UOB Malaysia Offers Remote Working to Most of Its Staff

UOB Malaysia recently announced that it is providing most of its workers the choice to work remotely up to two days per week once the government fully lifts Covid-19 restrictions. 

With almost 5,000 employees in its workforce, UOB Malaysia said that underlying the "permanent change" is its aspiration to ensure the staff has the right balance between mental wellbeing and professional fulfilment.

Achieving optimal performance with remote working

The bank said that it found two days of remote working per week to be the most advantageous for workers to maintain a sense of connection with coworkers and the employer and achieve optimal performance.

UOB Malaysia's announcement comes after reviewing its work patterns, workforce technology tools and workspaces during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

UOB Malaysia's report says almost 60% of bank roles were evaluated to be suited to working remotely, whether from home or at a place other than the staff's assigned workplace.

It also said that the bank's new remote work options align with broader community sentiment, where 90% of workers across the country said they anticipated some type of flexible work arrangement to become more popular in a post-pandemic world.

Hybrid work model: the way forward?

The executive director and country head of human resources of UOB Malaysia, Lai Tak Ming, said the pandemic had changed the way people work in the future, and the idea of a "workplace" has gone through a fundamental rethink.

He also said that the Covid-19 pandemic caused companies to make a heavy shift from a traditional workplace model to almost entirely remote working, completely changing the way companies and employees operate.

According to him, now that the economy is recovering and Malaysia is transitioning into the endemic phase of Covid-19, the bank believes that the future work environment is a hybrid work model. 

He added that the flexible working arrangements that UOB Malaysia has introduced would provide its employees with more autonomy to decide how and where they work.

85% of the bank's staff say they are as effective while working from home

UOB Malaysia also received feedback from its staff on the strains of having their homes turned into their workspaces during the pandemic. It found that during the pandemic's peak, 85% of the employees reported to be as effective while working from home. Meanwhile, 15% of the employees said they encountered stress-inducing challenges.

These stresses included:

• Trying to balance professional and family commitments,

• A lack of personal workspace at home,

• An increase of working hours from an "always-on" mentality, and

• Difficulty in nurturing collaboration and teamwork online.

UOB Malaysia said that it has also recently improved mental wellness programmes.

Source: The Edge Markets

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