Work-life Balance : Making it Real (Agilent Technologies Malaysia)

Work-life Balance : Making it Real
(Agilent Technologies Malaysia)
Reconciling work and family life has been an issue of growing importance over the past decade.
Employees are now not solely looking to get more income, but also for better quality of life
through work-life balance. As the world became more competitive, employers start to build-up a
supportive and healthy work environments culture,
which will enable their employees to have a balance
Work-life balance is about
between work and personal responsibilities for employees having a measure of
employees to be a more productive and happy. On the control over when, where and how
other hand, a poor work-life balance can result in
they work, while at the same time
unhealthy levels of stress and unhappiness and thus
helping company to gain a
ultimately increase the employee turnover rate. Some
competitive edge in an
of the benefits of work-life balance initiatives in the
ever-changing work environment.
workplace as follows :
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accommodate access to education and training
and enable employees to use their acquired skills
more effectively;
increase the applicant pool for advertised jobs;
increase productivity at the organisational
level;
provide greater job satisfaction, growth
potential and job security (as reported by
employees),
in
turn
providing
greater
organisational profitability;
reduce
absenteeism
through
decreasing
work-family conflict; and
show positive impact on the organisation’s
image as perceived by the general public.
‘Today work-life balance ranks
as one of the most important
workplace attributes - second
only to compensation, and
workers who feel they have a
better work-life balance tend to
work
21%
harder
than
employees who feel overworked.’
Achieving work-life balance is a challenge but it is
certainly
possible,
for
example,
Agilent
Technologies Malaysia is a company that has
successfully implementing work-life balance initiatives
which has proven that the operating & productivity
costs, absenteeism and insurance claims reduced,
while employees’ punctuality, commitment and
performance are keep growing every year.
- Industry week, Apr 18, 2012
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The company boosts a comprehensive work-life balance programmes that meet the challenges
posed by today’s modern world and the family demands. With the latest technology, employers,
employees and customers can easily be connected, productive and efficient in dealing both with
their work and families. The programmes have been developed covering eight essential
elements which provide positive affect both employees and the company as a whole.
These elements have been successfully being implemented each year. The employees and the
company give full support, involvement and take ownership to make the programmes work
effectively. The list below outlines the programmes of work-life balance for each element:
1.
Flexible work schedule
 Only require supervisor’s approval
 No fix hours to complete daily
 Full flexibility - May change daily
 Flexibility to start / end work time
 No punch card
 Efficient work-from-home option available
 Practiced by all levels (even leaders; giving
confidence to all to enjoy the same practices)
 Time management skill course available to all
employees
 Tools to be connected and efficient while working
away from the office
 Seamless to work from anywhere
 Soft phone on every laptop
 Remain connected to the vine
 Allow taking time off in addition to
 Annual Leaves
 A replacement time off for work done in
addition to normal working hours
 Often given by supervisors for a good job
done after a major project/transfer
 To handle life’s emergencies
 Usually preludes a long term work from home
arrangement
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2.
Mothers at work
 Flexible work schedule applicable to all mothers
 Huge room for breast milk production and huge refrigerator to keep the breast milk
 Convenience store available at the plant for mother to buy daily stuff
 Dedicated parking lots for pregnant women
 Weekly whole-day visit by a female doctor
 Maternity Benefits : Maternity Leave & Allowance for child birth
 Childcare Assistance : Discounted rates at Agilent identified nurseries
 A Mothers’ Club : Support group among mothers for sharing ideas and resources
3.
Study while working (Education Assistance
Programme (EAP))
 Encourage employees to pursue educational
development by sponsoring the course fees
 An average of 25 employees apply for EAP
each year
 Usually preludes a long term work from home
arrangement
4.
Playing while working
 Working and playing are bonding together as the tagline is “Working hard, playing
hard”
 Introduce more exciting playing programmes such as:
 Proud of Malaysian and Agilent heritage
 Fun and games
 Nostalgic Photo Session
 Team Competition
 The Agilent Values Survival Series Programme (every year) :
th
 Martial Art Challenges (17 Oct)
 Getting mental and physical ready
 Ice breaking session and speed, focus, accountability
and innovation & contribution values
 Combination of puzzle and physical work
 Online search and connecting outside Agilent Penang
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Cyber Connect Challenges (29th Oct- 9th Nov)
 Connecting to people and technologies
 Agilent values that emphasise on speed, trust, respect
and teamwork
 Online search and connecting outside Agilent Penang
Virtual Simulation Challenges (15th Nov)
 A simulated test after two events
 Emphasise speed, focus, accountability and innovation
& contribution, trust, respect and teamwork
 Series of tasks to be completed within a controlled
environment
Reality Check Challenges (21st Nov)
 A baby step to outside world
 Emphasies on Uncompromising Integrity
 Tasks to be completed by learning and listening to
people outside Agilent as a reality check
Real World Challenges (5th Dec)
 Practice in the real world with all learning from previous
programmes
 Emphasise on all Agilent’s values
 Series of tasks to be completed in the real and outside
world
Allow the establishment of Employees Initiated Clubs which
provide platforms that enable employees to connect, unleash their talent and demonstrate leadership and teamwork.
Clubs available at Agilent are :
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5.
Swimming
Cooking & Baking
Travel
Running
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Cycling
Food & Dining
Mother
Badminton
Health and Well-Being
 Health Benefits
 In-house clinic with doctor
 24 hours/ 7 days/week Weekly whole-day visit by
a doctor
 1 day of women doctor visit
 Four Seasons Cafeteria
 Unlimited coverage for outpatient clinical visit
 Dependent Coverage
 Dental & Optical subsidy
 Health Screening
 Insurance Coverage
 100% premium by Company
 Group Hospitalization & Surgical treatment
 Life & Total Permanent Disability
 Personal Accident
 Critical Illness Option for additional plans at a
minimal cost
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6.
Healthy Lifestyle
 Health talks by professionals
 Attractive Blood screening packages
 Free ultra sound checks
 Annual Blood Donation Programme with the theme
of ‘A Gift for Life’
Sport and recreation
 Provides sport complex for employees :
 A football field
 Fully equipped gym
 Rooms for zumba, yoga, taichi classes
 3 squash courts
 2 badminton courts
 1 jamming room
 1 football field
 Supports Yearly tournament
 Squash
 Badminton
 Table Tennis
 Football
7. Corporate citizenship
 Provides employees up to four hours a month of
paid time off for volunteer work
 Supports science education, university and
community programs
 Involves in community support activities
including :
 Japan Quake Donation
 Braille at the Beach
 One Can Donation
 ‘Walk With Us’ with St. Nicholas Home
 ‘Rock to Rock’ Charity Run
 Charity Fund for homes
 Involve in Penang International Science Fair
 Groom a New Generation of Innovators &
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Entrepreneurs
8.
Power of Agilent Badge
 Allows employees to receive great rewards and discount from participating vendors in
various industries including :
 Financial Services
 Food and Beverages
 Beauty and Hair Salons
 Sports supplies / Outlets
 Pet Supplies
 Restaurants (Azuma Sushi & Teppan and
Paddington House of Pancake)
 Bakeries
 Telecommunication (Maxis, Astro)
 Computers & Accessories (hp)
 Health & Fitness (The Xtreme Fitness)
 Education (Wawasan Open University)
 Child Services
 Event Management
Agilent’s Achievement
A complete transformation within 6 years from 2006 to 2012 had brought Agilent with new
dimension of excellent performance. In 2010, the results from the Leadership Audit Survey
which responded by all employees had shown tremendous achievement. Agilent scored exceed
external 75% percentile benchmark in terms of customer orientation, speed & decisiveness, risk
taking and engagement. In 2013, Agilent continuously excel in their performance when
obtained great results from Aon Hewitt Best Employee Study. The results revealed that Agilent
consistently way above market average for :
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Besides that, Agilent had also received numerous industry recognition for innovation and
excellence in product, best employer and supply chain management. Recently, they had been
awarded as the HR Grand Winner and also won 12 sub-categories including excellence in workplace well-being from the Human Resource Excellence Award 2013. These achievements have
proven that a conducive and healthy workplace environment provided by Agilent to the
employees will sustain the betterment of business in the long run.
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