Even leaders are not immune to the pressures of the Ideal Worker image. In 2015, Marissa Mayer, then CEO of Yahoo, announced she would take limited leave and continue working after delivering her twin daughters. This is despite Yahoo’s enhanced parental leave policies, which Ms Mayer herself announced, allowing new parents to take up to 16 weeks of paid leave.
At that time, Ms Mayer was criticised for sending the implicit message that employees should prioritise work over family. This highlights how flexi-work and other work-life balance policies can backfire – guilt and pressure (from the top and from within) could make employees feel compelled to put in extra hours to make up for “lost” time.
Admittedly, most research on flexi-work has been based in the US or other Western countries. However, evidence suggests that Singaporean employers and employees may be reluctant to embrace flexi-work policies.
For instance, despite its introduction more than a decade ago, only 53 per cent of eligible fathers in Singapore utilise their paternity leave entitlement, citing concerns with career prospects, guilt toward coworkers and perceived lack of workplace support. These concerns echo those related to flexi-work arrangements.
WHAT EMPLOYERS CAN DO
Both employees and employers can benefit from flexi-work policies. The availability of flexi-work arrangements are an attractive recruitment and retention factor across all generations, and telecommuters generally have greater job satisfaction, better performance and lower work-family conflict.
How then can employers plan and implement flexi-work policies to reap the benefits of flexi-work arrangements?
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