Companies that have yet to digitise their operations may experience a fall in productivity over the circuit breaker period. From a poll, only about 40% of organisations were implementing WFH before the circuit breaker kicked in on 6th April. It has therefore been a major adjustment as businesses were caught on the backfoot as many did not have WFH plans in place. “MNCs tend to have better digital connectivity and tech infrastructure to communicate with their overseas offices while SMEs may not have invested in this area”, says our CEO, Mayank Parekh.
Mr Parekh also adds that in the short term, we can expect a negative impact on productivity and engagement levels as both employers and employees adjust. “Most studies on the impact of flexible work arrangements such as working from home have concluded better productivity and higher engagement levels. But these studies have been carried out in normal times, and not during compulsory WFH such as today.”
On a positive note, this presents an opportunity for SMEs to play catch-up to review their work process and digitise their operations. SMEs have the advantage to leap-frog by adopting scalable cloud-based technology at lower price points compared to larger companies with legacy systems.
Organisations that invest time and effort on employee engagement during this time are more likely to bounce back faster to seize opportunities when the situation improves. With government schemes such as SME Go-Digital, the uptake of digital tools and platforms will enhance HR’s productivity and bring a consumer-grade experience to our employees.
Read more at: https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/manpower/working-from-home-productivity-staff-engagement-likely-to-be-hit