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Come September this year, many departments within Singapore's
Civil Service will implement a new work schedule for its employees.
Under the new plan announced by Singapore's Prime Minister,
Lee Hsien Loong in his National Day Rally speech, civil servants
will be able to enjoy a five-day work week.
However, a five-day work week does not mean shorter working
hours.
What is the impact of a five-day work week on a company's
productivity?
Melanie Yip put the question to David Ang (DA), Executive
Director of the Singapore Human Resources Institute.
DA: I think as far as productivity is concerned, it will
not have a high impact on the manufacturing sector because
the five-day work week has long been in existence in the manufacturing
sector. As far as the service sector is concerned, productivity
has to be measured in terms of the delivery of the services
to the customers, or to the people expect that sort of services.
In any case, once you need to provide that service, arrangements
in terms of the working hours have to be done in a way that
services can be provided at the appropriate time, and that
critical point of time. Productivity is a measure of efficiency
against the using of the resources to the best of one's ability
and competency. So I think a knowledgeable workforce, plus
the availability of resources will enable an organization
to achieve high productivity.
And what are some of the pressing issues that companies will
have to consider before implementing 5-day work weeks?
DA: For any organization that intends to implement a five-day
work week, it has to look at how this five day work week aligns
with its business, and with the objective of providing a service
or producing a product. If services need to be provided during
the weekends, then employees will need to work over the weekend,
and will have correspondingly free days during the weekday.
Do you anticipate some private sector companies following
suit by implementing five day work weeks?
DA: I think, in fact, the five-day work week has long been
present in the private sector, especially in the manufacturing
sector. In the services producing sector, the five-day work
week has not been fully implemented, which has since resulted
in a 5 1/2 day work week.
What impact will a five-day work week have on the service
sector?
DA: I think organizations will have to resort to employing
more staff to replace those who need to go on non-working
days. At the same time, there will be arrangements in terms
of the working hours, and how should available staff be deployed.
For private companies that are not able to provide a five-day
work week for their employees, what are some of the benefits
or perks that employees will get in lieu of this?
DA: I think, generally, those companies that are not able
to go on a five-day work week, they will have to provide the
employees some time off, in lieu of the time that they spend,
in delivering the service to the customer.
Will five-day work weeks result in savings in terms of electricity
costs, and so on for companies?
DA: This again depends on the type of industry that you're
in, be it the manufacturing or the services sector. There
will be some savings, in terms of electricity and power, if
the organization chooses to close its operations, and then
making it available through some other means, that could,
for example, take advantage of the connectivity, the electronic
connections, so on, in terms of some wireless communications
or automated communications facilities.
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