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How to engage employees differently in a flexible working world

Photographic portrait of Jason Seng
Jason Seng

Partner, People Consulting, Ernst & Young Advisory Pte. Ltd.

5 minute read 16 Apr 2022

With flexible working set to become more common, organizations must emphasize more on employee engagement.

In brief
  • The trend of hybrid and flexible ways of working is likely to stay for the long term.
  • Employers need to implement flexible work arrangements well to realize their benefits.
  • This requires them to promote an emotionally and mentally healthy workforce, listen actively, adapt management styles and leverage technology.

With the recent relaxation of safe management rules and a higher threshold for employees to work in the office, organizations continue to adapt to the new reality of hybrid and flexible ways of working. This trend is likely to stay for the long term, given how the pandemic has normalized remote working from a “need” to a “want”.

According to the EY 2021 Work Reimagined Employee Survey, employee expectations have shifted. Only 15% of employees surveyed in Southeast Asia, including Singapore, would prefer to work from office full-time when pandemic restrictions ease locally. The majority prefer to work anywhere, remotely full-time or in a hybrid work arrangement.

Government impetus to drive workplace flexibility is also growing — and a key component of flexibility is the ability to work anywhere. A white paper tabled in March in Singapore outlined a set of tripartite guidelines on flexible work arrangements (FWAs) that will be ready by 2024, and employers will then have to consider such requests from employees fairly and properly. For now, the government aims to increase the adoption of a voluntary tripartite standard on FWAs to reach 40% of all employees by the end of 2022.

Research has consistently found that FWAs improve business results while helping employees to enhance their work performance and quality of life. Clearly, FWAs have their advantages — but only if executed well.

Taking remote working as a case in point, the lack of human interactions and blurring of personal and work boundaries could impact employees’ well-being negatively. During the pandemic when employees were mostly working virtually, many had reported burnout and disengagement, increasing risks of reduced productivity and attrition.

To successfully implement FWAs, employers will need to learn to engage a hybrid or remote workforce effectively. This changed context of employee engagement is arguably a new challenge for many. It will demand a reset and review of how organizations deliver positive employee experiences. Organizations can consider the following four key areas.

To engage a hybrid or remote workforce effectively, employers will need to rethink and change how the organization delivers positive employee experiences.

Connect and support

When working remotely, employees often feel “removed” — not just being physically but also emotionally disconnected from their teams and the leadership. Virtual teams often do not interact with emotional resonance due to the lack of opportunities to socialize in person. For example, communal lunches that are common in Asia are great opportunities for building relationships and engagement — an impact hardly achievable with remote working.

This means that managers will have to intentionally pivot to other means for team bonding, such as virtual team lunches and small-group coaching. They will also have to  agilely navigate a spectrum of team activities that integrates and caters to those in and outside the office.

Beyond strengthening peer-to-peer relationships for a strong support network, leaders should proactively reach out to employees whose well-being is perceived or detected to be at risk. This requires a leadership style that is empathetic and authentic.

It is crucial to institutionalize employee support schemes, particularly well-being programs. This could be in the form of anonymous counselling services and policies that recognize the importance of mental health and allow time off for such health issues.

While some organizations have begun to take mental well-being seriously, others are still struggling to obtain leadership buy-in. Perhaps an understanding of wellness being more than an ethical or societal responsibility is lacking. An emotionally and mentally healthy workforce is the foundation of an engaged workforce — a key value-driver for organizational success. 

Listen actively

People feel connected when their views are heard and valued. Organizations should seek to strengthen their listening and analytics capabilities to draw actionable insights from the feedback received. One way is to deploy quick pulse surveys to monitor sentiments regularly and spot emerging or long-standing cultural issues for mitigation.

Poor virtual meeting behaviors also compromise engagement. Rather than being present virtually, some participants could merely be “virtually present”. They may be joining the meeting online but are not engaged, preoccupied with other tasks or just generally suffering from call fatigue. Employees may also find it more difficult to raise questions and objections in a virtual setting. Managers need to lead by example to demonstrate behaviors of being fully present, open-minded and active in listening. 

How EY can Help

Manage differently   

As employees’ working relationship with the manager directly affects their work experience, managers will need to be mindful of their management styles. This may require training — after all, virtual working may not have been prevalent in most parts of their careers for many leaders.

 

For a start, they must reframe their mindsets, discard traditional notions of presenteeism and focus on building trust, empowerment and support. They must be particularly mindful of virtual micromanagement. This could be in the form of overly onerous administrative reporting, which may drive up sentiments of distrust and non-productive use of time. The emphasis should be on quality completion of work within deadlines and working hours that take into account the employee’s most productive hours and other personal commitments.

 

It is important to show support by scheduling regular, short, one-on-one check-in meetings so that everyone progresses well and encourage employees to provide feedback and recognition. Leaders should also be open and transparent in performance assessment and career conversations to reduce employees’ fear that working remotely could mean missing out on career opportunities.

 

Leverage technology

For managers to be effective in listening and engaging, technology can help. For example, there are HR platforms and tools that can automate daily morning email reminders to managers to check in on the well-being of their employees, send birthday greetings or recognize achievements. Technology can also help reduce the administrative burden on employees and enable more timely visibility of appraisals and feedback, thereby promoting a better employee experience.

 

As organizations seek to reposition for growth, their talent will be their most important asset. Employers will need to constantly review employee engagement strategies, the impact of employee sentiments and the technological investments needed to optimize a future of work that will no doubt be vastly different but no less exciting and promising.

Summary 

Organizations must rethink and change how they deliver positive employee experiences to effectively adapt to hybrid and flexible ways of working. This involves looking at different ways to strengthen the emotional connection between employees and other staff as well as supporting mental well-being. Other key actions include promoting active listening, adapting management styles for virtual working and leveraging technology for more effective employee engagement.

About this article

Photographic portrait of Jason Seng
Jason Seng
Partner, People Consulting, Ernst & Young Advisory Pte. Ltd.
Helps companies look at challenges with a people lens, optimize with artificial intelligence and other technologies and future-proof their people function. Likes movies, food and keeping fit.
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