SINGAPORE — Whenever employees at DBS Bank’s office in Marina Bay Financial Centre feel like they need to take a break from work, they can head to the 42nd floor of the building, where, tucked in a corner away from plain sight, is a “wellness space”.
This space — about the size of a badminton court — houses, among other things, sleep pods where workers can take a short nap, a reading corner with relaxing music and yoga mats in front of a window with sweeping views of the city skyline.
As Singapore settles into endemicity, many workers across the island have returned to their offices in recent months. And for many companies, there is greater impetus to provide their employees with a space that offers some creature comforts and helps them feel more at home. Chief operating officer and senior partner Loh Kia Meng said that the workplace underwent renovations, which were completed this month. The new-look office now has rooms which could screen virtual court hearings.
Mr Darren Battle, head of corporate real estate and workplace at JLL Asia Pacific, said that the firm believes in the value of working from the office, though it is not mandatory for workers to do so permanently. There are also other social events such as yoga, high-intensity interval training, and Bollywood dance classes where employees can interact with each other.
“When workers have already tasted having more flexibility in getting their work done, it’s hard to take that away from them, they enjoy it,” said Ms Angela Kuek, the director of HR consultancy The Meyer Consulting Group. from both employees and employers, who had been accustomed with the traditional work-from-office model., with many employees clamouring for hybrid work arrangements — where workers have the flexibility to work from anywhere — to be the new normal.
Today, those who work from home will not want to return to the office just to fulfill a job role that they can easily do at home. Having stipulated meetings or work that requires collaboration would help employees feel like there is value in returning to the office. “Building the human connection will be a thoughtful process that will make it meaningful, then the employee will feel like is worthwhile,” she added.
“The arrangement means you don’t see your manager every day like you used to, so the trust is very important.”In the future of work, the office space has to evolve in order to enhance collaboration among the company’s employees — something which some employers are now cognisant of. But for DBS, the push to increase interactions in the office took place even before the pandemic.
His objective: To reduce the number of emails sent among themselves, and to bring the team closer through collaboration. “We needed breakaway spaces which allow for discussions which could be noisier, versus spaces which are quiet. We also needed to cater spaces for people to meet in groups of four or five, or just two people or even just for individuals."“We needed breakaway spaces which allow for discussions which could be noisier, versus spaces which are quiet.
These include having background music, air quality sensors, and even a barista to brew coffee for the employees. He added that pre-pandemic, about 20 per cent of the office space was usually not used up due to people who were on leave or lawyers who were out in court. With hybrid work arrangements becoming a norm in his firm, this unused space is bound to grow.
“We are downsizing on space, but upsizing on productivity,” he said. “ We used the savings on rent to equip the people for their decentralised home offices in terms of equipment, connectivity and any infrastructure they need.” “It is not one size fits all, we look at what the team needs to do, and we try to understand them… how they actually work in the space, then we try to tailor,” Mr Chong said.
Before Covid-19, it was not unusual for companies to gauge their workers’ performance based on their presence in the office. “The pandemic has shifted the needle quite a bit around the priorities that employees want to have in their own personal lives and families… and the family plays a very important part in life satisfaction,” she said.
“You have to your case to show to your reporting officer that everything is well planned out,” said Mr Tan, adding that if a person is a good worker, the boss may be more inclined to agree to a flexible schedule to encourage him or her to stay longer with the company. "For such arrangements to be successful, managers and leaders need to be equipped with skills to manage a potentially dispersed and agile workforce while balancing individual, corporate, team and client priorities," he added.These include a monthly"hybrid work allowance" to all employees for expenses related to setting up a workspace at home, and splitting the company into two teams, so that employees can take turns to work from home or office.
Although companies certainly need to update their playbook, HR experts are divided on whether the new work practices should be encoded within HR policies and employment contracts. For instance, a HR policy could state that workers have to report to the office on most days when they first join the firm to familiarise themselves with their jobs. Later, when the manager sees that the workers are proficient enough, they will be allowed to have more days to work from home.
For instance, if an employee has to return on a Tuesday based on his contract, but there are no meetings or tasks that can only be fulfilled in the office, he may end up feeling like he’s returning to the office for the sake of it.He added that the concept of a hybrid workspace is “honestly quite tricky” for employers, as the office space will perpetually be underused and this will affect the company’s bottom line.
“They are saying that they need to come to the office because we learn by osmosis… learn their craft by listening to what senior are doing,” he said. For instance, Dentons Rodyk has provided its employees a"monthly team bonding fund" to encourage workers to participate in group activities such as going for meals, games or movies.While it is important for a strong company culture to emerge, working virtually has made this harder to achieve, HR experts and employers noted.
While these can help excite employees in the short term, it is not a permanent solution to building a stronger company culture. “The key is not to attract them back to the office, it is actually to bring them together when they are in the office."With the future of work likely to feature a hybrid arrangement, employers and workers respecting each other’s boundaries will be key to a pleasant working environment.
Dentons Rodyk has stipulated “time zones” featuring working hours between 9.30am and noon, and 2pm to 5pm, where employees are expected to be online and contactable.Ultimately, there are some habits — acquired by workers and their bosses during the pandemic — that require a conscious “re-anchoring” if the hybrid arrangement is to be viable in the long term, said Mr Tan.
For instance, the dining table concept was implemented, said Mr Chong from DBS, which allowed team members to sit close together across the same table.As a result, the number of emails sent within a team went down by 40 per cent.In 2016, DBS experimented with a new workspace concept called"Joyspaces", which entailed moving away from the traditional homogenous office space filled with cubicles.
However, while more employees seem to be adapting well to hybrid work, the bank recognised that"continual refinement is important to ensure that our approach considers new needs, mindsets & leverages opportunities specific to hybrid work".
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