A good move or a luxury SMEs can ill afford . . .

THIS WEEK'S TOPIC: How do you, as a business leader, see the government's moves to enhance childcare leave and support for working parents?

Victor Mills Chief Executive Singapore International Chamber of Commerce

SUPPORT for working parents is key to help encourage more couples to have children. The question is how much is enough? Large companies may be able to follow the government's lead. It will be a challenge for small companies to do so. They already release fathers for vital work as NSmen.

Given that our demographics are not heading in the right direction, surely the time is ripe for a calm reassessment of Singapore's population policies. Whatever support companies provide to working parents will need to be supplemented by immigration to enable businesses to grow and to sustain a vibrant economy.

Andrew Calvert Managing Director, APAC AchieveForum

OFFERING choice is a crucial element in developing employee loyalty and engagement. Yes, there are costs the the business has to bear, but what is the cost of losing an otherwise valuable employee? What is the cost of replacing relationships that have been built over time with customers and co-workers? What about the tacit knowledge they take with them (systems and processes)?

Helen Ng Chief Executive Officer General Storage Company Pte Ltd

AS a working mother with two young children, I am heartened by the government's enhancement of the parental leave scheme. As a business leader in the private sector, I am mindful of the need to strike an effective balance between providing enhanced childcare benefits to new parents and the additional burden on the employees who have to cover their colleagues' duties.

I prefer to give my employees the flexibility to work at home if they cannot find someone to care for their children at short notice. Providing extended childcare leave is a luxury the industry cannot afford.

Darren Rushworth Managing Director, Singapore SAP

THE government's decision to enhance childcare leave and support for working parents is a step in the right direction. At SAP, we believe our employees are our most valuable assets. They are more than the portfolio they hold in the office, juggling multiple roles - as employee, partner, child and parent. We understand that being a parent is a major life event and organisations need to support their employees through this important milestone.

We share the government's sentiments and as a family-oriented company, we place great focus on promoting a healthy family-career balance, and strive towards fostering a culture where employees of all backgrounds can thrive and achieve the best of their potential.

Dileep Nair Independent Director Keppel DC Reit Management Pte Ltd

THE enhanced infant-care leave for the public sector is but the latest attempt by the government to raise birth rates in Singapore.

However, unless legislated, it is unlikely that the private sector will have much incentive to follow suit as it will add to costs. Our declining indigenous population is a national issue, indeed, a strategic issue and must be addressed holistically.

Bold policies must be formulated ranging from highly subsidised and convenient childcare facilities; affordable housing for young couples; flexible career paths for mothers; to easily accessible and subsidised fertility treatment. Only by viewing the issue though the strategic lens will sufficient public resources be allocated and spent on what is really a matter of Singapore's continued existence as we know it.

Seah Kian Peng CEO NTUC FairPrice

JUGGLING between the demands of a career and the attention of the family with young children is challenging. At FairPrice we strive to cultivate a supportive and family-friendly environment to facilitate work-life balance. Besides embracing the paternity and maternity leave that staff are entitled to, we also offer employees additional parent care, child care and family leave to celebrate family occasions and spend quality time with their loved ones. Coupled with our flexi-work arrangements, we believe these give staff peace of mind and flexibility.

In turn, staff are able to give their best at work knowing that their familial responsibilities have been taken care of. Pro-family efforts help promote a happier and productive workforce which translates to a healthier and positive outcome for all.

Karl Hamann Chief Executive Officer QBE Insurance (Singapore) Pte Ltd

I BELIEVE these new policies will play an important role in further enhancing Singapore's social and economic systems, and also at the same time encourage new births in an ageing population. Solid economic growth is achieved not only through the success of businesses, but also through sound social policies that encourage balanced lifestyles and prioritise Singapore's next generation.

As a leader, I always emphasise care and empathy in the hope that we can help our staff be successful not only in the workplace but also at home.

Tripti Lochan CEO VML in South-east Asia & India

THERE has been encouraging progress made around improving childcare leave, particularly in the consideration of strategic priority areas like gender diversity and inclusion. Statutory entitlements, however, do not reflect the extent to which they are implemented in the workplace, where decisions are influenced by corporate norms and culture.

Businesses committed to driving social change can go beyond the statutory minimum to ensure that the workplace is not only family-friendly, but also gender-equal. Which is why as part of efforts to enhance workplace diversity and create a culture of inclusivity, we strongly believe in implementing equal leave benefits for employees regardless of race, religion, gender, or even permanent residency.

Paul Henaghan President, South Asia and Korea Dell EMC

THE steps taken by the government to enhance childcare leave and support for working parents are commendable and progressive. At Dell, we strongly believe in providing flexible work options such as connected workplace, flexi-work hours or compressed work week, supporting team members to balance their professional and personal lives.

Like with any new policies and processes, the provision of additional leave presents short-term challenges in managing the business and work demands; the overall benefits however far outweigh any such concerns. Enhanced leave policies will ultimately contribute to creating a robust employee value proposition for existing and prospective employees which helps attract, retain and engage the best talent in the industry.

Wong Heng Chew Country President Fujitsu Singapore

WHILE Fujitsu advocates the growth of an employee's career for higher productivity, we also recognise that employees can struggle in today's fast-paced business environment balancing between work and family responsibilities. This can happen at different stages of the employee's career and this move by the government will have a positive impact.

To assist employees in maintaining a balancing act, we offer a flexible leave policy during trying personal circumstances and support staff to take time off to manage their family responsibilities. For example, our staff can take up to six months of unpaid leave. In return, we have benefited from a more motivated and happier workforce.

Chia Ngiang Hong President Singapore Green Building Council

I SEE the move as a positive initiative as businesses generally want to ensure the wellbeing of their employees and support their families. This also makes business sense as happy and engaged employees are likely to be more productive and put in their best at work.

Where leave entitlements are concerned, most businesses would prefer to have some degree of flexibility, especially SMEs, where the option to redistribute work is not so readily available due to size constraint. It is not just a cost to the company, but the disruption to work plans and key business activities that need to be considered as well.

The government can help in terms of funding support, but the work disruption is something that needs to be factored in, especially in the drive for all businesses to be more productive and efficient.

Chris Fossick Managing Director, Singapore and South-east Asia JLL

THIS announcement from the government is a welcome development and we look forward to more policies that support a healthy work-life balance. We at JLL aim to create a diverse and inclusive work environment where everyone can achieve their full potential.

We are developing policies that can help provide benefits for both parents, such as "gradual return to work" programmes for new mothers and granting an additional week of paid paternity leave to new fathers. As we proactively seek new opportunities to enhance employee welfare, it is crucial to get buy-in from the government.

Casey Teh Managing Director Simmons (SEA) Pte Ltd

IT is a good initiative by the government to enhance the childcare leave and could be a way for them to attract talent to join the public service. The government has the capacity and resources to provide such attractive benefits for its staff. If this becomes a mandatory entitlement in the private sector, it could be a great challenge for many SMEs with limited resources, especially headcount.

It can pose a big disruption for business operations and unduly burden the other staff members who have to take over the workload during the leave. It could potentially cause unhappiness and imbalance within the organisation. In some cases, if the staff member is a key contributor, it can totally hamper the day-to-day business operations.

Big private organisations too may be able to afford offering and implementing this benefit, as a form of recruitment and retention initiative. However, this will mean that SMEs will face another challenge in attracting good talent. As SMEs are a major employer contributing to 70 per cent of jobs in Singapore, this could be a major setback for many firms, especially in a challenging business environment.

Toby Koh Group Managing Director Ademco Security Group

MUCH as I applaud the government for taking the lead to further improve the perks for new parents, the move has also put huge pressure on the private sector to follow suit. My team and I will have to put deep thought into this in the coming months. Certainly a conundrum.

If we do decide to similarly enhance our leave benefits for parents, perhaps a flexible compromise can be achieved in Ademco. We have most of our Enterprise System on cloud; hence light duties may be carried out at home. I am sure our team would greatly appreciate any help.

Edwin Khew Teck Fook President The Institution of Engineers, Singapore

AS such a new policy can cut both ways, it is fitting for the government to conduct it as a pilot scheme for civil servants. The three-year "trial" period will allow practical issues to be surfaced and addressed on both the employers' and employees' end.

In this challenging economic climate, the private sector would likely need to be incentivised before they offer similar benefits to their employees. But it is important for businesses to monitor this closely and be kept informed of the pros and cons by the government, with a view towards enhancing employment practices. A pro-family working culture with emphasis on a child's wellbeing will create long-term win-win partnerships between employers and employees.

Dhirendra Shantilal Board Director Fircroft Group

SINGAPORE'S fertility rate at an average of 1.2 children born per woman is one of the lowest in the world. If we are going to maintain our Singaporean core and competitiveness in the global economic environment, there has to be a longer-term approach and ultimately measures taken by both the government and private sector to facilitate child care and support working parents must be viewed as investments rather than costs.

We are facing a deep scarcity of local talent which will have implications for future business leaders. A combination of incentives and benefits must be deployed aggressively if we are going to encourage Singaporeans to have more children in a reasonable time frame.

Robin C Lee Group COO Bok Seng Group

TO sustain our population, we need to produce enough of our own babies as we cannot always rely on the influx of immigrants to replace our ageing population. The government's latest move to enhance childcare leave is certainly a move in the right direction in supporting working couples with newborns.

However, I believe extra maternal or paternal leave alone will not significantly increase our birth rate; other issues such as our extremely high cost of living and of raising a child, not to mention the stress of our educational systems, need to be continuously looked at as well.

Mohan Veloo Chief Technology Officer, Asia-Pacific F5 Networks

I BELIEVE this is a strong step towards encouraging shared childcare responsibilities, which have proven social and economic effects. Fathers who take on a more active role in childcare tasks develop stronger bonds with their children and are found to boost children's learning abilities in the long run.

On a macro level, this helps improve gender equity in the whole society. Paternity leave provides women with more freedom and confidence to focus on their careers, offering them more opportunities to progress into boardrooms. The business benefits of having women in higher positions are clear: organisations with female leaders are proven to boost their net margins and teams that include women are more successful at logical analysis, coordination, planning and problem solving. In view of International Women's Day on March 8, we want to celebrate diversity and equality at the workplace, and this conversation should include both men and women, fathers and mothers.

Zaheer K Merchant Regional Director (Singapore & Europe) QI Group of Companies

THE government's efforts will positively impact businesses as these measures will help to attract, motivate and retain people who are more likely to be dedicated, focused and productive. I believe staff who return from childcare leave would become more committed to the organisation, and would usually be less stressed as they have greater balance and quality of home and work life.

Providing childcare leave and support for working parents should not be seen as a liability; rather, as long as employees perform their tasks well, they should be afforded the trust to manage their time. A business culture that supports healthy work-life balance is a gift that keeps on giving; acknowledgement of the importance of employees' personal lives through these measures will go a long way to ensure that they feel valued and understood, which in turn reaps the rewards of productivity and staff retention.

David Leong Managing Director PeopleWorldwide Consulting Pte Ltd

CHILDCARE leave and support for working parents are only tactical strategies and options in light of our more serious ageing demographics problem. Our low fertility rate, housing provisions for young families who need a roof to start a family, and increasing resources for nursery and kindergarten amenities are other factors in the big issue of promoting population growth.

From a HR perspective, the enhanced leave measures show a pro-family government going all the way to provide support for young families. In today's context, it is almost a norm as well as a financial necessity to have both parents working. The government's pro-family initiatives are a positive step forward that hopefully will be emulated by the private sector. But the latter would need government support, as such initiatives will impact businesses' bottom lines.

Lee Siang Chief Executive Officer Dyslexia Association of Singapore

IT is probably easier for industries and companies with a management-by-results approach to adopt such practices. However, for organisations requiring the physical presence of employees to accomplish their duties, I can understand the reservations of employers.

The Dyslexia Association of Singapore (DAS) takes a long-term view of our relationship with employees and has provided for staff in not very different ways from our government's most recent moves. In 2015 and 2016, DAS supported nine staff who took two to three months' no-pay leave in combination with maternity leave. We are open to listen to our staff's needs in caring for their children. By planning ahead together, we will overcome short-term challenges and gain long-lasting working relationships.

Lim Soon Hock Managing Director PLAN-B ICAG Pte Ltd

THERE will be opportunity costs for businesses when fathers at the workplace take unpaid leave to take care of their newborns. Yet companies should emulate the government's leave policy as best as they can, to support the larger objective of increasing our birth rate.

The Centre for Fathering promotes more active and responsible fatherhood. The former National Family Council champions a family-first mindset to build resilient families.

This latest government move further reinforces what these two people-led organisations have been championing - on shared parenthood. Any short-term sacrifices by businesses will be for the larger good of Singapore over the longer term, that is, ensuring that we will have sufficient human capital to drive and support our economy.

Note: Mr Lim was the former chairman of the Centre for Fathering and National Family Council

Henry Tan Managing Director Nexia TS

A HOLISTIC approach to human capital is crucial. Sometimes we pay too much attention to remuneration and forget about the other equally important areas that an employee is concerned with. I believe having appropriate childcare leave and support for working parents is important. If employees are not able to work with peace of mind that their children are well taken care of, it is difficult to work well.

Businesses should consider support measures where there are buddies to cover each other's duty when staff go on childcare leave. If the burden for these initiatives can be co-shared between the employer and government, that will be best. Studies have found a link between work-life balance and employee turnover. High employee turnover is costly and would impact business performance.

Oliver Houchin Managing Director Tots & Teddies

TAKING childcare leave or needing to work need not be mutually exclusive. Child and infant care centres located close to workplaces can aid working parents in many ways - from allowing parents to visit their children through the day, to creating activities that are more parent-inclusive.

One way is to invite parents to share a home-made breakfast at the childcare centre before heading to work. Likewise, childcare centres can create a dedicated space for nursing mothers to nurse their infants, something they would otherwise not have aside from the privacy of their home.

Additionally, specialised mobile apps are available to provide updates to parents throughout the day. These initiatives are currently available at Tots & Teddies, giving working parents peace of mind and more quality time with their children.