PDPA compliance and progressive HR practices: Why this tandem makes sense

PDPA compliance and progressive HR practices: Why this tandem makes sense

The changing times have brought with them a new set of challenges in the workplace. Aside from the reality of dealing with hybrid work environments and the influence of the pandemic on employee wellbeing, Singapore was not spared from the Great Resignation Wave that grabbed the majority of the world. Employers are also bearing the brunt of the burden as they try to combine survival and talent retention.

The year 2021 has demonstrated that many people are still struggling in the workplace. According to a Wunderman Thompson research, nearly one in every four employees experienced bouts of anxiety and sadness throughout the lengthy pandemic. Others reported experiencing an increased sense of isolation (13%) and the unavoidable loss of privacy or personal space (9%) after beginning to work from home.

Also Read: Guarding against common types of data breaches in Singapore

“While 2020 and 2021 offered its own set of challenges in HR, the number one is of course, mental health issues and employee wellbeing,” said Wilma Estaura. Employees continued to experience high levels of uncertainty in areas like the job and financial security. “They’re continuously asking us if the hotels are going to close or if there are going to be additional employment possibilities [or hotel] chores scheduled,” Estaura said. This was why leaders kept employee wellbeing top of mind and focused on taking care of their people, even if it meant contacting them frequently to ensure staff were safe and feeling okay wherever they were located.

This emphasis on wellbeing was shared by HR leaders across businesses, as many recognized the debilitating consequences of extended remote working arrangements. “People must strike a balance between their professional and personal lives,” said Lisa Mufrisno of DANA, a financial services firm. “When you work from home, the lines between working and non-working hours get blurred.” Failure to respect such boundaries can lead to fatigue and mental health problems.”

According to a September Korn Ferry poll, most professionals think that even more will quit in 2022, citing reasons such as re-evaluation of objectives (30%), a lack of a clear career growth path (24%), and income and benefits (24%). 

Some attrition is frequently an indication of healthy churn, in which organizations are refreshed with new ideas and methods of operation. However, excessive turnover can lead to a loss of institutional expertise and be destabilizing.

The recent news regarding new employment policies expected to be introduced in Singapore reinforces the need for exceptional human resource practices. Furthermore, PM Lee said during his National Day Rally on August 29, 2021 that the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive (TAFEP) standards would become law to ensure fair and progressive labor practices. This is expected to happen in the first half of 2022.

The inevitable rise of digitalization, with its myriad of work-related risks such as ransomware attacks, phishing scams, data breaches, and more, adds to the anxiety. The importance of data protection compliance for businesses cannot be overstated.

PDPA compliance and progressive HR practices

JustHR, an HR consulting firm, will collaborate with Privacy Ninja to provide paid consultancy services to all qualified organizations in Singapore. Privacy Ninja, premier cybersecurity and data protection company, will supplement JustHR’s PDPA compliance offerings.

JustHR Consultancy is a trusted partner that delivers human resource consultancy services to both SMEs and MNCs, boosting capabilities and performance in all Human Resource areas to fulfill strategic business objectives.

The reason why the collaboration between JustHR and Privacy Ninja makes sense is because it aims to secure two crucial areas for business continuity: supporting innovative HR practices and implementing correct data protection policies for the benefit of both employees and other stakeholders.

This collaboration guarantees that HR policies and data protection provisions are followed, ensuring that clients’ personal data and workers’ receive best practices. This prepares the path for the necessary evaluations and implementations of the best HR and data protection policies and practices.

Also Read: Understanding the mandatory data breach notification of Singapore