FLEXIBLE WORKPLACE

Flexible Workplace

Flexible Workplace

Introduction

Flexible work arrangements refer to employer policies or managerial practices designed to give employees greater flexibility in influencing the time (duration), timing (when), or location (place) of work. Typically, these practices permit greater individual autonomy in self-managing work-role enactment in relation to family and other nonwork demands (Rau, 2006, 11). Flexible work arrangements can be based on formal corporate policies and also on informal use permitted by the immediate supervisor or work group peers. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics National Compensation Survey conducted in 2000, which includes employers of all sizes in the United States, 5 percent of U.S. employers provide flexible workplace schedules. Most research on flexible work schedules has been conducted in large employer organization.

How can flexibility be managed in such a way that it really does contribute to organizational success? Firm performance (e.g., financial well-being, improvements in quality and innovation) strongly depends on workers' competences and their willingness to behave in line with the organization's strategic goals. Research shows that satisfaction with HRM policies and practices are strong predictors for working “good and fast,” as well as for so-called extrarole behavior, also known as organizational citizenship behavior (Kossek, 2007, 24). Consequently, firms would be wise to meet not only the market requirements but also the workforce requirements. Organizations surely want all workers to give their utmost including temporary staff. As a consequence, firms have to attend to the needs of peripheral workers as well. Moreover, and this is especially true for firms that have to deal with recurring peaks and drops in the business cycle, organizations will want to hire the same competent and reliable temp workers repeatedly, as this will save them the initial prepping periods and the costs related to it. However, the willingness of these temp workers to continue working on an interval basis at the same firm is likely to depend strongly on the treatment they have received in the past.

Companies have to meet the interests of workers, and these interests differ. Not everyone wants to move up the ranks, is looking for challenges in work life, or is looking for continuous improvement of knowledge and skills. Some workers prefer full-time work, while others would like to create a better balance between work-life and private-life interests through working-time flexibility (Kossek, 1999, 33). Many scholars still believe that job security is a universalistic worker need, but this ignores that part of the workforce that has actually chosen to work with changing work locations and footloose contracts in order to breach routine. And not only highly educated professionals seem to appreciate the advantages of a nonpermanent employer. Thus, as preferences differ, among both the regular staff and the buffering workforce, HRM must provide space for each individual by using an “à la carte” approach: The needs of the company and of all its workers have to be mapped and matched as far as possible. Direct supervisors—those who are responsible for operational HRM—play a major role in realizing ...