Flexible Working

Flexible working

Flexible working is an arrangement made with the employer and employee so that the worker has a more varied schedule that they have to work, this is so they can have certain amount of free time, and therefore they have more time to do other hobbies. The location of work will also be accustomed to the worker so that it suits them better.  Kurtz (2011) defines flexible working as benefits that allow employees to adjust their working hours or place of work according to their needs.

Types of flexibility and their advantages

There are many type of flexible working. One type of flexible working is part time working. Part time working is probably the most common type of flexible working. It means that the worker is contracted to work less than the standard number of hours. Pride (2011) describes part time work as a permanent job in which individuals work fewer hours than the regular work week. There are advantages to both employers and employees. For employees, there advantages such as the freedom to balance work and other commitments. It can also add recruitment and retention of staff by offering family-friendly working practices. Part-time work can also helpful for teenagers, who can gain experience whilst studying. It can also be more satisfying that a full time job, this is because long hours may not satisfy an employee after working many years. They made feel tired and feel that the job is tedious, and therefore, there may me a loss of motivation.

Advantages to employers are that it is a cost-efficient style to keep costs low as full time is not always needed. Part-time jobs can also increase the workers without increasing wages to every employee. Other pros to employers can also include the retention of trained staff. Productivity will also be higher because work-life balance encourages employees to work harder.

Another type of flexible working is job sharing. Job sharing is one full-time job that is split between two workers who agree the hours between them. They receive wages based on how many hours they work. Job sharing usually means that the workers days are like part time schedules, with just half a day or alternative days. Yeung (2003) explains job sharing as a form of permanent part-time work in which two people share the responsibilities and hours, as well as the pay and benefits of one full time job. Advantages of employers include retention of important workers who can not work full time and so the other option is to leave. There will also be a wider range of skills and abilities as there is more help, so problems are solved easier and there is a broader capability of their workforce. There may be a potential reduction in absenteeism, as workers can fill in the space.

There can also be advantages to employees. These advantages are that there will be less stress because they are working less hours and can rely on others if needed. There is also greater control of working life balance because of the fewer hours. This means that again time can be spent with other commitments such as with families or hobbies. Employees will then feel more refreshed and therefore, can be more motivated and hard working.

The last type of flexible work explained is zero-hour contracts.. This is where employees only work if they are needed. Work is not secured for them as they might not be called upon; however, if they are called upon, they are expected to accept the job. French (2011) clarifies zero-hour contracts as an arrangement where the employee is not guaranteed any work at all but in some way is required to be available as and when an employer needs that person. There are certain advantages to this type of flexible work. These are to employers, if you are short of workers, you can bring in extra labour when it is needed and having a few contract workers mean you will always be able to get a worker in. Costs will also be reduced because you only need to pay workers if work is carried out.

 There are also some benefits to employees which are extra income being brought in occasionally. Because they may have considerably low hours, stress will not be an issue and so commitments and hobbies will increase. Their morale will be better and therefore work productivity is likely to be higher. If it is a student taking a zero hour contract, it will most likely be suited to them because of studies.

However, even though there many benefits of flexible working, there are also disadvantages. Some of these disadvantages are that work life balance will be hard to find. Especially in home working, it may be harder to concentrate at home and there is no one to ask for help. Isolation can be a problem in flexible working because work colleagues will not be seen much. Exploitation might occur and line managers have a bigger work load. This is because may have to reorganise work as staff may be unpredictable with their work time. Line managers must also be a communicator, however, if a employee is not always at work, it will be harder to communicate with them.

Three companies 

A company that uses flexible working is B &Q. B & Q allow lasting employees to request flexible working so they can carry on with other hobbies. They offer types of flexible working such as part time. They have certain commitments to make for B & Q to make a great work place and one of the commitments is to guarantee that working practices are negotiable to change working hours so staff can balance work and leisure.  The website says that they do not only offer flexible working but they have achieved an award with the most flexible working policy.

Another company that offers flexible working is British Airways. They believe that balancing work and family life is very significant as it can benefit them and their employees. It has become a “part of the way they work” says Kim. It can benefit the company because of the reduction of costs; they offer types of flexible methods such as part time and job sharing.

BT also has different types of flexible working. These types are home working. They use home working for many reasons, one of the main reasons is that there has been a change in technology; it is now easier to work through home office. With programmes such as Skype and with the internet easy accessible, they can retrieve information and send information from home. Therefore they do not need offices for employees.

Flexible working has been a topic that has been pleasant; this is because I have learnt many types of flexible working which I can relate to in my life as I may need a type flexible job one day. I know the advantages and disadvantages and recognise some companies that use them. I believe flexible work is important in everyone’s life with the notion of work life balance being key in order to keep motivated. 

Bibliography

Anon. (2012) B&Q [online]. B&Q. Available from: http://www.diy.com [Accessed: 2012].

Anon. (2012) Diversity strategy [online]. British airways. Available from:

 http://www.britishairways.com/travel/crdivstrategy/public/en_gb [Accessed: 2012].

Ray French, Rayner, C and Rees, G. (2011) Organizational Behaviour. 2nd ed. West Sussex: John Wileys & Sons, Ltd.

Pride W.M. Hughes, Robert, J and Kapoor J.R (2011) Business. 11th ed.

Yeung, R. (2003) The Ultimate Career Success Workbook: Tests & Exercises to Assess Your Skills & Potential. London: Kogan Page Limited.

http://globalservices.bt.com/LeafAction.do?Record=Flexible_Working_Services_solutions_uk_en-

gb&fromPage=Furl

http://www.insight.bt.com/Topics/Flexible-working/