Model ID: 467355c6-5186-4857-833f-a3d10edeeea6
Sitecore Context Id: 467355c6-5186-4857-833f-a3d10edeeea6;
There is a need for employers and employees to work together and be committed to finding solutions that will allow for work and family balance.
Senior Minister of State (SMS) Josephine Teo said this at a visit to 3E Accounting, a small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) that has made an effort to implement family-friendly initiatives at the workplace.
Instead of a fixed start and end time, staff can adjust their working hours in 15-minute blocks, as long as they complete the stipulated nine work hours per day. This means that staff can report to work any time between 8am to 10am and end their day between 5pm to 7pm.
3E Accounting founder and chairman Lawrence Chai, 31, said that this flexibility allows staff to accommodate family commitments such as sending their children to school in the morning.
Tech Flex
The 35-strong accounting firm has also invested in technology to give workers the flexibility of working from home for extended periods of time.
One example is the company’s use of Double Robotics, a wheeled device that allows staff working from home to be “present” at work. Users, who will be fully aware of their “surroundings” through cameras mounted on the robot, are in full control of the device from home and can operate it to move around the office freely.
Mr Chai said that staff sometimes have family commitments that require them to be away from work, such as parents who want to spend more time with their children during their PSLE year.
He explained: “We believe that talent is very hard to retain. Replacing him or her means a drop in customer service levels as the employee would have built up valuable relationships with clients.
“Clients in turn may not know who to look for after an employee leaves. Retaining employees means productivity doesn’t suffer.”
SMS Teo said that with these initiatives, employees also need not worry about family commitments impacting their work and can flexibly fulfil both. As an example, the Double Robotics devices would allow employees to “attend” meetings while at home.
“We get consistent feedback from working parents that the attitudes of employers and colleagues matter a great deal. So even if they’re legally entitled to these benefits, if they sense that their colleagues and employers are not very happy about it, they will hold back on taking such leave,” she elaborated.
The company’s commitment to promoting more work-life balance has been recognised by the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP).
3E Accounting was one of 15 companies awarded the biennial TAFEP Exemplary Employer Award on 8 April this year, which is conferred to organisations that have demonstrated effective and progressive employment practices.
Successful Implementation
Since the company’s investment in technology, productivity levels have improved by almost 47 per cent since the company was established in 2011. The company’s turnover rate also fell from about 38 per cent in 2013 to 23 per cent last year. Its annual revenue has jumped from $789,000 to more than $3 million in the same timeframe.
SMS Teo, who oversees the National Population and Talent Division, said that instead of compromising, millennials are finding smarter ways to marry career aspirations with more quality time with the family.
She said: “If, at the end of all these efforts, there aren’t any business results, the case [for more family-friendly practices] is not made. The results must speak for themselves. If other SMEs think that there is no likelihood of them being able to follow likewise, 3E Accounting provides a very good counter example.”
Source: NTUC This Week
