Implemented FWH bring better or bad effects to the business?

From 1 September 2022, the Malaysian government has announced that workers in this country are allowed to apply for flexible working arrangements (AKF) to their respective employers following the amendment to the 1955 Employment Act.

Yes, this announcement has brought so much release to the employees that are struggling to balance their work life nowadays. Previously, a survey by Qualtrics, an experienced online survey company, found that approximately 62 percent of full-time workers in the country expressed their willingness to work flexibly compared to short working days such as four days a week.

But, how will this affect the business itself? According to a few feedbacks from the business owner and management of companies in Malaysia, there have different opinions on this new implication. Some feel this will bring more positive effects in business such as can increase working productivity. The reality of life is that different people react in different ways to work freely. What allows one worker to procrastinate and reduce their work effort can allow another the kind of space and freedom they need to express themselves and get stuck in. Part of being a capable employer is recognizing which of your workers will thrive under flexible conditions and which will stagnate. This will allow you to provide each member of your team with the working environment which best suits their needs to be productive. Other than that, FWH also can help in reducing office expenses. How this can accoutre? as flexible hours often mean work getting done outside the office, whether that be at home or on another place. This arrangement can be translated directly into reducing the office expenses for your business. After all, what’s the point in paying for that spacious downtown office when not many people need to be in the office? rather than paying so much to rent bigger office space, the business owner can go to a smaller place as this will cut the office expenses.

According to some other previous findings, flexible working results in employee loyalty and engagement increased organizational commitment, and higher job satisfaction, also flexible working benefits help to recruit and retain talented employees for the organization. Furthermore, increased productivity, reduced employee turnover, and absenteeism have been identified as advantages of flexible working for employers.

While the positive reaction from the employers, there are stills other points of view the employers. They have been sharing their consent on the negative results of this FWH. Most consent, it can be harder for managers and employers to keep track of what their employees are doing. Flexible working hours (FWH) won’t make everyone’s life easier, for managers and employers it can be a frustration. It is so much harder to keep a good track of what your team is up to when they are all working different hours or at different places. For a manager, flexible working hours (FWH) can mean adjusting your working hours to be better aligned with your team, rather than choosing the times that best suit your life.

A few of the employers also said they worried if this FWH will be misused. Some employees may take advantage of flexible work hours as an opportunity to work from home and relax. This means more playing and having fun while doing work at the same time. This can disturb the concentration and quality of work of the employee while doing their jobs and can cause errors.

Also, Office-oriented and fixed-schedule workers often view their flexible working colleagues as slackers and lazy since they cannot see their work and their productivity. This can cause disagreement to a certain extent among the employees

Lastly, the disadvantage of flexible working hours (FWH) condition may not give a good impression to the employees from a third-person point of view. Clients who are unaware of such a culture, when seeing that the employee is not present will give a bad impression about the employee and the company. Clients expect workers to be present five days a week during peak working hours and they become angry when the employee is not present on a certain day.

In conclusion, we can see that these flexible working hours (FWH) arrangements have both pros and cons for the business. Ultimately, a flexible working environment is to be designed in such a way that it should cater to the company's needs and practices. This provides benefits to the company in terms of strategic workforce planning and implementation. Contras to that negative point of view, there are so many things that need to be done to improve these flexible working hours (FWH) so it can minimize the disadvantages of flexible working hours (FWH) in business