Finding the WFH-WFO balance

Business as usual: A manager carries on with office work from her home. — ONG SOON HIN/The Star

PETALING JAYA: Workers are putting their paycheques where their mouths are, with some employees opting to quit rather than return to the tedium of working from the office.

This has bosses in a dilemma of retaining talents as the nation prepares to transition to the endemic stage with all economic sectors fully reopened.

General Insurance Association of Malaysia chairman Antony Lee employers have mixed views on working arrangements.

“Some are still doing 50% occupancy with mixed shifts as the Omicron variant is still affecting staff. Most of us, however, are getting people back to work – albeit with some flexibility. It is very difficult to build high performance teams working remotely. You also lose company culture and new hires don’t feel part of the company,” he said when contacted by The Star yesterday.

When asked if there is a trend of talents quitting because they prefer work-from-home (WFH) arrangements, Lee said this was more likely in the tech sector.

He added that the trend also depends on the company’s work culture.

“Many of my staffers miss their colleagues. However, some will make life decisions that suit them better – and that’s okay too,” he said.

MECA Employers Consulting Agency director Dharmen Sivalingam said there is a generational element that also plays a part.

When it comes to going back to working from the office (WFO), there was a difference between the older and younger generations, he added.

He said the younger generation prefers flexibility while the older ones are more traditional in outlook.

“Employers will have to strike a balance by finding a win-win situation and coming up with a relevant mechanism for employees.

“Legally, employers can insist their workers come into the office, but employees can say no depending on their agreement and government regulations like during the movement control order.

“However, you also have to look at the nature of the job – a person working in the manufacturing sector would have to come into the workplace, for example.

“So, there is a lot of moving pieces to take into consideration before you can come to a solution befitting and benefitting both employers and their employees,” said Dharmen, adding that an employee has the right to resign, but employers will have to strike a balance if they want to keep talents.

Logistics also needs to be considered, with some companies not renewing their lease due to a lack of employee presence, he noted.

“If they can operate at the same level of efficiency without having to rent big spaces, why not do it?” said Dharmen.

Employers may still be able to strike a balance between working from home and working on site by providing work flexibility, said Lim Lin, a human resources practitioner from the financial services industry.

She said this can prove to be a talent acquisition or retention strategy to counter the so-called ‘Great Resignation’, where workers used to WFH during the peak of the pandemic are quitting rather than returning to the old ways of working.

“Now we can reach out to a bigger pool of talent. The downside is that it may have some impact on the company culture. It can also be a struggle for new hires if they were to start off by working from home. There will be fewer opportunities to network with their colleagues,” said Lim.

National Association of Human Resources Malaysia president Zarina Ismail said that working mothers are more keen to retain flexible working arrangements.

As caregivers they can manage family time and work, which flexible working hours would give them, she added.

“The flexibility allows them to concentrate on their family when needed, while being able to have their desired careers – it allows them to juggle family and work commitments. If she is working, and able to save money on childcare, commuting, car maintenance and time spent moving from one place to another, that works to her benefit.

“A lot of people don’t see the overhead cost when you go to the office compared with working from home,” said Zarina.

Employees are important assets, hence, retaining them should be vital even if it takes providing flexible working arrangements, she said, adding that both parties must work towards a win-win solution.

However, Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) said most employees are fine with returning to the office and would not quit over flexible working arrangements.

MTUC acting president Mohd Effendy Abdul Ghani said that most have already been back in the workplace in full force since the transition to endemicity began on April 1.

“There is no issue with employees returning to their workplaces, as they are quite eager to get back to the office because of better working conditions.

“The working conditions for an employee working remotely are different, affecting the quality of their work,” he said.