Retail Banks

83% of Standard Chartered Singapore’s employees placed on flexi-working arrangements

Standard Chartered Bank Singapore has successfully placed nearly 83 per cent of its eligible Singapore employees on an industry-first mover flexible (“flexi”) working arrangement programme called “Future Workplace, Now” (“FWN”).

Designed to empower employees with the autonomy to choose their most efficient and sustainable way of working, the FWN programme was piloted in Singapore alongside eight other key markets in its first phase in Q1 2021.

The role of the workplace has shifted from a space to fulfil work duties to an agent for socialisation and collaboration, and it is now more important to foster an outcome-focused culture that produces desired outcomes and results. The concept of flexi-working, coupled with flexi-benefits and flexi-learning, has been ongoing in the Bank for the last decade and is a key employee value proposition that underpins the Bank’s overall ‘employee-first’ people strategy to attract the best talent and future-proof their job roles.

Under the FWN, employees have the flexibility to choose to work from the office, home, or at any of the International Workplace Group locations across Singapore, if their roles permit for them to do so.

More than 61% of employees in Singapore chose to work from the office two to three days a week as they sought to strike a good balance between working from home and the office. To facilitate this new way of working, the Bank covered nearly SGD7 million in costs in April 2021 to help employees in Singapore set up their home offices via a one-time nett payment of approximately SGD1,000 per eligible employee.

 

Charlotte Thng, Head of Human Resources, Singapore, Australia & ASEAN Markets, Standard Chartered Bank said, “Our people are the key driver and assets of the Bank and we have always championed an employee-first mindset. We recognised several changes and new initiatives had to be made, given the changed nature and requirements of working in the post-pandemic world, and are focused on investing in the best environment and tools for our employees. We continue to listen to our employees’ needs and seek ways to offer the best employee experience in Singapore so that they can flourish at work and deliver the best for our clients and communities.”