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New Ways
of Working:
Activity Based
Working
The New World
of Work
The Future
of Work is Flexible
Enabling New
Ways of Work
through Change
Management
Working Better
with Job Redesign
Preparing
Employees for
New Ways
of Work
With the fast-paced, globalised economy, what sets an
organisation apart from its peers is not just how hard, but
how smart it works. Technology is a key enabler of smart
work practices, as it offers the fexibility to work anytime,
anyplace. More importantly, workplace fexibility should
be underpinned by a work culture that values performance
over presence. Organisational leaders need to endorse new
ways of working, with supervisors trusting and empowering
employees to work fexibly. Organisations offering
employees the fexibility to integrate work, family and
personal life will enjoy an edge in attracting, engaging and
retaining talents. This is a win-win situation for all.
Pauline Mo (Ms)
Director, Family Education and Promotion Division
Ministry of Social and Family Development
Implementing
New Ways of Work
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NEW WAYS OF WORKING:
ACTIVITY BASED WORKING
Veldhoen + Company Pty Ltd
The technological revolution more specifcally, the digital revolution, has brought about
many changes that transformed our daily lives. Despite such revolution, a central, enclosed
workplace (that is, a building) still plays an important role. Yet, it is equally the case that the
offce worker can now often work anywhere. The Internet has spawned a new generation of
workers accustomed to working wherever they are as they are accustomed to using the Internet
as a tool for communication in both their business and social lives.
All these developments require organisations to be highly fexible, not only in the way they
respond to economic, social and technological changes, but also in the capacity of their
physical environment to respond to those changes. In the last 25 years, many organisations
have investigated opportunities to adopt fexible real estate strategies, with mixed reviews.
It is important to understand the fundamental elements of a real transformation of how people
work in each organisation and raise awareness of its breakthrough benefts.
Activity-Based Working
Until recently, every employee has always had their own individual workplace. Today there is
an opportunity to break away from this convention. How? By making offces elastic and linking
different spaces to different activities. Why? Because, generally speaking, all of those fxed
workplaces are actually used for only ~50 per cent of offce hours. This is a huge waste, not
just in terms of foor area and sustainability, but also in operating costs. There are opportunities
for substantial monetary savings if one breaks away from the convention of individualised
workspaces.
One development has been the advent of open plan, which saw the abolition of cellular space
to be replaced by open (non-territorial) areas. This saw the death of the regimented offce with
its mix of strict rows of desks and enclosed offces, resulting in better communication and more
effective work relationships not to mention cost-savings in offce ft-outs. The introduction
of open plan began a process that has now largely done away with the spatial, temporal and
psychological silos of the industrial offce. To reduce corporate real estate (CRE) costs, the
introduction of sharing in the form of hot-desking and hoteling was seen in the late 1990s
and early 2000.
It was quickly realised that this was not an either/or proposition: either an enclosed
environment, or a fully open one. What was needed was activity-based working (ABW). Some
activities, for example, needed enclosure for acoustic reasons private meetings or the need
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NEW WAYS OF WORKING: ACTIVITY BASED WORKING
to concentrate, away from the hustle and bustle of an open-plan offce. At the same time, it
was also realised that the workplace was multi-cultural a mix of ages, genders, ethnicities
and personalities, all bringing with them different work-styles which work best when given the
opportunity to operate in their own particular manner.
ABW is a concept that recognises that through the course of any day, people engage in many
different activities and need different types of work settings and technology to accommodate
these actions, both inside and outside the offce.
The philosophy of ABW is to make work more effective and effcient, with better experience for
both the organisation and the employee. This vision is achieved by focusing on the employees
and giving them the freedom (within boundaries) to decide how to work, where to work, when
to work, the tools to use and with whom to collaborate to get their work done all focused on
improving productivity and the best outcome for the client.
ABW promotes knowledge-sharing, faster and better collaboration and personal accountability.

Benefts of ABW work-style:
Increased productivity;
Increased autonomy and entrepreneurship within the organisation;
Strengthened internal & external image and culture;
More customer-orientation;
Increased collaboration within and between teams;
Increased employee satisfaction;
Boosted creativity; and
Increased shared knowledge and development into a learning organisation.
An Intergrated Aproach
Work-style projects are undertakings that always adopt an integrated approach, not just
technology or offce ft-out. Figure 1 illustrates changes in all three environments that lead to a
coherent new ways of working:
Behavioural
environment
Virtual
environment
Physical
environment
Organisation of
activities
Mobilisation of
information
Facilitating
activities
Figure 1 - Integrated new workstyle
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NEW WAYS OF WORKING: ACTIVITY BASED WORKING
The new offce environment or physical environment facilitates activities
(such as reading, writing and collaborating). In a traditional offce, people
are located according to the department they work for, or their hierarchical
position.
In the virtual environment, technology aims to disconnect information from
place and time and fully support all kinds of knowledge exchange. This allows
workers to work and interact anywhere and anytime as information is readily
available.
Changes in the behavioural environment include a more structured
organisation of activities and working out of sight of ones manager; employees
have autonomy based on mutual trust, responsibility, and accountability.
Work-style is a representation of the way an individual, a team, a department, or an organisation
works. It considers the amount of time the subject spends collaborating, versus working as an
individual. Further work-style describes in more details what collaboration and individual work
look like for the subject, e.g. whether it is individual work focused or process based; whether
collaborative work is in large or small groups.
For an organisation, a singular work-style will encompass many roles, functions and
personalities. Therefore it becomes essential that work-style expresses an aspiration of how
the organisation wants to work holistically. An organisations work-style should portray the
values the organisation wants to enhance and promote - typically with ABW: openness, trust,
self-organisation, accountability and autonomy. Through a representation of an organisations
values and aspirations, the work-style will be accepted, recognised and embraced by all
employees as a true manifestation of what their organisation stands for.
As a work-style encompasses the nature and essence of an organisation, it will become clear
that it must integrate into every part of the organisation. To effectively implement a new work-
style, members must share common aspirations, they must work together intuitively, to support
the work-style of the organisation.
While work-style is very deeply rooted in the behaviours of employees and thus the culture of
the organisation, the physical space must be leveraged to allow employees to fnd the space
that truly enables and supports their activity, while technology must provide employees with
time- and place- independent access to information. In essence, there are three key streams: the
behavioural, the physical, and the virtual. No one stream is more important than another, and
each supports the effectiveness of the others, so that they are truly integrated.
As the aspirations, work-style and the functional requirements of each of the streams are inter-
related, the importance of integration and the approach can be clearly demonstrated.
If an organisation aspires to collaborate more, their work-style would attribute more
collaborative time, thus it would see a decrease in the amount of time individuals spend
working independently. As this aspiration and work-style are implemented, the organisation
might see this manifest in the following ways:
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NEW WAYS OF WORKING: ACTIVITY BASED WORKING
Physical Environment
More collaborative setting; and more variety of collaborative settings to support more
frequent and more dynamic forms of collaboration.
More variety in individual work settings, so that individuals can be more effective and
effcient by using a setting that suits their way of working.
Virtual Environment
Individuals having personal and mobile technologies that allow them to connect
with their colleagues, and access information and knowledge they need; allowing
rich, knowledge-flled and effcient collaboration to occur regardless of the time and
location employees are in.
Collaborative spaces that offer a variety of technologies and tools to allow employees
to interact in dynamic, creative and effcient ways by maintaining and manipulating
information in a digital way.
Behavioural Environment
Management would clearly display and role-model effective collaboration through a
more coaching-focused aspect to management.
Employees would see and feel less hierarchy in the organisation - ideas, opinions, and
work would be equally valued and shared regardless of position or status.
Next Steps
A proven methodology ensures a framework to structure an effective approach the process starts
with, and is shaped by setting the goals for the new way of working. However, the fundamental
question remains: what does the organisation want to achieve with this change? This is what
makes ABW ambiguous: it can be many things to different people and organisations; it truly is
what the organisation wants to make it, through conscious intent and clear ambitions.
Our mission as thought leader is to raise awareness and to elicit the right questions for CRE
executives to consider with regard to fexible workplace strategies:
What is the context of fexible workplace strategies?
What are the developments in fexible workplace strategies?
What levels of ambition can be discerned?
What implementation strategies can be determined?
What can be learned from recent implementations?
What is the role of CRE?
Change Management is crucial in the development of an ABW work-style. It is integrated
in the development of the work-style by putting a clear governance and engagement
structure in place. It all starts with defning a clear aspiration to what the work-style should
contribute to. It is recommended for 10% of the occupants (i.e. employees) to be engaged
with the development of the concepts.
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NEW WAYS OF WORKING: ACTIVITY BASED WORKING
One of the outcomes of the development is the change activity plan. That plan defnes
what tools will be used and what methodology will be applied to inspire, engage and train
all the occupants. After the transition to the new work-style, it is recommended to guide
and help the organisation with the further development, exploration and experience in the
way they work.

Organisations who are interested to implement ABW may approach Change Management
consultants who are specialised in Activity-based Work-styles, to review the organisations
settings, aspirations and formulate a suitable plan for a successful implementation towards
the New Ways of Work.

Veldhoen + Company is the leading global consulting frm in Activity-based Work-styles.
Veldhoen + Company supports clients in the development and implementation of this work
style - a New Way of Working. Veldhoen + Company provides advice to renowned clients
in the fnancial, government, healthcare and education sectors. Veldhoen + Company has
been partnering with organisations for 20 years and our Sydney offce has been servicing
the Asia Pacifc region since 2009.
Copyright by Veldhoen + Company Pty Ltd
www.veldhoencompany.com
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Over the past few years it has become increasingly clear that businesses in Singapore need to
shift their thinking towards managing their workforce. The labour shortage in Singapore makes
it necessary for business leaders to learn how technology can be used to manage a diverse
workforce and bridge the productivity gap.
Singapore companies face four pressing challenges:
A diffcult economic climate that is anticipated in the near future.
A knowledge gap within the organisation. One possible cause being high staff
turnover or the formation of virtual teams to tackle a project comprised of
internal and external resources which are subsequently disbanded. This often
results in the loss of accumulated knowledge for the company.
A change in work-style patterns. Employees require increased mobility as they
need to be close to customers and colleagues. Additionally, many working
adults, regardless of gender, need fexibility which allows them to manage their
Work-Life priorities.
The consumerisation of personal IT devices for work. While this boosts personal
productivity, it creates a challenge for IT departments and employers who need
to provide reliable yet secure access to sensitive company data from anywhere,
on any device.
The New World of Work is a response to these issues, based on three key pillars - people,
technology and place.
People
The People pillar refects the fact that organisations and workers need to be fexible to achieve
mobility, better Work-Life balance and to accommodate personal work-styles.
In the modern economy, organisations need to be customer-oriented and empower employees
to meet customer expectations effciently. Therefore workers need to be able to work remotely;
whether in airports, hotels, client sites, or from home. In addition, workers need to be
collaborative, bringing their strongest abilities to a work structure that is driven by the skills of
each person, rather than traditional hierarchy. This will make organisations more resilient, able
to withstand economic shocks and most importantly, enable their people to realise their full
potential. The scalability of this work model also allows companies to expand rapidly when
opportunities arise.
THE NEW WORLD OF WORK
Vincent Wong
Director
Small and Mid-market Solutions & Partner Group
Microsoft Singapore
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THE NEW WORLD OF WORK
[ ]
Its important to note that working away from the offce does not necessarily mean working
from home. It is the ability to work from anywhere, with managers trusting and facilitating the
employees to work towards optimal productivity.
In a Microsoft survey, more than one-third of its employees had
worked from a home-offce, a caf or in another organisations
offce. One quarter of the employees had worked during their
commute.
Every person has a unique work-style, a set of preferences for where, how and when to work.
Some of this is driven by demographics and increasing demand for work-life balance.
In 2009, an Oxford University study
showed that 72% of 1,000 workers
polled would be encouraged to
remain in the workforce for as long
as possible in their senior years - if
given fewer and more fexible work.
In some countries, companies
are putting programs in place
to encourage women to remain
in the workforce, since so many
feel that they have to leave the
workforce at a point where their
productivity and potential reward
is at its highest.
The reality of such statistics underpins the employee retention strategies of many
businesses.
Todays workforce is characterised by interconnectivity and the emergence of digital natives,
a new generation of workers who have never known a world without the internet. This younger
generation expects to be always-on and is comfortable holding discussions and collaborating
in a virtual environment; they are always available to communicate by voice, e-mail, instant
messenger and other devices.
Organisations also need to accommodate the digital immigrants, the older workers who
are less familiar with social media and mobile technology. These workers have the same
requirement for fexibility and mobility, but need technology with a familiar and intuitive
interface that is easy to access and use.
Technology
This new and innovative work environment needs to be supported by simple yet powerful
enabling tools. Rather than relying on fxed desks with landline phones, the New World of
Work will be based around workers who are contactable by voice, e-mail, instant messenger or
video-conferencing, from any device. These tools include:
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The business case for implementing such communications systems
is well-proven. A recent report by Forrester examined the business
case for implementing Microsoft Lync Server in a US corporation.
As a result of replacing PBX phones; direct savings by implementing
web-based teleconferences; reduced IT and telephony labour costs;
fewer calls to the helpdesk; along with increased productivity and
a reduction in travel costs, the investment had paid for itself in less
than 13 months and provided a 337% Return on Investment (ROI)
over a 3-year period.
Another transformative technology is cloud computing. Here, applications and data are hosted
in secure data centres and made available to workers from anywhere and on any device, in
a secure and well-managed way. This is a further enabler for the New World of Work. The
pricing structure of cloud services means that software is no longer a major capital expense,
but is rented on an as-needed basis. This gives small businesses the ability to take advantage
of applications and tools that might have been inaccessible in the past, while giving larger
organisations the ability to compete with smaller more nimble low cost companies.
As a result of the transition towards the cloud, the workplace is no longer the repository of
businesses knowledge, because data can be stored in a secure data centre, and accessed
remotely from a variety of devices.
Finally, cloud computing services also provide business continuity and disaster recovery.
Companies which experience a systems failure run the risk of losing critical data, alienating
customers or even going out of business. A cloud computing strategy ensures that the companys
data is safely housed and backed up in data centres, which contractually guarantee a high level
of system reliability.
THE NEW WORLD OF WORK
A powerful communication suite
that allows people to communicate
in the way that best suits them,
whether by e-mail, voice, instant
messaging or videoconferencing.
Supporting infrastructure, which
allows users to get access to their
applications and data from any
place and on any device, in a
secure manner. This infrastructure
could be based within the
organisations premises, but is
increasingly based in the Cloud.
An IT environment that is
tailored to the employee who is
using it.
Enterprise applications such
as Microsoft SharePoint that
facilitate collaborative work
between people who are
located in the same offce, or
even in remote locations.
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[ ]
Place
The frst two pillars, people and technology, are driving changes in the third pillar place
which is an evolved concept of the workplace. The offce will no longer be the heart of the
organisation, as work becomes something a worker does and not merely where they go.
The offce of the future will be designed to provide task-oriented work environments which will
enhance cross-group collaboration, productivity and satisfaction.
Microsoft Singapores sales, marketing and regional headquarters offce have been designed
as Collaborative Work Space, which has been optimised for the different phases of work.
Employees do not have a permanent desk and are encouraged to work in the environment that
best suits their activity at any given time. There are quiet areas for workers that need peace to
concentrate on their work; a community area for meetings and interaction; relaxation zones
that encourage conversation and ad hoc meetings between employees. In place of traditional
PABX phones, employees use unifed communications tools to stay connected. They have little
or no paper in the offce and the latest version of all project information is centrally located in
the cloud, allowing employees to access the most-up-to-date information from any location.
Since the move, Microsoft Singapore offce space has decreased by
16% but our employees have seen a 54% increase in productivity.
49% of our staff say they collaborate more while 77% prefer the new
working environment to the old one.
Conclusion
The strategies and policies required for the New World of Work cannot be implemented
overnight. A change in management culture, employees mindset as well as the enabling
technology for success is required.
Managers will have to evolve from being supervisors to being leaders, inspiring their teams to
become fully engaged in their work goals. Employees must be empowered with freedom and
autonomy to do their best work.
With increasing competition, rising customer expectations and a shortage of critical skills, by
developing a work culture that encourages fexibility, mobility, collaboration and resilience,
we truly believe that Singapore companies can turn these challenges to their competitive
advantage.
Vincent Wong is the Director of Small, Mid-market Solutions and Partner (SMS&P) Group
at Microsoft Singapore. He is an IT industry expert with more than 21 years of experience.
He joined Microsoft since 2003, and prior to joining Microsoft, Vincent held various roles
in IBM and Cisco Systems. This article frst appeared in Employer Alliances publication
Enabling Mobile Work - An Employers Guide in the New Economy.
THE NEW WORLD OF WORK
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THE FUTURE OF WORK
IS FLEXIBLE!
Regus
Same work, new techniques
The communication tools we use to do business are changing fast, and the spaces in which we
do business are racing to keep up.
In a business landscape where each of us carries a veritable mobile offce about our person
smartphones, tablets and laptops fred by superfast connections and backed up in the
ether there is less and less to tether us to a 9 to 5 offce environment. Many are untethered
already, or are becoming so. By 2015, the number of mobile workers will reach 1.3 billion,
or 37.2 per cent of the worlds total workforce, according to global trends analyst IDC.
A new generation of gallopingly quick connectivity means we no longer even need WiFi to
send information with speed and security. Combine 4G speeds with the colossal databases
which power cloud storage and theres even less reason for employees to stay put as we no
longer have to get to a particular place to fnd something out, retrieve fles or meet someone.

Travelling stops being dead time; the journeys which make trips out of the offce a serious
opportunity cost, or the time-wasting commute can, with a 4G signal, become the most
productive part of the day.

But even mobile people need somewhere to touch down, in the words of CB Richard
Ellis Chris Hood: we are social beings who fnd it absolutely crucial to have a place
to confer and team up during our workday. But where? Our workplaces still look
much as they did in 1994, when chunky PCs, fax machines and landlines bonded
employees to HQ. Our stubbornly analogue offces must evolve to become better
suited to the mobile gadgetry we now have at our disposal.
The offce is set to come full-circle. In the
mid-1800s, clerks sat with newfangled
fountain pens at simple desks; in the
ensuing century their poky cubby-holes
expanded to hold typewriters, telex
machines, mainframes and heavy-duty
PCs, as well as cabinets stuffed full of fles.
The 21st Century began with the promise
of the paperless offce but many of us still
work in an environment surrounded by
many linear metres of printed material
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even those of us who dont need to sit behind desks all day carrying out repetitive tasks.

Recent Regus research shows that 55 per cent of desks are empty at
any one point in time.
This grates with fnance directors; the typical annual cost of a desk in a Western
city is 19,000 (SGD 32,000) according to independent research frm Unwired.
Hot-desking, introduced by frms to shave costs, didnt provide a robust solution
and employees often found the spaces created poor and unappealing.
Since our workspace demands are changing there is a strong argument to return to an under-
engineered, technologically sparse offce environment, from the occupants standpoint at
least. Forget the building, the dumb container hoarding a corporations infrastructure, data,
technology and fles. Virtual workplace portals and the migration to cloud computing will see
a gradual transition to empty or thin offce buildings, devoid of all technology, while new
display technology, tablets and ebooks will all reduce the half life of paper.
What is needed essentially is a new network (both virtual and physical) that in effect
becomes the offce, with space for teams, projects, pitches or war rooms. Businesses must
start integrating mobility processes and practices into the daily workfow, not just email.
Third spaces and new places

With the rise of mobility, work is becoming more fragmented and staccato people dip in
and out of it, their work and leisure time blurring. Time zones dont matter the way they did;
if you need to connect with someone on the other side of the world; you simply agree a
time and arrange your schedule accordingly. More businesspeople can now shape their own
lifestyles, connecting to work as soon as they wake up, and quite often not disconnecting
until they go to bed.
The offce has become one of a number of locations in which work can take place, but the other
spaces in which people try to work are often challenging. Space in between the corporate offce
and home environment has been referred to as third space; a range of innovative ideas has
emerged but none are quite ft for purpose. A
caf that does not provide power, a public space
that has no acoustic privacy or a private club that
offers no facility to print; a transport hub where
there is nowhere to get away from noise, or a
hotel where there are no private workspaces.
Third spaces must become as sophisticated as
a modern workplace, with a range of facilities
that provides effective destinations to work on
the pause.

THE FUTURE OF WORK IS FLEXIBLE!
[ ]
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THE FUTURE OF WORK IS FLEXIBLE!
The Singapore connection

Singapore is one of the more connected countries and economies in Asia, with plans to become
much more so. The Intelligent Nation 2015 plan will see the island state connected with next-
generation broadband fbre. That includes homes. New buildings in Singapore will all be fbred
or fbre-ready in keeping with the scheme, which makes mobile and telecommunications easy
to implement and almost mandatory.
Happily, data-plan costs are low for the Singapore consumer. Perhaps this is why the island
nation reveals the highest penetration of smartphones in the region, in 2010 running more
devices on Apples iOS operating system, per capita, than anywhere else in the world.
Five years ago it was not uncommon to see many businesspeople in Singapore using coffee
chains like Starbucks for hours at a time, utilising free WiFi. Now, they are more likely to be
using cafs to socialise with each other. The reason: they are no longer held captive to a WiFi
connection. The vast majority have data plans on their devices 4G is picking up after a slow
start. Companies are also allowing staff to work at home and elsewhere. A lot more people have
woken up to business lounges, with Singapores Regus lounges revealing 6000 loyal members.
Regus has created club workspaces to allow people a drop in destination that is fexible, shared
and informal. Private work pods are interspersed with soft seating and meeting spaces that
people use as if they were in an airline lounge. More formal space can be booked, but for
many of Regus customers, the lounge is exactly what is needed for work on the pause: a
professional space to drop into, connect and work.
The company is also establishing business centres in suburban areas, closer to where people
live, as well as in railway stations and motorway service areas in several countries in northern
Europe offering the buzz of a caf in the shared areas, the technical facilities of a fully
equipped offce, and the comfort of a top-class hotel. This will be rolled out in Asia over the
coming years.

Looking ahead

In a global research by Regus, 72% of senior businesspeople said fexible working
practices such as choice over working locations and hours lead to increased
productivity. Over six in ten (63%) said it makes employees more motivated and
energised. It has a lower environmental impact and facilitates good work-life
balance. Being fexible over working locations and hours also boosts staff retention.
In another global study of professionals, almost two-thirds (64%) cited fexible work
arrangements as the reason for staying in their current job.
In employers competition for talent, the winners will be those who offer the most attractive
packages not just fnancial, but also lifestyle-related. Having grown up with new technology,
Generation Y in particular take connectedness for granted. They dont just understand social
networking but build their lives around it, yet they need leisure and variety the same as everyone
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else. So they want the ability to switch between their work and their private lives as it suits
them. Quite rightly they want to be judged by results, not by hours worked, standards of dress
or any other arbitrary requirement that might be imposed by an unimaginative employer.
Technology waits for no man, or no business. Already, next-generation 5G studies, trials and
standards formulation are well advanced. Handset manufacturers believe speeds on 5G could
reach peaks of 1GB per second. Most 4G speeds are currently around 20MB a second. As the
UKs Daily Telegraph put it recently, What the promise of 5G demonstrates is that we may yet
manage to stop thinking about connectivity.

Technology is changing our lives but some things, like a physical place and corporate team
structures, cannot be expected to change quite so swiftly. A place of work will always be
de rigueur for certain occupations; a nurse, mechanic, farmer or chemical engineer cant
suddenly decide to check-in at a business lounge. But a growing number of others, mainly
in the new economy software engineers, graphic designers, fnancial services consultants
are free to roam.
What is required is a pluralistic approach to helping employees create their work environment.
In the not-so-distant future, we may see more businesses operating without a single fxed
location. And we may see companies that once had permanent sites in dozens of countries
streamline their operations down to a handful of sites in major regional hubs, with a global
network of mobile workers.
The winners in this brave new world will be those who look after their employees, let
technology help their structures evolve, and control their costs sensibly.
Regus, founded in Brussels, Belgium in 1989, is headquartered in Luxembourg and listed
on the London Stock Exchange. Regus is the worlds largest provider of fexible workplaces,
with products and services ranging from fully equipped offces to professional meeting
rooms, business lounges and the worlds largest network of video communication studios.
Regus has presence in 1500 locations in 600 cities and 100 countries. For more information,
please visit: www.regus.com.sg
THE FUTURE OF WORK IS FLEXIBLE!
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ENABLING NEW WAYS OF WORK
THROUGH CHANGE MANAGEMENT
Jacqueline Gwee
Director
aAdvantage Consulting Group Pte Ltd
As businesses look to increase productivity whether through automation, technology, upgrading
staff competencies or branding, there is also a need to look into new approaches of work.
Companies who are at the forefront of enabling employees to work smarter, save time and get
things done more effectively, implement a variety of dynamic, collaborative and connected
ways of working.
The New Ways of Work encompass the variety of approaches from offce-based work to
home-based work, integrating fexible physical work spaces and enabling technologies. When
companies get creative in implementing fexibility in the workplace, a whole range of structured
approaches to work can happen. They can include:
Flexible work space arrangements which could include hotdesking, collaboration
corners, and meeting rooms with video conferencing facilities
Home-based work or homeworking where one works primarily from home,
occasionally travelling back to offce when the need arises
Working at customer sites to working from permanent off-site offces (e.g. third-
party operated sites or at customers site). A new approach in Singapore is the
setup of professional offce support such as Smart Work Centres (SWCs) which
provide fexible work spaces that companies can leverage as extensions of their
offce
Flexible work hours which includes staggered work hours
Part-time work and compressed work week
As more companies implement fexibility in the workplace, work is no longer bounded by co-
worker proximity, face-time or time zone. To enable employees to work effectively, there is a need
to explore these New Ways of Work. Implementation of these new work approaches requires
adoption of new processes, structures, resources and management practices and technology.
However the benefts of these work approaches may not be fully achieved when there has
been a failure to prepare both those who will be directly or indirectly impacted and those who
will be supervising the employees. Beyond preparing the infrastructure (i.e. tools, equipment
and technical knowledge), there is a need for employers to prepare staff on the New Ways of
Work and How To Manage Staff On The New Ways Of Work.
The traditional modes and mindset of managing our workforce requires change what are the
new rules of engagement? How do we manage staff who are not in the offce? How do we know
if they are really working?
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Achieving Long Term Sustainability of the New Ways of Work
Preparing staff on the new work arrangements ensures a smoother transition and higher
probability of success. Especially when implementing any new initiative or programme, early
small successes will contribute to long-term sustainability. Deploying a Change Management
Strategy and Plan should be part of your companys efforts to make the Mobile Work Programme
a success. The critical elements of the Change Management Plan would include the following:
1. Articulate Business Case And Desired Outcomes
Be Clear and Specifc about the desired outcomes of the new work arrangement. We need
to defne Who is affected, Whats in it for the Company, Whats in it for Me?. Clarity
enables us to better communicate our objectives to ensure a buy in. It must be a win-win
for employers and employees. Common business outcomes include enhanced productivity,
reduced business offce costs, greater staff motivation and staff retention. For staff it could be
less travel time, cost savings and greater fexibility.
2. Set up Implementation Team & Engage Staff in the Design of the New Way of Work
Engage staff, especially those who are going to be directly impacted and their supervisors to
understand their concerns, address them to ensure a greater buy-in. A common approach is
to set up a cross-functional task force, led by a senior management team member to ensure
alignment at the highest level. Team members should include those who would be impacted
as well as those who would be involved in the design and implementation phases of the new
work arrangement.
3. Communicate Outcomes and Expectations
Communicate the desired outcomes to all staff; especially those directly affected, and those
managing the staff. Even those who are not directly impacted should be included in the
communications. This is to ensure that staff, supervisors and management are on the same
page aligned to overall benefts. Where possible, implement a pilot site and as part of the
implementation, gather feedback so that improvements can be made before full implementation
roll-out.
Targeting the engagement sessions and communications at various groups would be ideal as
to address different issues, e.g. by staff levels or by function. Tailoring your messages ensures
that we do not overload or confuse the target audience e.g. is the session going to address
supervisors concerns of managing staff performance or is the session going to address staffs
concerns on how it will affect their careers or dealing with new technology?
Further communications on the role expectations and behaviours are also critical. Are there
dos and donts or rules of engagement? Are there new work protocols? For example:
ENABLING NEW WAyS OF WORk THROuGH CHANGE MANAGEMENT
33
Are staff expected to inform supervisors of their start time? If so, how will it be
done?
What are the protocols on accessibility of staff on non-working days or off days?
Are there guidelines on use of offce equipment for personal use?
What are the guidelines on handling confdential information while working
remotely?
Each company should defne the boundaries aligned to its culture and defned policies. Not all
protocols or policies have to be defned; the key intent and guiding principles have to be clear
so that staff can implement them. A lot is dependent on the current culture and the degree of
openness and trust.
4. Developing Competencies to Support the New Ways of Work
Beyond equipping staff with the right tools, technology and rules, the implementation team and
human resource should identify specifc competencies required of the different staff levels for
sustainable success of the New Ways of Work.
A global study by Cisco Systems in 2007 (Understanding and Managing the Mobile Workforce)
showed that there were key competencies demonstrated by effective mobile workers. In
particular, to be effective, mobile workers need to demonstrate stronger planning and organising
skills, fexibility and adaptability and relationship building skills in comparison to their offce-
based colleagues. By contrast, they are less likely to need effective teamworking skills. This
observation does not invalidate their need to work effectively with colleagues, but stems from
their strong drive to work effectively on an independent basis.
The implication is that as well as selecting employees with these key competencies (for mobile
work success), organisations can also provide existing employees the opportunities they need
to develop in these critical mobile working competencies.
5. Equip Managers with Skills to Manage the Workforce
For companies who are not already on a performance outcome based system, there is a need
to frst establish a performance management system not based on face-time e.g. punctuality
may not be a key attribute versus other output measures such as on-time delivery of work
output. Managers who are mobile and are managing either mobile or offce-based teams will
need to adapt their personal styles to cope with both being mobile and managing others at the
same time.
The Manager must know when to be physically present, effectively coaching, motivate the
team and nurture loyalty towards the company. Excessive scrutiny can result in increased stress,
breakdown of genuine relationships and demotivation of staff.
ENABLING NEW WAyS OF WORk THROuGH CHANGE MANAGEMENT
34
In a fexible work arrangement, where staff may spend most of their time away from the primary
offce, the manager needs to work hard to facilitate the following:
Set good performance objectives which are output or outcome based; move
away from assessing staff based on attributes which are only observable through
face-time
Give timely and valid feedback on performance; this may be a challenge which
can be overcome by having a contact schedule that suits both manager and staff
Set and communicate expectations of work performance or rules of
engagement around expected work behaviours
Understand each individuals challenges and provide coaching and support
where appropriate; for this to happen, proactive communication and
empowerment to take an individual approach to support individual needs is
critical
6. Commit to Improvements and Celebrate Success
Leaders set the culture of organisations. Hence consistent communication and behaviours
from leaders over time will determine whether the culture supports the New Ways of Work.
Leverage existing engagement platforms or create new ones to communicate the progress of
the work arrangement. Be honest to acknowledge if things are not working as planned and be
open to listening to feedback on how work arrangements can be improved. Close the loop with
staff on the actions to be taken to demonstrate commitment to make mobile work a success.
Middle Managers also need to play their part in setting the work environment within
the organisation. Managers need to work to raise the profle of the New Ways of Work by
publicising achievements and feedback about the new methods of working. This is especially
important during the pilot phase of the implementation. Identifying quick wins early on in
the programme and communications around the success are critical in shaping perception and
attitudes. An effective change management plan can establish open channels of communication
between staff and management to identify these.
It is a common practice that the Implementation Team is typically immediately disbanded after
the launch of any new initiative. It is highly recommended that the role of continuously
gathering feedback on the work arrangement and evaluating its effectiveness for improvement
be assigned to a functional process owner or committee to ensure sustainable implementation.
Jacqueline is Director and Founder of aAdvantage Consulting. She has over 20 years of broad-
based human resource, change management and business excellence consulting experience in
both the public (ministries and statutory boards) and private sectors (with MNCs and SMEs) in
Singapore. This article frst appeared in Employer Alliances publication Enabling Mobile Work -
An Employers Guide in the New Economy.
ENABLING NEW WAyS OF WORk THROuGH CHANGE MANAGEMENT
35
WORKING BETTER WITH
JOB REDESIGN
Amy BC Tan
Director and Partner
Centre for Organisational Effectiveness, COE Pte Ltd
What is Job Redesign?
Job redesign is the reconfguring of tasks in a job to create a better ft for staff and business
needs. For instance, tasks that can be done in isolation can be assigned to a telecommuter and
duplicated tasks may be eliminated. One full-time job can be shared between two part-timers
working independently of each other. Job redesign eliminates unnecessary work, channels
employees skills more effciently, and enables higher fexibility and effective work distribution.
Ultimately, job redesign promotes a dual agenda of inspiring and motivating employees while
achieving business goals.
Shift from a Pyramid to a Barrel-shaped Organisational Structure
Organisations across industries are constantly reviewing and changing their organisational
structure to meet evolving business needs. They are gradually shifting from a Pyramid to a
Barrel-Shaped organisational structure with a large middle segment. This is due to reduced
recruitment efforts as well as the trend of hiring mid-level executives with relevant experience.
Many traditional assumptions about the course of a persons lifetime career are changing. The
evolving demographic patterns as well as the growth in knowledge-based work are redefning
job design as we know it. In Singapore, jobs are still described in terms of time, e.g. a 44-hour
work week or an 8-hour day.
However, this measure is losing its relevance as the majority of the workforce is now
employed in service industries (with more than half engaged as knowledge employees,
paid for writing, analysing, advising, counting, designing, researching, etc). Time-based
jobs make little sense for these employees. Consequently, employees now require output-
based performance indicators, which will also provide them with autonomy and fexibility
in organising their work.
While these trends indicate a high level of
maturity in the workforce, they need to be
accompanied by new methods of human
capital management. The following examples
show how organisations can harness the full
potential of the new workforce through job
redesign.
36
Example 1: Redesign Jobs for Better Employee Attraction and Retention
High turnover at a laboratory in the healthcare sector was partially driven by high
workload, mundane, unchallenging work and infexible work arrangements. Upon
analysis of the time allocation of scientists in the lab, it was apparent that highly-
trained and experienced employees only spent 59% of their time on the actual jobs
they were hired for.
Another 17% of their time was used for preparatory and support work that could
be done by junior lab personnel. Even more surprising a signifcant amount of time
(24%) was used for administrative and logistics tasks that could be done by personnel
with minimal or without any lab knowledge (See Figure below). This indicated a
signifcant waste of highly qualifed, rare and expensive manpower. This also meant
that these high level employees were frustrated and left the organisation as they felt
their skills were not properly used.
Redesigning their jobs to focus on their primary tasks with some involvement in secondary
tasks led to greater job satisfaction, lighter workload and higher productivity. The
administrative activities were taken over by a small support team with the long-term plan
of outsourcing these tasks.
WORKING BETTER WITH JOB REDESIGN
Admin &
Logistics
24%
Time Allocation
Primary
59%
Secondary
17%
37
Example 2: Reframing Mindsets & Redefning Jobs

Diffculty in attracting and retaining the right employees has challenged a local
edutainment setup to rethink its decade-old job roles and staff working conditions.
Feedback from focus groups and a lifestyle survey revealed that working every
weekend and all public holidays was demotivating employees, as they had little
Work-Life integration. This resulted in high attrition in the organisation. A limited and
monotonous job scope also contributed to diffculty in recruiting new staff.
These were two different teams on the ground one performing demonstrations and
conducting workshops and the other interacting with customers. Business needs
dictated that all the functions undertaken by both teams of employees were to be
conducted on weekends and public holidays, which were peak periods. Thus, the
leadership reviewed the resource planning process and analysed the customer profles
to fnd a solution.
Reframing the situation allowed Management to see that the two distinct groups
possessed the same qualifcations and were capable of performing all the job tasks
across teams. Thus, the resource pool transformed from two groups of 5 employees
performing specifc tasks, to an expanded team of 10 employees who shared the
whole spectrum of work. The increased variety in job scope motivated and engaged
employees.
With a larger pool of employees, a work roster was implemented and employees now
work one weekend every 2 months instead of every weekend. This job redesign and
new resource management created opportunities for career development as well as
greater employee engagement, as staff now have more weekends off and additional
time to participate in the companys projects. The organisations retention rate of high
potential employees also increased by 50% since the job redesign was implemented.
In todays fast-changing workplace, job redesign has evolved from a one-time task
to an on-going process that organisations require to maintain their competitiveness.
Job redesign is most effective as a collaborative effort between business leaders and
line managers and should be undertaken by employers aiming to develop dynamic,
networked and global corporations of the future.
Amy Tan is the Director and Partner at the Centre for Organisational Effectiveness Pte Ltd,
based in Singapore. She has more than 20 years of experience in Human Resources. Her
expertise has been in Strategic HR Management, Talent Management, Succession Planning,
Performance Management, Workforce Planning, Organisational Development and Leadership
Development. This article frst appeared in Employer Alliances publication Enabling Mobile
Work An Employers guide in the New Economy.
WORKING BETTER WITH JOB REDESIGN
38
PREPARING EMPLOYEES FOR
NEW WAYS OF WORK
Sher-li Torrey
Founder & Director
Mums@Work (Singapore)
Taking the First Steps
A comprehensive HR policy is necessary for employers to effectively manage New Ways of
Work workers. If a HR manual is already in place, a section on New Ways of Work arrangements
should be included.
You may also consider adding a New Ways of Work arrangement request form, a questionnaire
for employees to assess if they are suitable to be on a New Ways of Work arrangement, as well
as checklists for staff who require a home offce set up.
A well-constructed HR manual should:
Defne New Ways of Work arrangements as they pertain to the organisation
Describe the types of New Ways of Work arrangements available
Detail the criteria that employees need to meet in order to apply for New Ways
of Work arrangements
To deter misuse and minimise the likelihood of future disputes, HR policies and regulations
regarding New Ways of Work practices should be formalised to ensure clarity and mutual
understanding.
Employers must also adhere to statutory legislation and provide guidelines on important issues
such as compensation, annual leave entitlement, allowances and other employee benefts that
may be affected by the implementation of the new scheme.
Take note of the legal obligations as an employer when work is done at a location beyond the
offce; some organisations provide employee insurance coverage in case of emergencies.This
policy should be revised as New Ways of Work programme evolves, and incorporate feedback
and recommendations from employees and supervisors.
Once the company has identifed the specifc goals to be achieved through New Ways of Work,
the scope of the New Ways of Work programme needs to be determined. The key questions to
consider are:
Will New Ways of Work arrangements be implemented uniformly throughout the
organisation or geared towards certain departments?
Will there be a pilot programme?
39
Setting a timeline of six months to one year to pilot new New Ways of Work options will
allow the organisation to evaluate the effectiveness of the programme as well as pinpoint
areas for improvement. For an accurate assessment of the mobility programme, the new work
arrangements should be piloted in a team where the job nature, team make up and familiarity
with processes will facilitate successful implementation.
Before Implementation
Defne the job roles within the organisation and list the tasks within each job scope. This
exercise will reveal the positions that are suitable for New Ways of Work. It is important to note
that job suitability is dependent on the actual tasks carried out by the employee rather than his
job title or work schedule.
Tasks suited to New Ways of Work Tasks not suited to New Ways of Work
Require thinking and writing
Telephone-intensive tasks
Computer-oriented tasks
Example of Tasks:
Analysis, Auditing reports, Computer
programming, Conducting business by
phone, Data entry, Design work, Editing,
Evaluations, Field visits, Maintaining
databases, Planning, Preparing budgets,
Preparing contracts, Project management,
Reading, Record keeping, Research,
Thinking, Writing
Require employees physical
presence to attend to clients, e.g.
face-to-face customer service roles
Require extensive face-to-face
contact with supervisors or other
colleagues
Require access to materials that
cannot be located outside the
physical offce
PREPARING EMPLOyEES FOR NEW WAyS OF WORk
40
Accessing Employee Eligibility
General guidelines should be developed to help determine which employees can opt for New
Ways of Work options. Some useful criteria to consider include:
Employees reasons for requesting
New Ways of Work
Employees job function
Employees past performance record
Employees working relationship with
supervisors and colleagues
Employees work style and
personality, specifcally:
- Organisational, time-
management and planning skills
- Ability to work independently
- Ability to prioritise and meet
deadlines
- Ability to thrive in an
environment that has little social
interaction during work hours
Setting up a Home Offce: Equipment and Security
To determine if an employees home is suitable for working remotely, ideally it could include
the following:
Telephone (land line)
Cell phone
Voice mail
Provide a checklist for employees and clearly indicate the equipment that will be provided by
the company as well as outline the reimbursement policy and process. Involve the IT department
in the setting up of security systems required to maintain sensitive corporate information.
Management Involvement
Flexible Work Arrangements are most effective when management understands the
organisational benefts of New Ways of Work and fully supports the new initiatives.
HR and Management should work together to clearly defne and articulate the goals of the New
Ways of Work programme.
Laptop computer
Sofware
Scanner/Printer
Desktop computer
Broadband Internet access
PREPARING EMPLOyEES FOR NEW WAyS OF WORk
41
Tips for Effective Implementation
SUPERVISOR
Set defned roles and obligations for your employees with clearly stated key
performance indicators, outcome goals, milestones and timelines
Objectively evaluate the employees performance; acknowledge effort,
provide constructive feedback with input from customers and colleagues
Integrate the performance appraisal process into the New Ways of Work
agreement
Be readily contactable to your employees who work remotely via phone,
e-mail and other forms of pre-agreed communication
EMPLOYEE
Maintain good working relationships with co-workers and supervisors which
may include department lunch gatherings, etc.
Respect the work schedule arrangements and keep to them, especially when
other team members are affected, e.g. team meetings
Maintain open and honest communication with your supervisor
Be patient: Know that any new policy or work arrangement requires time for
adjustment
Post Implementation: The Monitoring Process
The evaluation process should be determined prior to embarking on the New Ways of Work
scheme. Once the programme begins, constantly get feedback from the employee, supervisor,
and other team members.
Ideally, templates should be prepared for the following:
Performance Evaluation Form for
Workers on New Ways of Work
Supervisors Performance Evaluation
Form
This should include monitoring of:
Communication style and habits
Responsibility level
Level of independence
This should include:
Supervisors ability to facilitate the
New Ways of Work arrangement
by providing objective evaluation
and proactively problem-solving
any issues that may emerge as a
result of New Ways of Work
Supervisors ability to manage the
entire team
PREPARING EMPLOyEES FOR NEW WAyS OF WORk
42
Team-mates Suggestions and Feedback
Form
Programme Evaluation Form
This should include questions for
colleagues to provide feedback and offer
solutions about the New Ways of Work
arrangements.
This should focus solely on the success
level of the programme, and should be
completed by various stakeholders.
Possible Challenges & Solutions
When implementing New Ways of Work arrangements, some common challenges may arise:
Challenge Solution
Supervisors may express diffculty in
monitoring the team due to the mix of
employees who are physically present in
the offce and those who are not.
Hold pre-implementation discussions
where work expectations are clearly
explained to the supervisor and
employee. Rather than adopt a wait-
and-see approach, problems should be
addressed as soon as they arise.
Management may be concerned that
employees will abuse the system and
be less committed and effcient when
working from home.
Ensure employees performance appraisals
include performance-based deliverables.
Implement a communication schedule
for employees to provide supervisors with
updates and surface issues via e-mails,
phone calls or face-to-face meetings.
Other team members are unhappy with
the arrangement and feel unfairly treated.
It is important to clearly defne the roles
which are approved for New Ways
of Work. Employees should also be
rewarded based on well-defned KPIs.
Sher-li Torrey is the founder and director of Mums@Work (Singapore) a social enterprise
that strives to help women fnd the perfect balance between being a mum and working.
Trained in various personality profling tools, she has more than 10 years of career coaching
experience. In 2012, she co-authored the book Successful Work-Life Balance: The Flexi-
work Way a guide to implementing fexible work arrangements. This article frst appeared
in Employer Alliances publication Enabling Mobile Work - An Employer's Guide in the
New Economy.
PREPARING EMPLOyEES FOR NEW WAyS OF WORk

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