2020 APAC Workforce Insights

Driving Employee Happiness in the New Normal

© 2020 PERSOLKELLY Pte Ltd | All Rights Reserved.

© 2020 PERSOLKELLY Pte Ltd | All Rights Reserved.

Even against the backdrop of a pandemic, talent management has taken on a greater importance within an organisation. A major aspect of this is will be employee happiness – a topic oftentimes misperceived by organisations as an easy task for HR leaders to manage. In reality, it is a complex issue that has crucial implications on your company’s survival and success.

The 2020 APAC Workforce Insights provide an overview of employee happiness levels in January 2020 (before Covid-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation). This report will look at how driving employee happiness in this new normal can still bring about benefits for a company’s performance and productivity.

In January 2020, we found that happier sta are over twice as likely to stay in their organisations for 4 years or more, while unhappier workers are 4.5 times more likely to only stay for another year or less. This confirms a positive relationship between happiness at work and employee loyalty, such as the intended length of stay with their companies.

Employee happiness is still key to organisational survival and success.

Less than 1 year 6% 33%

63% 26%4 yearsor more

Unhappy WorkersHappy Workers

Introduction

12020 APAC Workforce Insights

Further, given businesses’ cost-cutting measures due to Covid-19, the happiness levels of the APAC workforce could be even lower now.

What were the proportions of happy workers in the following countries?

However, only 37% of the workforce were happy at work.

22020 APAC Workforce Insights

Thailand

Indonesia

India

Australia

Vietnam

New Zealand

Malaysia

China

Taiwan

Hong Kong SAR

Singapore

South Korea

Neutral HappyUnhappy

51%

51%

50%

49%

45%

43%

36%

31%

28%

28%

27%

21%

44%

44%

42%

40%

49%

45%

56%

58%

58%

63%

63%

68%

5%

5%

8%

11%

6%

10%

9%

10%

14%

9%

9%

11%

Covid-19 lockdowns forced companies to implement flexible work arrangements, mainly work from home (WFH), to keep employees safe and healthy. This period demonstrated the viability of WFH arrangements to most employees and employers. Both should embrace such flexible work arrangements in the new normal.

Distributed and virtual workspaces could become more commonplace. This would inevitably impact a company’s work environment and work culture – some of the top factors found to be driving both happiness and unhappiness at work before the Covid-19 pandemic. As such, employers should not overlook these factors even during this new normal.

What are the top 5 drivers of happiness and unhappiness at work?

What drove employee happiness before Covid-19 is unlikely to change in the new normal post-pandemic.

32020 APAC Workforce Insights

UnsatisfactorySalary

No perks orbenefits

Negative work culture

No developmentopportunity

Work gives no meaning

47%

41%

37%

35%

34%

Pleasant workenvironment

Work-lifebalance

Positivework culture

Recognitionat work

Flexible workarrangements

57%

52%

49%

48%

47%

Unhappy WorkersHappy Workers

Aside from dissatisfaction over their salary, perks or benefits was also found to be the main source of unhappiness among workers. This could be due to most employees having standardised benefits or even none at all. Further, most of the workforce wanted a benefits package that is tailored to their individual needs

What are the types of benefits packagethat workers were receiving?

How much of the workforce prefers their benefits to be tailored?

Oering flexible work arrangements will be even more relevant as part of eorts to tailor employees’ perks and benefits. Beyond the new normal, this could provide employees with greater work-life balance, which was found to be one of the top drivers of happiness at work.

Employers can also benefit from oering flexible work arrangements as part of employees’ tailored perks and benefits. First, such arrangements can help mitigate future outbreaks in their companies and keep employees safe. Second, just providing this option can serve to improve employees’ happiness at work.

As more of the workforce have flexible work arrangements, a company’s work environment and culture will be more virtual and distributed. Employers should nurture a work environment and culture that is pleasant, positive and conducive for work, regardless of an employee’s location.

However, these challenges may not be as complex or dicult as first thought. Most regional or global companies have been nurturing such virtual work environments across borders for the past few decades.

Tailor employees’ perks and benefits, starting with the option of flexible work arrangements.

Foster a positive culture and pleasant environment across a distributed workforce.

42020 APAC Workforce Insights

Having standardized benefits package

Having tailored benefits package

No benefitspackage

46%

21%

24%

Companies should tailor benefits

Companies should not tailor benefits

No opinion

69%

11%

19%

How often can workers express their concerns with their managers?

How does an employee’s ability to express concerns impact their perceptions of their employers’ care for them?

In a new normal of increasingly distributed workforces, managers need to provide regular opportunities for employees to voice their concerns. This helps to surface employees’ sources of unhappiness and maintain a pleasant and united work environment.

Having the ability to express concerns at work regularly can also improve employee happiness.

52020 APAC Workforce Insights

Even before Covid-19 struck, we found that only half of the workforce could express their concerns regularly or whenever they needed to. Such employees were found to be 16% more likely to feel that their employers cared about their concerns, as compared to those with little or no opportunities to voice their concerns.

21%

79%

92%

My employercares

My employer does not cares

8%

Express rarely or not at all

Express regularly or whenever there’s a need to

20%

31%

12%

27%

RegularlyWhenever there’s a need

No concernsat work

Rarely Noopportunities

9%

From regular calls to virtual townhalls, employers should encourage open discussions among their employees and managers. We found that the frequency of such conversations impacts employees’ happiness at work. Employees with enough opportunities to express their concerns are twice as likely to be happy. The ideal frequency of such one-to-one conversations seems to be at least once a month.

How does an employee’s ability to express concerns impact their happiness at work?

Having such regular conversations will take on greater importance as workforces become more distributed and distant in this new normal.

Providing regular opportunities to voice concerns is even more important for distant employees to surface any grievances.

62020 APAC Workforce Insights

Unhappy employeesHappy employees

37%

42%

62%

33%

61%

Express regularly or whenever there’s need to

Express rarely ornot at all

Once a month ormore often

Less than oncea month

28%

60%

30%

Employees who feel like their concerns are being addressed by their managers were found to be 3 times more likely to be happy at work.

How does employers’ attempts to address employee concerns aect the latter’s happiness with their company?

The Covid-19 lockdowns left some employees feeling isolated. Employers were faced with even greater challenges of both listening to and addressing their employees’ concerns remotely. Managers needed to virtually check in with their teams more regularly to demonstrate care for their sta and maintain a sense of teamwork.

As businesses try to recover during this new normal, companies need to remember that their employees will play a big role in their survival and subsequent success. There remains a great need for employers to maintain their employees’ happiness and revitalise their workforce’s morale.

This will require managers to continue showing care for their sta, and the frequency of one-on-one conversations between managers and employees should remain high – especially amid a more distant and distributed workforce.

Employees voicing concerns is one thing, employers addressing their concerns is quite another.

72020 APAC Workforce Insights

My employer does not attempts to address it

My employer attemptsto address it

Happy with Company Unhappy with Company

54%

19%

3%

15%

Productivity will remain an important factor in determining whether a company can survive Covid-19 and thrive in the new normal. Before Covid-19 struck, we found that happier employees were more likely to feel dedicated and productive, as well as willing to take on additional work tasks, such as going the extra mile to help a colleague or volunteering for projects.

How does happiness impact employees in the following areas?

We also found that happier employees were more likely to maintain a strong working relationship with their managers and compliment their colleagues for a good job. This is unlikely to change any time soon.

As we adapt to a new normal, employers can and should continue to nurture happiness, mainly by providing employees with flexible work arrangements – as part of providing the type of tailored perks and benefits that employees want – as well as ample opportunities to voice their concerns, regardless of their work location.

This can then lead to a happiness loop at the workplace. Such positivity can only help to lift the doom and gloom of emerging from the Covid-19 crisis. This can improve the happiness of their fellow employees, and ultimately help companies thrive during and beyond this new normal.

Happier employees tend to be more productive and contribute to workplace happiness – in this new normal and beyond.

82020 APAC Workforce Insights

Proud of working for

company

Recommend company to

friends/family

See myself in the long term plans of

the company

Respectmanager/superiors

Often smile while at work

84%

18%

77%

17%

77%

22%

87%

40%

80%

37%

Feelproductive

Volunteer tobe part of

projects

Dedicatedto my job

Willing to work overtime to help

a colleague

Complimentcolleagues[s] whenthey do a good job

84%

42%

74%

36%

88%

53%

77%

45%

86%

61%

Employees who are unhappy with their company.

Employees who are happy with their company.

About PERSOLKELLY

PERSOLKELLY is one of the largest HR solutions companies in Asia Pacific that provides comprehensive

end-to-end workforce solutions. Headquartered in Singapore, PERSOLKELLY spans over 50 oces across 13

markets including: Australia, mainland China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand,

Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

Methodology

PERSOLKELLY and YouGov carried out an online survey from 27 December 2019 to 6 February 2020, before

the Covid-19 outbreak was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organisation. Respondents

were given a scale of 0 to 10 in the questions relating to level of happiness, with respondents scoring between

0 to 3 defined as ‘Unhappy’, 4 to 7 as ‘Neutral’ and 8 to 10 as ‘Happy’. The data and insights were derived from

a sample size of 10,270 employed or job seeking adults (aged 18+) in 12 markets across APAC (Australia: 2,110;

Mainland China: 866; Hong Kong SAR: 736; India: 759; Indonesia: 806; Malaysia: 744; New Zealand: 513;

Singapore: 741; South Korea: 719; Taiwan: 724; Thailand: 841; Vietnam: 711).

Definitions of key terms used in this report include Managers – respondents with managerial roles; Senior

Executives – respondents who hold the title of Directors under board level and the positions above; Permanent

Sta – respondents who work either part-time or full-time permanently in a company; and Temporary and

Contract Workers – respondents who work either part-time or full time temporarily, or on contract-basis in a

company.