THE OUTBREAK of the Covid-19 pandemic has rapidly changed the working world.
Recently, government offices adopted the hybrid working approach since the movement control order (MCO) 3.0, and this has continued with the recent total lockdown nationwide.
Hybrid work refers to the execution of work with the presence of workers both at the office and at home.
For Malaysia, this element of work flexibility has been practised since 1998, through the concept of Staged Working Hours and Flexi Working Hours in 2019 which applies to all federal government agencies.
Currently, private companies such as Nestlè Malaysia Bhd and Google Malaysia are actively preparing to adapt, especially in meeting the demands of a more flexible work environment and to create a balance between personal and work life.
It is expected that Malaysia will be among the top 10 countries in Asia taking this initiative, with more companies implementing hybrid work by next year.
This is supported by this year's data as published in SEEK Asia's new report, 'Decoding Global Ways of Working' which found that 68 per cent of 5,649 Malaysian employees polled would opt for a hybrid work approach.
Nevertheless, the implication of any new policy related to the workplace is always associated with issues of frameworks for the implementation of work structures. All the elements currently contained in the provisions of the Employment Act 1955 deal with the standard work environment via face-to-face interaction in the office.
Hence, recent needs in practice are not solely based on ideas, but also on tools to act as specific guidelines relating to the required elements towards the implementation of hybrid workplaces.
To address this issue, a robust framework for hybrid working is vital. Its availability would allow the government and top management from various industries to deliver the best hybrid work practices, especially for women employees who prefer to continue working from home.
For example, Microsoft started to develop their own framework of hybrid model since last year, as they believe that this will be the future of their organisation's work environment.
According to Satya Nadella, Microsoft's chief executive officer, 'Over the past year, no area has undergone more rapid transformation than the way we work. Employee expectations are changing, and we will need to define productivity much more broadly.'
'These will include inclusive collaboration, learning, and well-being to drive career advancement for every worker, including frontline and knowledge workers, as well as for new graduates and those who are in the workforce today. All this needs to be done with flexibility in terms of when, where, and how people work.' he added.
While the hybrid work concept is ideal and practical when we take into consideration the current pandemic situation, most organisations are still often bound by limited guidelines in developing the best hybrid work practices.
Nonetheless, as hybrid work initiatives are relatively new, organisations should be able to engage all employees and address regarding all the applicable measures before deciding to implement them.
Furthermore, an organisation that adopts the hybrid work approach should attempt to establish shared goals using a top-down approach, so that mutual benefit can be attained across the whole organisation.
An organisation should create a shared vision to improve its effectiveness and motivate employees to achieve the organisation's aspirations through a new working environment.
The urgency of establishing a robust framework of hybrid work in Malaysia can be explained from two aspects. First, the implementation of hybrid work is in line with recent government instructions.
With this framework in place, the government can use it as a tool to improve the effectiveness of hybrid work practices in the future.
These new initiatives can be extended into the next Malaysia Plan by looking into their potential and readiness to fully implement new work environments offered by a hybrid work structure.
Second, as more private companies particularly in Malaysia realise the importance of the implementation of hybrid working environments, this framework can serve as guidelines to deliver the most effective hybrid working approach, following the nature of specific industries.
Ministries and the top management of organisations should be able to articulate hybrid work elements clearly to employees so that the structure can be accepted as a new normal especially in the post-Covid-19 pandemic era.
The writer is Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Management and Business, Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), Arau Campus, Perlis