. In part due
to how much of it is nonverbal, it can be hard to convey complex
or contentious ideas in a way that is both entertaining and
informative.
When it comes to developing trust, face-to-face communication is
preferred over video conferencing. Face-to-face interactions
create more opportunities for informal interactions, creativity, and
emotional connection, which can be the lifeblood of collaboration
and innovation. This method allows people to show their
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understanding and improve their verbal descriptions. Video
conferencing also allows participants to manage their responses
and expressions.
Although video conferencing is more effective than face-to-face
communication, it can be hard to notice certain details in the
interactions. For instance, it can be hard to control the floor and
point to objects.
In some cases, asynchronous communication, which includes text
and email, is better than regular communication. This is because
it allows people to process information and respond to it after a
while.
Few important notes between leader and team as below:
→ Constant communication with clarity
→ Reduce the length of meetings and eliminate unnecessary
ones
→ Set agendas beforehand and ask for availability before
scheduling anything
→ Record meetings and document work
→ Using specific outlets for communication (your team
members can use a tool to keep track progress of any
project)
(ii) Team
(a) A hybrid team is composed of individuals working from different
locations. They can choose to work from either their home or office.
However, as a team leader, some may find it hard to manage the
various aspects of the team due to the unique circumstances of each
member.
(b) On-site employees may have to spend more time commuting to and
from their work locations. Remote workers may feel they are working
harder as they have more time to focus on their tasks. This could lead
to burnout among remote employees.
(c) Although leadership is very important in a hybrid virtual environment,
teams must also adopt new norms and practices in order to maintain
their productivity and innovation. Doing so will allow them to improve
their work and make their networks more productive. This can be done
through the development of new strategies and methods, gathering
information, refining outcomes, and putting new ideas into practice.
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• Space for mistakes and express concern/questions
In a hybrid model, where some people are working from home and
others are on-site, it’s important to pay attention to psychological
safety. The goal of safety is to create a culture where employees
feel comfortable talking about their mistakes and developing new
ideas. First, it can be hard to create a feeling of safety with people
who are different from one another. Second, it’s also less obvious
when safety begins to erode.
One of the disadvantages of hybrid working is that it can lead to
silent bullying. This can be a problem if someone feels that they
are being marginalised, as it can make it hard for them to speak
up. This can also affect the quality of a team's performance since
they may not have the necessary perspectives to make effective
decisions.
To create an environment where everyone is heard, we need to
increase psychological safety. One of the first steps to doing this
is to show how healthy conflict can be. This can be done by having
a variety of discussions that are focused on finding a solution to
the problem. Having these types of discussions can help
employees feel that they can have the necessary conversations
to make informed decisions.
• Alert on time zone difference (if any)
The experience of hybrid virtual teams is different from that of a
traditional team with multiple members working in the same time
zone. Unmanaged time-zone differences can make it hard to
implement workflows. One of the most common issues with
working in different time zones is the lack of connectivity.
Then it leads to the expectation that team members should wake
up early or stay late for meetings. Another issue is if there is a
small group within the team, for example in Asia or Europe, the
virtual group might feel less like a cohesive unit.
Instead of building teams that have varying schedules, it's better
to have them work together for at least four hours during the
traditional workday.
• The importance of togetherness
Having established teams are more productive than new groups
that are still in their formative stages. The productivity boost that
established teams get from working together for a long time can
be attributed to their trust-based relationships and clear norms.
New blood also tends to energise a team.
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If the organisation adopted the on-site model, it would be best to
practice swapping people frequently between your small teams,
for example, divide the team into two small teams and practice
alternate working teams for on-site and virtual. The pace of this
change will likely decline in a hybrid model, which means that
working norms and team cohesion will be more at risk. However,
it’s important to remember that these changes are not extreme.
Having the right mix of people is very important for any team, and
the right expertise is also very important for any group.
This is also to ensure that the team's communication problems will
still be there. They might even get worse as the team will be
divided into remote and onsite staff members, which can make it
even harder to keep up with important decisions.
However, it is crucial to ensure that managers address the goals
of the group and the personal working preferences of the
members before making any changes.
C. Cutting the cost – the need for physical office
1. Being in the middle is important when it comes to determining the number of
employees who are working remotely. For instance, let's say that 80 percent of the
employees are working from home, but on alternate days. By this, they will be able
to connect with their co-workers and generate ideas through social interaction. The
company or the team might be fine with a partially remote model.
2. If 90 percent of the employees are working from home, then it's clear that social
cohesion is more challenging. The one-third of the workforce that is not connected
to the two-thirds of the employees that are working on-site will not be able to
participate in the various social interactions that come with being in a community.
3. One of the most effective ways to improve the social cohesion of the workforce is
by bringing more remote workers into the office. This can be done through the
establishment of multiple micro hubs or regional hubs. Having more dispersed
hubs can help make the in-person culture more cohesive. Having a micro hub can
also help boost the culture of the organisation by allowing employees to connect
and share ideas. It can also help create an environment that is fun and innovative.
4. Although all-virtual models can offer lower real-estate costs and better access to
talent, be careful about their impact on other factors such as work-life and health
constraints. On the other hand, some companies might prefer to go with an on-site
model due to the flexibility it provides.
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D. The productivity
1. In addition to employee productivity, consider other priorities such as improving the
organisation's efficiency. Doing so will vary depending on the circumstances. To
avoid making the mistake of assuming that monitoring inputs and activity are the
same as productivity. Instead of focusing on the volume of activity or inputs,
consider the true productivity of the company. This approach will allow you to see
how employees are performing and improve their results. Even if it's a soothing
thought to look at the company's parking lot to see all the workers who have arrived
early and those who are leaving late, it's not enough to just measure the inputs and
outputs.
2. The right metrics will depend on the goals the company has in mind, however be
careful about trying to achieve them across different parameters. One of the most
important factors that can be considered when it comes to developing a successful
performance culture is selecting the right combination of practices that will help
create a superior environment. Having a consistent performance culture can help
keep on track as the company transit to a hybrid virtual model.
3. A traditional approach to monitoring inputs might leave the impression that
employees are spending a lot of time in front of their computers. However, the small
teams that are the most successful today are those that are able to develop their
own management styles. Instead of focusing on the number of activities or inputs,
consider the outcomes that small teams are expected to deliver. This approach will
allow leaders to identify areas of improvement and improve the efficiency of your
organisation.
E. Work model that fit to your organisation
1. According to a survey conducted by EY, only 22% of Malaysia's workforce would
prefer to work from an office full-time when pandemic restrictions ease. Most
employees would prefer to work anywhere, in a hybrid arrangement, or both. This
is consistent with the preferences of employees in other countries.
2. As many people report high levels of satisfaction when working from home (Global
Workplace Analytics, 2022), even in times of challenging pandemics, companies
like Twitter and Hitachi have announced new long -distance work options for an
uncertain future, commercial real estate agents are beginning to worry. Apparently,
offices are still in use, even in the post -pandemic world.
3. It risks undermining the positive effects of in-person collaboration and the virtual
workforce by allowing the two cultures to emerge, with the managers and in-site
workers who continue to benefit from these practices becoming the dominant ones.
Remote workers might feel isolated and unhappy, as the organisation's failure to
build a coherent model of how to use both virtual and in-person work might lead to
unintentional behaviour.
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4. In addition to the various factors that can affect performance, such as the
availability of talent and the employee experience, it can also be difficult to
implement effective strategies without considering the impact on other factors. This
is why it’s important to consider the multiple factors that affect each aspect of the
organisation.
5. Although it’s important to consider the various factors that affect each aspect of the
organisation, it’s also important to keep in mind the working norms of the company.
These guidelines can help you identify areas of improvement and develop effective
strategies. One of the most important factors that you need to consider is the type
of work that your employees perform. Regardless of the type of hybrid work model,
the organisation's organisational norms will be the most important factor that need
to be consider when it comes to adopting it.
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Working from Home |
Its Effects on Mental Health/
Wellbeing
By:
CHEW HOY YAN
Senior Associate
Business Operations Solutions (BOS) Team,
Internal Firm Service
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)
A. Introduction
1. The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly changed the traditional way we work.
Since the COVID-19 outbreak, national governments over the world have been
imposing different level of movement restrictions and standard operating
procedures to control the spread of the virus. Among others, the Government has
been encouraging companies to allow their employees to Working from Home
(WFH), given the rising COVID-19 cases. WFH served as an important measure
to reduce people’s exposure to the virus, especially in working premises.
2. After more than two (2) years of the COVID-19 outbreak, WFH has become a new
norm at workplaces. However, as people are now slowly moving back to the norm
before COVID-19 pandemic and learning to live with the virus, WFH is no longer
an option for employees in most of the companies. Discussion on whether the WFH
culture should be the new norm at work and its’ effectiveness continues.
Regardless the diversified views and opinions between both employers and
employees, the effects of WFH to mental health is worth studying, based on the
outcome of our WFH implementation over the past two (2) years.
3. Moreover, some countries, which adapted well to the WFH norm, even started the
trial of four-day workweek implementation to allow better flexibility, concerning
employee’s wellbeing and most importantly, work-life balance. Regardless WFH or
a shorter workweek with flexible working hours, working in a way that suits your
lifestyle, with your preferred working environment, translates to better work
productivity.
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4. This report will study the effects of WFH to the mental health of employees and
subsequently their overall wellbeing, Study will be based on the findings from
Malaysia, United Kingdom and United States, with some personal experiences.
Report also recommends improvements on how to better take into consideration
mental health and wellbeing of employees, should WFH continues as the new
norm.
B. Literature Review
1. WFH has started to become popular during the COVID-19 pandemic. In simple
terms, WFH means an employee is working remotely or away physically from the
office. In fact, many companies are already implementing such policy to allow more
flexibility for employees to WFH, either full-time or at their convenience, before the
COVID-19 crisis emerged.
2. WFH was introduced since early 21st century, when telecommuting technologies
started to develop. Back then, some companies allow employees to WFH
occasionally for better flexibility in schedules. During the COVID-19 pandemic,
most companies were advised to implement WFH policy as a full-time measure to
reduce movement and physical contacts at workplaces. This full-time mode has
redefined the concept of WFH that was meant only for certain types of work on an
occasional basis or subject to specific employees’ circumstances.
3. With WFH option made available, it certainly saves daily commuting time and
subsequently offers more flexibility in terms of juggling between personal and
working hours to have better work-life balance. Employees should be able to
choose to work when they are more productive, while allocating more time for
personal engagements such as family matters and physical exercise. This flexible
arrangement should lead to better employees’ wellbeing, in terms of both their
physical and mental health.
4. Although WFH has provided more flexibility compared to the typical working
method, some employees do experience some negative impacts of it. Among
others, WFH means reduction in time spending in the office and thus there will be
lesser opportunity to socialise with colleagues. For individuals who are staying
alone and far away from their family members, WFH could lead to mental-related
issues such as social isolation and depression. In addition, WFH may disturb the
employees normal working hours as some found it difficult to detach completely
from work after official working hours, which will then lead to increased stress and
anxiety.
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5. Studies conducted in Malaysia, United Kingdom and United States as follows have
examined WFH and its effects on mental health and wellbeing:
(i) Malaysia
(a) A study conducted globally by Ipsos (a French-based market research
company) among 12,823 employed adults in 28 countries (Argentina,
Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Columbia, France,
Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, India, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico,
Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South
Korea, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and United States) has shown the
following results:
• 65% claimed to WFH during the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak
compared to the global average 52%;
• Overall, Malaysians experienced higher challenges of WFH
compared to the global average:
I. 63% Malaysians feeling having difficulty to achieve a work-
life balance (compared to 50% global);
II. 62% Malaysians facing difficulty to get work done at home
due to inadequate home office setup or equipment
(compared to 46% global); and
III. 57% Malaysians feeling lonely or isolated when WFH
(compared to 49% global).
(b) The WFH challenges are coupled with the increased anxiety around job
security and stress due to change work routines and organisation as
well as family pressure. The survey also found that women, those aged
below 35 and lower-income employees have experienced the negative
effects of WFH more significantly than the rest.
(ii) United Kingdom
(a) A survey conducted by Royal Society for Public Health, United Kingdom
revealed that:
• 45% people felt WFH was better for their health and wellbeing;
• 67% people felt less connected / socially isolated to colleagues
while 37% have disturbed sleep;
• Women are more likely than men to feel isolated compared to
men (58% of women vs 39% of men);
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• Only 34% had been offered support with their mental health from
their employer;
• People who live with multiple housemates are more likely to think
that WFH was worse for their health and wellbeing; and
• Majority of people didn’t want to go back to working in an office
full time, with 74% wanted to split their time between home
working and working in an office.
(b) Some recommendations from RSPH to tackle the health and wellbeing
issues for people WFH:
• Employers to ensure that all employees have access to mental
health support to help them to cope with increased isolation and
anxiety;
• All employees to have access to equipment and a remote
assessment to support them with their physical health; and
• Organisations to develop a culture that encourages employees
to separate their work and home life when WFH, including
encouraging employees to block their work communications
outside of work hours.
(iii) United States
(a) An article published in the Journal of Occupational Environmental
Medicine has examined the relationship between different factors on
the physical and mental wellbeing in individuals WFH. Generally, the
results indicated an overall increased number of physical and mental
health issues by transitioning to WFH. To be more specific:
• Female workers and workers with less income reported having
more physical and mental issues compared to male workers and
workers with higher income. WFH may be more challenging for
women as they tend to be more responsible for household chores
as well as taking care of children;
• Decreased overall physical activity and exercise may negatively
impacts both physical and mental wellbeing;
• Individuals having to live with others especially infant or toddler
was associated with more physical and mental health issues;
• Effective communication between co-workers can help to
maintain a better mental health status;
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• Individuals who have consecutive online meetings and the needs
to adjust working hours were more likely to report multiple new
physical and mental health issues; and
• A conducive workstation particularly a dedicated room with
minimised distraction will lead to better health conditions.
C. Discussion
1. Working from Home as New Norm
(i) The Malaysian Government introduced the WFH policy since March 2020,
when the COVID-19 pandemic emerged globally, to restrict movement and
lower people’s exposure to the highly infectious disease following the
Government’s Movement Control Order (MCO). According to the standard
operating procedure (SOP) issued by the National Security Council (NSC),
workers in essential sectors such as industrial, manufacturing and
construction who are required to work onsite will have to obtain letter of
consent from their respective companies. This is in addition to the approval
letter issued by the respective Ministry’s in-charge of the economic sectors,
for the said companies to operate during MCO.
(ii) While WFH has quickly become a new norm due to the nature of COVID-19
virus, which is highly infectious and rapidly transmitted, many seems to
oversee the impact of WFH to personal wellbeing especially on mental health.
With appropriate technical availability such as laptop and internet connection,
WFH seems to be workable with the only difference is the working place,
either at home or other areas away from the office. For those who are used
to working outstation, WFH may not be something new and strange, but for
most of the employees in Malaysia, especially those in the government and
education sectors, implementation of WFH policy means drastic change in
working mode and forces them to quickly adapt to it with no alternatives.
(iii) For public sector, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced the WFH policy to be
enforced, which has never been done before. Implementation of WFH in
public sector started and continues throughout the MCO period. All
government officials except the front liners and administrative staffs are
required to WFH, in compliance with the SOP. In December 2020, the
Department of Public Service (JPA) issued a circular on WFH policy for
Federal Government officials. With the new policy, government officials are
now allowed to WFH after obtaining consent from their respective Head of
Departments under the following specific circumstances:
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(a) Incidences of natural disasters or infectious diseases, which will
threaten the public safety either at the office or at the residential area.
These situations may impact the movement of officials to be present in
office due to certain restrictions imposed or the office premises are
forced to close or vacant to be used for other purposes such as
quarantine centres;
(b) Balancing the needs of officials to juggle between office work and
personal commitment. These situations may include the need to take
care of children due to closure of kindergartens or childcare centres;
(c) Other situations which may deemed necessary such as the officials’
presence in office will create conflict of interest.
(iv) For private sector, WFH has become a new norm as far as work-life balance
and employees’ wellbeing are concerned. The COVID-19 pandemic has
indeed triggered most companies to practice WFH with minimal number of
employees to be present in the office and when necessary. Most of the time,
only administrative or operational staffs are required to be in physically. From
the employers’ perspectives, with the implementation of WFH policy,
operating costs such as rental and utility can be reduced. Technically, having
less people in the office reduces the need for office space and working desk,
translating into lesser utilities such as electricity and water as well as the need
to renew or repair office equipment. As for the employees, WFH simply
means saving the hassle and cost to travel from house to office. This is
especially prominent in urban areas such as Klang Valley, when traffic jam is
so common among city dwellers. Travelling within a small distance in these
areas may be taking an hour or more of their working time, due to the very
heavy traffic. In this case, avoiding the hassle to travel is expected to better
save employees time, and translates to increased productivity.
2. Challenges of Working from Home
(i) There are still challenges, despite the flexibility and benefits resulting from
WFH to both employers and employees. Among others, employees WFH
usually found it even harder to define a clear boundary between working and
personal life. Technically, working hours should be the same, regardless
WFH or working from office. However, technical advancements owing to
COVID-19 pandemic has rendered the possibilities and advantages for
meetings or discussions to be held anytime and anywhere. By having a
portable device (laptop or smartphone), internet connection (data or Wi-Fi)
and appropriate communication software or apps such as WhatsApp, Google
Meet or Zoom, employees received working messages and emails from time
to time. Even virtual meetings can be called anytime with anyone at
anywhere. Undeniably, this saves the hassle for setting up a physical
meeting, especially in getting attendance from all relevant parties. In contrary,
this also means both employers and employees are required to be on standby
anytime for possible ad-hoc meetings. Working hours is no longer fixed,
190 | P a g e
people are even getting used to working throughout the night. Besides, for
some occasions, employees may have to skip their meal and not having
break time just to attend back-to-back virtual meeting. Having to work for
more than 8 hours (with the possibility of further extension) without a proper
break certainly does not augur well with general wellbeing of employees.
(ii) Moreover, some companies have started to subscribe on the software for
payroll management and accounting matters to be done remotely. These new
advancements, of course, are helpful in supporting the WFH arrangement.
However, this means that employees in-charged may need to work overtime
(perhaps over the midnight), especially during month end or year end, to
complete their task.
(iii) Although WFH may means more time for family members with everyone
staying at home, challenge lies within the need to also allocate time for
household chores such as cooking and washing. Situations become trickier
during the MCO period, when kindergartens and childcare centres are not
allowed to operate. Parents must take care of their own children while WFH.
Balancing between working and personal life poses bigger challenges to
employees with family commitment, especially for those with small-aged
children. Having to juggle well between work and personal matters at full time
could be physical exhausted and mentally drained.
(iv) In addition, WFH causes lesser physical communication and social
interactions. Communicating virtually could be effective as well but yet, this
also led to lesser interactions and social activities among working colleagues,
such as group discussions, brainstorming sessions and even sports or lunch
gathering. Meeting someone face-to-face and in person is more interactive,
with physical language and facial expressions. Communications of ideas may
be more interesting and productive, when people are together physically at
one spot.
3. Working from Home and Mental Health
(i) In short, WFH seems to provide more flexibility for employees to manage
their time between work-related and personal matters. Nevertheless, the
challenges lied within should not be neglected as it may eventually lead to
mental health issues if not managed well.
(ii) To provide more context on the WFH and its effects on mental health, this
report also summarises findings from studies on employees WFH conducted
in Malaysia, United Kingdom (UK) and United States (US). Findings are as
follows:
(a) More than half of Malaysians (63%) and UK citizens (55%) have difficulty
in achieving work-life balance;
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(b) More than half of Malaysians (57%) and UK citizens (67%) feeling lonely
or socially isolated, with female more dominant than male;
(c) Female faces more challenges than male when WFH and are more prone
to mental issues (US);
(d) Individuals living with others especially small kids are more associated to
mental health issues (US);
(e) Generally, female and lower income employees experienced more
negative effects of WFH.
(iii) Although it is worth noting that all studies were conducted in 2020 and 2021
during the COVID-19 pandemic period and may be attributed to multiple
external factors, the results could serve as a basis for further discussions.
(iv) Firstly, achieving work-life balance is the main area of concern to ensure
employees’ wellbeing during WFH. A blurry work-life boundary and prolonged
working hours may trigger unnecessary stress and tension need to work all
day long without having personal time. These include skipping lunch or
working extra time at night to finish work or attend meeting. To make it worse,
some may have to attend multiple online meetings at the same time, and this
will add to their mental stress level for having to squeeze in between for two
distinct matters. This is yet to count in those ad-hoc meetings, which can be
called anytime without prior notice. As a result, both physical and mental
wellbeing of employees will be affected in the long term.
(v) Secondly, WFH means spending more time at home instead of workplaces
as well as lesser face-to-face interaction. Before the COVID-19 pandemic
emerged, working means commuting to office daily and completing tasks of
the day in the office, including attending meetings, private discussions with
superior or colleagues for work-related matters and other personal
engagements. Physical interaction makes it easier to communicate.
Messages can be conveyed efficiently, and feedback can be received in time,
without having to worry about accessibility and technical issues such as
internet connection. Additionally, for those who are so used to working
together with a group of people and colleagues may find it difficult for having
to face the laptop only for entire day without any social interaction during
lunch or coffee breaks. Talking to their colleagues at the workplaces may be
the only time for them to vent out stress. As such, WFH, to some extent,
limited social interactions. For those who are staying alone and far away from
family members, they tend to face higher level of stress from both work and
less social activities. This situation, if prolonged, may lead to depression.
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(vi) Thirdly, female employees who are WFH seems to have more tendency to
develop mental health issues. Especially for those with family to take care of,
they often find it more difficult to juggle between work and family
commitments. Work matters will always preside over personal matters due to
the job security concern. This particularly matters during COVID-19
pandemic, amid rising unemployment due to slowdown in global economy.
Some of them might need to work for longer hours to achieve more outputs,
which eventually will translate to their salary level. Spending more time for
work means less time for personal and family commitments. Aside from work
matters, they are expected to take care of the kids, prepare meals for the
whole family and manage household chores since they are staying at home
all the time. They may even find it harder to concentrate in working when they
have children at home that require their care and attention. Balancing
between both family and work is not an easy task for them and will add to
their mental stress and anxiety level.
4. Personal Experiences
(i) My personal experiences working in PwC have been a pleasant one, with the
WFH flexibility given to all employees. In fact, the company has been
requiring their employees to WFH full time since 2020 when the COVID-19
pandemic hit. Apart from providing personal laptop, PwC is fully utilising the
Google Workspace’s (GWS) platform for all the working purposes. The
applications on the GWS such as Gmail, Google Meet and Google Docs are
highly functional, easy to use and very interactive. The advantage of WFH is
obvious, whereby I do not need to travel to work from Seremban to KL Sentral
daily. It has been a real privilege for me, as a first-time pregnant mum.
Without having to experience the travelling hassles, I have more time to rest,
and this translates to better productivity as I am more able to focus on the
tasks given and settle my work within the stipulated time frame. With self-
discipline, I have been managing my personal time and working time well,
and I believe it was reflected in my overall working performance.
(ii) Considering my current job scope and workload, I do not see any problem
arising during my WFH period, neither physically nor mentally. Although
some meetings may run beyond the usual working hours occasionally, I found
it acceptable because sometimes it is hard to get everyone together during
normal working hours. On the social interaction aspect, my team members
will arrange some catch up sessions for everyone to be in the office, once in
a while. Personally, I strongly support the implementation of WFH policy to
continue so that I can be given the flexibility to better manage and utilise my
time to the best extent.
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5. Recommendations for Improvements
(i) As mentioned, WFH can be really challenging due to multiple factors such as
gender, nature of work, workload, personal commitments and etc. If those
challenges are not managed well, it may cause detrimental to mental health
in the long term. In this regard, employers assume a significant role in always
ensuring the wellbeing of employees.
(ii) To summarise, this report also shares the views from the Group CEO of
RAMSSOL Group Berhad, a regional human resource solutions provider and
human capital management consulting company. He suggested a few
improvements to the employers for the betterment of mental health and
wellbeing of WFH employees.
(iii) Firstly, it is important for employer to constantly engage with their employees
in virtual sessions. Such engagement is crucial to make sure employees do
not feel isolated while WFH and they can always be in touch with their
superiors or employers, should they require any support.
(iv) Besides, both employer and employees should be encouraged to practise
distinct work-life boundaries, meaning no work-related matters after office
hours even WFH. This is particularly important for employees to be able to
relax their mind after work and concentrate fully on personal matters.
Although the advancement of technology has led to convenience in
communication, both employer and employees should always be reminded
to keep work-related matters only within office hours. Work related
communications after working hours should be avoided, unless urgent or
necessary.
(v) Finally, employer should always provide support for employees, whenever
they are in need. This includes hiring mental health professional or consultant
to provide mental support. Essentially, mental health support is always
needed regardless of working in office or WFH. Hence, employer must not
disregard the mental aspect of its employees when they are WFH as this may
affect their work productivity and overall wellbeing.
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D. Conclusion
1. Generally, WFH or working remotely is a viable option in comparison with the
business-as-usual work arrangement, which is rigid compared to the flexible WFH
mode. As future employees tend to prefer work-life balance more than monetary
benefit, WFH will be the new norm as it allows flexibility for employees to better
manage their time for work and personal commitments.
2. Considering forward looking trend in working arrangement as well as advantages
and benefits of WFH to both employers and employees, continue implementation
of WFH should be carefully considered, be it in the public or private sectors. For
WFH to be effective, employees must be equipped, not only with necessary
hardware and software, but also mental support. As such, it is equally important to
also study the topic on mental health for WFH employees.
3. WFH impacts mental health from various factors such as working culture and family
commitment. Given the flexibility, employees are expected to adapt and learn to
juggle well between work-life boundary to manage their own time and maintain
ideal wellbeing. On another end, employer should also provide necessary support
and establishing regular engagement in maintaining the mental wellbeing of its
WFH employees.
4. In essence, it is the wellbeing of the employees, both physically and mentally,
which translates into work productivity that counts.
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Remote Working Arrangement |
PETRONAS Best Practices
By:
AHMAD FUAD BIN HASHIM
Manager (Learning Content Management)
Petroliam Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS)
A. Introduction
1. 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic not only driven the world into a
global health crisis, but it also caused disruption to many aspects of our lives,
including world of work. As part of the measure to reduce the transmission of
COVID-19 and help to protect health and safety of the employees, public and
private organisations all around the world has adopted remote working
arrangements or alternative method. This is to minimise employee presence in the
organisation’s working environment at the same time sustaining its activities.
2. Even though such practice is widespread, up till now all of them is now have not
being uniformed, varies according to regions in terms of the intensity of their
adoption and practice, but also in terms of the application in the nature of the
businesses. According to International Labour Organisation (ILO), white-collar
office workers, or those engaged in activities associated with mental work, have
enjoyed the health protections of remote work options, while those engaged in
physical work activities (consumer and business services, manufacturing,
assembly, transportation, and related activities) have had to maintain their physical
presence at work, often exposing them to greater health risks.
3. Therefore, as a participant in Cross Fertilisation Program (PCF) 2021 in Petroliam
Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS), the experience and observation on PETRONAS’s
remote working arrangements or better known as Work from Home (WFH) best
practices will be shared and briefly discussed throughout the report. Hopefully the
practices can be possibly considered to be replicated or adopted where applicable
for the betterment of the service.
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B. PETRONAS WFH Best Practices
1. Right Equipment and Tools for Employees
(i) To ensure PETRONAS employees to be more productive and innovative
while working in WFH mode, PETRONAS provides adequate equipment to
the employees. New employee such as the company new hiring, PCF
participant (JPA Secondees), Graduate Employability Enhancement Scheme
(GEES) and interns are given the following devices and peripherals during
the onboarding:
(a) Laptop Standard with Power Charger;
(b) USB Mouse;
(c) Business Headset;
(d) HDMI to VGA Adapter; and
(e) Laptop Backpack.
(ii) The laptop is loaded with software tools to assist the employees in delivering
tasks given according to their job scope. The tools available are categorised
as learning, productivity, and security and service request. The brief
description of the tools by category are listed as follows:
(a) Learning Tools
Microsoft 365 Campus
• Microsoft 365 Campus provides useful guides, instructional videos and
answers to employee’s common questions on Microsoft 365
productivity tools. Employee can find helpful information such as co-
authoring Office documents and setting up channels on Teams.
SWITCH
• SWITCH is a platform for PETRONAS digital transformation
immersion program. It is to educate employees on the latest digital
news and topics in a fun, fresh and engaging way.
Remote Work Hub
• The Remote Work Hub serves as a guide for employees in sustaining
remote work effectively and efficiently. It provides tips and tricks as
you navigate the challenges of remote working.
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