Flexi Hours and Work From Home

Standard Chartered Saadiq Berhad, the bank’s Islamic Banking subsidiary was established in November 2008, and offers a comprehensive range of Shariah-compliant products and services to individuals and corporates through its first Saadiq financial centre located in Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Kuala Lumpur.

“Standard Chartered Bank’s main footprint is in Asia, the Middle East and Africa, and in most of these regions women have not been able to get to a position where their full potential can be realised. Obviously that has an impact on the entire society and social environment. One of our roles as a responsible player in these markets is to create that development within the wider communities in which we operate. And we think that getting gender diversity right in those markets is economically quite powerful.”

- Jaspal Bindra, CEO, Asia, Standard Chartered Bank

Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia recognizes that their most valuable asset is their people. Hence, Flexible Working Arrangements are part of the Bank’s brand promise to be Here for Good and making Standard Chartered a great place to work. The employees define Standard Chartered and how they perform, and it is through this diversity which provides a balanced perspective to help best serve their customers.

Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia introduced ‘Flexible Time’in 2011 and launched the ‘Working from Home’ initiative in June 2012, in aims to offer their employees flexibility to manage their work and personal commitments to meet the needs of various business and individual circumstances. These initiatives allow Standard Chartered to offer workable solutions to keep high performing employees whilst continuing to drive performance and support business objectives.

‘Flexible Time’ is a work arrangement where the contracted number of hours remains unchanged but the pattern of hours worked on any given working day can be altered around a set of core hours defined by the employee’s manager.

‘Working from Home’is a working arrangement which allows employees, as part of their normal working pattern, to work from home for a minimum of one day each week.

Important Stakeholders

The Performance, Reward and Benefits team from the Human Resources Division.

Key Guidelines

• The arrangements should align to business objectives and overall work arrangements with the needs of employees


• There is no minimum length of service required to apply for Flexible Working arrangements. Where an application for Flexible Working is made by a new recruit, the hiring Manager may be required to assess performance and suitability based upon employment references


• When Working from Home, the Employee will be required, as a minimum, to be available to respond to queries by telephone or e-mail during their normal working hours


• Opportunities for training, development and promotion will not be affected by being on a Flexible Working arrangement


• Where a Flexible Working arrangement is approved, the change will normally be permanent. If an Employee requests for a transfer from a Flexible Working arrangement to the previous work arrangement, the Group will make all possible efforts to return to the original contractual terms although this may not always be feasible


• Applications will only be considered upon satisfactory completion by the employee of a Health & Safety Risk assessment of the home working environment.

Infrastructure needed

Employees are provided with hardware and software which are in compliance with technological standards such as Microsoft Office applications, remote access and security software, approved business applications and telephone hardware and software.

Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia seeks to provide a fair, consistent and transparent approach to all of the benefits it provides employees, including 61% of the total workforce who are women.

Since the inception of Flexible Working arrangements in the form of ‘Flexible Timing’ and ‘Working from Home’, both the people and the organization as a whole are encouraging better work-life balance, performance and meritocracy. This is seen with 53% of new hires and 14% of senior roles held by women since the introduction of Flexible Working.

http://www.standardchartered.com.my/

• International Women’s Day


• International Men’s Day


• Organized Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) talks on work-life balance

Standard Chartered’s ambition is to lead the way through diversity and inclusion, supporting their employees, customers and communities across over 70 markets. The company employs about 89,000 people, almost half of whom are women, representing 129 nationalities worldwide.

Within the workplace:

• Ensures that employees are representative of the Bank’s markets and client profile


• Strives to create an inclusive environment for all employees


• Explores ways to improve the work-life balance of their people

This approach helps them to attract, retain and develop the best talent, getting the best out of the broadest spectrum of people in order to sustain strong business performance.

With their customers:

• Uses inclusive approaches to better understand and serve all stakeholders


• Ensures that many of the Bank’s products and services are localised and reflective of the society and customer base

In the community:

• Focuses on supporting financial education and empowerment as well as community engagement


• Engages with partners and others in the field through networks and community sponsorships


• Aims to be a recognised market leader in D&I