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COVER STORY
Professionalising Part-time Work
in Singapore: Are We There Yet?
Part-time
Work
Full-time
Success
A Study by
thYnk Consulting Group
Why are part-time
work arrangements not
prevalent in Singapore?
Employer Alliance’s
(EA) research study
on “Professionalising
Part-time Work in
Singapore: Are We
There Yet?” uncovered
current realities of
mainstreaming parttime work.
COVER STORY
The study
gleaned insights from three organisations –
Commonwealth Travel Service Corporation (CTC Travel), Khoo Teck
Puat Hospital (KTPH) and Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS) – that have
leveraged part-time arrangements as a strategic tool to meet their business
objectives. The study also comes with a best practices tool-kit that employers
can take reference from when implementing part-time work in their own
businesses.
Why Is Part-Time Work Not Mainstreamed In Singapore?
Three key findings account for why it is not prevalent:
An untapped talent pool comprising youths, women and
older persons
Take-up rates for part-time work in these groups are not high for a variety
of reasons. For youths, the relative affluence of families in Singapore
reduces the need for them to supplement incomes of their families. For
women, the accessibility to varied childcare support options has enabled
more mothers to continue with full-time work. Furthermore, there is a lack of
positions available for women seeking part-time jobs at the executive and
professional levels. Older persons are also less likely to take on part-time
jobs as their children remain their main source of financial support.
An apprehension in embracing part-time employment
The concept of working long hours is a ‘normal and accepted’ way of life;
hence working fewer hours is not considered a mainstream way of seeking
livelihood. This notion, coupled with the perception of part-time work as
transitory in nature explains why both employers and most job seekers
prefer full-time and term contract positions over part-time arrangements.
The workplace’s passivity towards work-life integration
There is a dearth in the quality and quantity of part-time work available
currently. Employers remain unsure about the feasibility and benefits of
implementing part-time work arrangements, in part due to their perception
that part-timers are less committed. Supervisors, accustomed to traditional
forms of working arrangements, are less willing to work outside of
entrenched work processes to embrace flexibility.
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COVER STORY
COVER STORY
Making Part-Time Work In Your Organisation
Enabling Part-Time Work In Your Organisation
Interviews with CTC Travel, KTPH and WRS have revealed that part-time
work arrangements, when used strategically, can improve the organisations’
readiness for change and ability to respond to market shifts.
To facilitate the recruitment and retention of part-time employees, organisations
should review their existing recruitment policies and management skills:
Adopt a competency-based approach to hiring
To facilitate a match between interested individuals and job vacancies,
employers can identify the specific knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA) that
are required for a job, and hire an individual based on these KSAs.
This would reduce the tendency to shortlist candidates based on their previous
or current job title and enlarge the potential talent pool to individuals who
may possess the necessary KSAs acquired in other roles and job functions.
Staff Strength
180
3,200
1,100
Number of
Part-time Staff
20
53
220 to 495
Part-time
positions include
Strategic planning,
Marketing and Sales, Doctors and nurses
Corporate Support
Guest relations,
Ticketing,
F&B
Strategic Use of Part-time Work Arrangements
CTC Travel hired stay-at-home mothers who are able to do business
development and have the right contacts and network on a part-time basis
to support the expansion of a new business segment.
In the manpower-scarce healthcare sector, KTPH has offered part-time
work arrangements as an option for staff who have the relevant skills
and knowledge and are able to contribute towards the operations of the
hospital, but yet are unable to devote full-time hours due to personal or
family commitments. Such a move has allowed the hospital to stem attrition
of its highly skilled staff.
WRS operates in a business where its operations peak and trough according
to visitor arrivals which coincide with local school holidays and the holidays
of its major visitor groups. In its manpower planning process, WRS has
utilised part-time work arrangements as a means to adjust its manpower
requirements to its business cycle. It taps on a regular pool of part-timers to
supplement its core staff strength during peak seasons.
Training on Job Redesign
To facilitate a smoother fit between part-time employees and certain job
functions, job processes might need to be reviewed in light of how roles and
functions in the workflow are impacted.
Supervisors equipped with the knowledge to redesign job processes so as
to increase work efficiency and reduce duplication of tasks could ease the
entry of part-timers into the department and increase productivity.
Improved People Management Skills
The prevailing perception is that part-time work has less value than full-time
work. Supervisors and managers of part-time staff, who have been trained
to manage a flexible workforce including part-timers, would be able to better
create a more accepting culture to value an individual’s contribution and
performance over the amount of time spent in the office.
Conclusion
The way we work cannot remain status quo with changing trends in the global
labour market and Singapore’s demographic make-up. A transformation of
the workplace needs to be under way. Organisations can take a cue from
successful companies that have implemented part-time work as a strategic
workforce business planning tool to maximise their human capital and
alleviate the manpower crunch.
For a copy of the full report, please e-mail [email protected].
thYnk Consulting Group is a HR and Management consultancy and training firm. It
provides training and consultancy services in the areas of Leadership, Organisation
Development and Work-Life initiatives among others. Ms Evelyn Kwek brings with her
a wealth of experience in the areas of change management, staff engagement and
leadership development and is also a certified Work-Life consultant.
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