The federal government’s newly implemented Hybrid Working Model (HWM) has drawn cautious support from business groups and workplace experts, but they warn that greater flexibility for civil servants must not come at the expense of faster approvals, responsiveness and public service delivery.
For businesses, the real test will not be where government officers work, but whether licences, permits, applications and other processes continue to move without disruption.
SME Association of Malaysia National President Dr Chin Chee Seong said it remains too early to determine whether the model, implemented from Aug 1, will lift productivity, stressing that flexibility alone does not guarantee better performance.
“The success of hybrid working depends not only on where employees work, but also on work culture, discipline, accountability and the ability to deliver results,” he said to BusinessToday.
Businesses Want Results, Not Just Flexibility
Chin highlighted that the government should treat the current rollout as an evaluation period and assess productivity through measurable outcomes including work delivered, quality, turnaround time, responsiveness and public satisfaction.
“Of particular concern to businesses is whether officers remain accessible and government processes continue without delays.
“For businesses, delays in approvals, licences, permits, applications, payments or responses from government agencies can have a direct impact on business operations and costs,” he said.
Chin said trade and business associations, chambers of commerce, industry groups and professional bodies should therefore be included in any assessment of whether the hybrid model is making government services more efficient and accessible.
He proposed a review after six to 12 months, using indicators such as processing times, outstanding cases, complaints, response times, service quality and stakeholder satisfaction.
Ultimately, Chin said the yardstick should be straightforward: Whether Malaysians and businesses receive “faster, more efficient and more responsive government services”.
FMM: Officers Must Remain Reachable
Meanwhile, Federation of Malaysian Manufacturing President Jacob Lee echoed the call for stronger accountability, saying hybrid working could improve productivity and employee wellbeing, but only with rigorous performance management and robust digital infrastructure.
Lee said to BusinessToday that the government should move away from simply tracking hours worked and instead adopt outcome-based key performance indicators.
For businesses dealing with government agencies, he stressed that officers responsible for approvals, licensing, permits and other commercial processes must either be physically available when required or remain readily contactable while working remotely.
“There must be clear accountability and adequate coverage arrangements to ensure that hybrid working does not result in delays, difficulty in reaching responsible officers or disruption to approval processes,” Lee said, emphasising that the objective should be seamless service delivery regardless of where the officer is working.
At the same time, Lee hopes the policy can deliver tangible savings to the government as better workplace planning, shared workstations and effective scheduling should allow Putrajaya to reduce unnecessary spending on office space, electricity, air-conditioning and other utilities.
Not Every Job Suits Hybrid Work
From a workplace wellbeing perspective, Monash University Malaysia researcher and Department of Psychology lecturer Yap Wai Meng told BusinessToday that the initiative has the potential to support productivity while improving employee wellbeing, retention and job satisfaction.
However, he said productivity is determined less by the physical location of employees than by how the policy is implemented.
“Employees must clearly understand their responsibilities, have adequate resources to work effectively and remain accountable for their outcomes when working away from the office,” he added, while cautioning against treating hybrid work as a one-size-fits-all arrangement.
“Tasks requiring sustained concentration and greater autonomy may benefit from remote working, while jobs dependent on collaboration, face-to-face communication or resolving on-site issues may be better performed in the workplace,” he shared.
As such, the policy should remain flexible and undergo regular reviews, with feedback sought from civil servants across different levels of management, he said.
“The model should be allowed to evolve rather than become a rigid arrangement, ensuring employees remain engaged and accountable while the public continues receiving timely and effective services,” he suggested.
Public Service Delivery The Ultimate Test
Across the three responses, a common message emerges: Hybrid work itself is not the measure of success.
For businesses especially, the policy will ultimately be judged by whether government agencies remain accessible, decisions are made on time and approvals continue moving without adding costs or uncertainty to companies.
As Putrajaya tests a more flexible civil service, productivity will increasingly have to be demonstrated through outcomes — not office attendance.
