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Singapore business leaders on the same page as ‘born digital’ employees: study
MORE Singapore business leaders are in favour of flexible work compared with their global counterparts, putting them on the same page as “born digital” employees who indicate a preference for such flexibility.
Nearly eight in 10 (78 per cent) of Singapore business leaders indicated they are in favour of flexible work, compared with just half of their global counterparts; the latter believe that working from the office is the best environment for productivity and well-being.
According to the Born Digital Effect Singapore study, conducted by Citrix together with research partner Milieu Insights, both business leaders and young professionals in Singapore are generally aligned on the workplace priorities of the Born Digital generation.
“Born digitals” are defined as the generations to experience the evolution of the digital world, consisting of millennials (born 1981 to 1996) and Generation Z (born after 1997).
According to this study, these digitally-born professionals can globally drive an extra S$1.9 trillion in corporate profits if empowered to work flexibly.
A total of 366 PMEs in Singapore were surveyed, of whom 300 are born digital and 188 are business leaders born digital and older.
In Singapore, both born digital PMEs (79 per cent) and business leaders (78 per cent) indicated a preference to be given the option to continue to work from home or remotely a few days a week.
Meanwhile, 72 per cent of business leaders said they will implement some form of hybrid or flexible work model even after the pandemic.
“These young employees are different from previous generations in that they have only ever known a tech-driven world of work,” said Donna Kimmel, executive vice-president and chief people officer at Citrix.
“To shore up their future business success, companies must understand their values, career aspirations and working styles and invest in their development.”
These employees identified three challenges that could arise when transitioning into virtual and hybrid models. These include the issue of visibility, with those in the office more connected to the team (52 per cent); concerns that those working virtually may miss out on vital informal information (51 per cent); and concerns about exclusion, such as missing out on meetings and information sharing (46 per cent).
Born Digital employees also indicated that they strongly supported the idea of continued flexible and hybrid work arrangements once offices reopen (87 per cent), and that they should be given the opportunity to work two days from the office (39 per cent).
Moreover, Singapore’s Born Digitals also expressed the preference to be given the freedom at work to focus on individual activities and be trusted to manage their personal work-life balance.
Specifically, younger professionals highlighted that once offices in Singapore reopen, the two most prioritised changes to their personal working styles will be leveraging the ability to be flexible in when and where work is brought to ensure that work-life balance is brought back into check (62 per cent) and continuing to work from home at least one day a week to focus on individual activities (60 per cent).
Source: https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/global-enterprise/singapore-business-leaders-on-the-same-page-as-born-digital-employees-study