Work-life balance to be improved for public sector
By Dominique Loh, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 24 July 2007 1723 hrs

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SINGAPORE: Civil servants can look forward to a better work-life balance. An advocate and ambassador will be appointed in every public sector agency to help find the middle ground between the two worlds.

The "happy worker is a good worker" mantra is now being fully embraced by the government.

And it is going beyond its five-day work week policy introduced three years ago.

Teo Chee Hean, Defence Minister and Minister In Charge of Civil Service, said: "The Work-life Advocate will by its very name be a champion for work-life and pro-family measures.

"He will take steps to ensure that work-life policies are in place, and more importantly that these policies work for the employees as well as the organisation.

"To signal the government's commitment, the Deputy Secretary of the Ministry will be the Work-Life Advocate."

Said Sim Gim Guan, Work-Life Advocate, Ministry of Information, Communication and the Arts, "There are many aspects, depending on which stage they're in, especially for the new grads who are joining us.

"One of the things that we want to look at is providing opportunities for them to socialise, within the ministry as well as the rest of the stat boards."

International human resource experts say there are several emerging trends when it comes to work-life balance.

The first is the aging workforce. This is a global trend, not unique to just Singapore.

Here, Singapore scores well for its policies in hiring older workers.

The second is the increasing role of women in the workplace.

The Employer Alliance, a network of companies committed to enhancing work-life integration, notes more businesses have taken the lead to make the work environment more pro-family.

Men are now also demanding such policies. Having these policies means a more competitive edge.

Said Claire Chiang, Chairperson, Employer Alliance, "As a parent, they are worried. So they would like, maybe, a work design, where they can have some hours at work, some hours at home, or they can work at home.

"This way, they can give the best to both and it is possible with enabling technology. Companies have shown such examples. They have not had a drop in productivity, but have in fact shown overall enhancement of work performance."

"One thing that Singapore can learn... look at the European Union, the US experience, other countries and look at what is the relationship between individual businesses and what the government can set the pace for," said Arlene Johnson, Vice President, WFD Consulting.

HR experts say there are 25 years worth of research in work-life balance that Singapore can tap into, when implementing the many options available. - CNA/yy