Nearly two-thirds of workers expect better post-COVID workplaces

This is a result of 57% of employees ranking their employers’ efforts “above average”.

About 65% of Singaporean employees are anticipating that their work environment will change for the better after COVID-19 due to the changes being implemented in response to the pandemic, according to a Qualtrics study.

The majority of respondents (57%) rated the way their employer responded to the pandemic as “above average”.

With many people working from home during the pandemic, a large portion (42%) of respondents said their employee experience has improved during the pandemic, whilst the same number said it has remained unchanged. The most effective actions employers have taken to make their teams feel more valued throughout this period have been more workplace flexibility (51%), gratitude from direct managers (21%), and improved benefits (21%).

“As a result of their employers’ quick thinking and actions, the majority of workers across Singapore say they feel a lot more valued (43%) at their company, and a lot more proud (46%) to work for them,” said Mao Gen Foo, head of Southeast Asia at Qualtrics. “To ensure they continue to successfully move forward businesses need to formalise the human-centred approach adopted with employees.”

As businesses continue to plan and manage their return to the workplace, 77% of Singaporeans stated that it’s important their employer asks them what action they want to see taken to make them feel confident about returning. Most respondents wished for more flexible work schedules (69%), higher focus on personal hygiene (44%), greater focus on employee mental health (39%) and office hygiene (39%), and being able to choose their work location (38%).

These employee preferences aligned with some of the actions they expect their employer will prioritise, such as more flexible work schedules (66%), higher focus on personal hygiene (61%) and office hygiene (51%), symptom checks (40%) and more digital communication tools (39%).

“Whilst employees can agree prioritising safety and hygiene is essential moving forward, there is a slight gap between the actions they want to see, and which they expect to see outside of this. Singaporeans want to see their employers continue to focus on offering more workplace flexibility—such as less time spent commuting, and wearing more comfortable clothing to work,” Foo said.

In addition, the study revealed more than three quarters (78%) of workers think it’s very important that their employers listen to their feedback during a crisis. However, under half of workers in Singapore said their employer has listened (47%) and acted (49%) on feedback more during the pandemic.