Flexible Work Policies
In the contemporary world, more organizations are embracing Flexible Work Policies due to their remarkable benefits to employees and the business. While there are concerns that employees may not be committed to the organization, adopting Flexible Work Policies will contribute to many benefits, such as creating work-life balance, promoting workplace productivity, and prioritizing core tasks to develop efficiency. A critical review of literature on the impact of Flexible Work Policies on an organization revealed that these schedules enhance the recruitment and retention of employees (Sargent et al., 2021). This is because more employees are prone to show more commitment, reduce workplace conflicts, and are satisfied with the working conditions. It is an intuitive sense that working in favorable conditions and feeling supported will contribute substantially to the organization with minimal supervision. This work is written for the purpose of studying and applying Flexible Work Policies.
Some ways to retain committed employees are by creating shifts and employing remote work in the workplace policy. There are several ways of introducing Flexible Working Policies to hourly and salaried workers. Working in shifts will allow the employees to fully concentrate and engage in the work at the specified time. While implementing remote work will give them the freedom to conduct their duties from home, it also boosts their creativity in performing their tasks (Townsend et al., 2017). The growth in remote jobs has resulted from organizations and companies viewing it as reducing operational costs. Temporary employment helps the company to reduce its operating cost by reducing the amount of money that would have been used to hire permanent employees (Townsend et al., 2017). Another international company may benefit from hiring remote workers and would use the available cloud video conferencing tools to facilitate communication and operations.
FWP Features
The impact of the FWP on employees’ commitment is formulated both positively and, in some rare cases, negatively. The negative aspect can manifest itself in such an aspect as a lack of discipline. The overly spare working environment can reduce the efficiency of a worker as subconsciously, one will not be grouped and focused (Townsend et al., 2017). However, in most cases, it has a positive effect on the commitment and efficiency of employees. First, given that one chooses the work time, the worker will likely determine the most convenient and efficient time for oneself (Sargent et al., 2021). Thus, the tasks will be completed efficiently and without unnecessary stress since the employee works at the most appropriate time.
Furthermore, access to the choice of location for work is essential since it plays a significant role in efficiency. For example, some people cannot work in an office environment as they are constantly distracted by extraneous noises and sounds. However, there are people who, on the contrary, can tune in to work only in offices or cabinets (Sargent et al., 2021). As the house is associated with relaxation, one cannot set oneself up for work, moreover, one can be distracted by children or a pet. It is worth noting that some people prefer coworking zones, these are special places where people can come, order coffee or bottle of water and snacks and work from their laptop or tablet (Sargent et al., 2021). Such areas usually have a pleasant atmosphere and are not too noisy, and people around who are busy with their tasks help to concentrate and tune in to work.
The method of communication during flexible working hours should be based on online technologies, it may include video conferencing and chat sharing. Video conferences will not be able to be held frequently as all employees have their own working hours, and it is challenging for everyone to get together(Sargent et al., 2021). However, chat is an effective alternative as one can provide and receive information conveniently. Documentation of flexible working hours may include the use of special programs with which one is able to track working hours. These may be in the form of an online program that reads the time in run mode (Sargent et al., 2021). In addition, one will record the amount of work done through performance reports.
The strategies that both businesses and employees can use from this article lie in improving performance and methods of communication and documentation. Flexible working hours allow one to do more work than one would do with fixed hours (Sargent et al., 2021). It is due to the fact that the individual has the opportunity to choose the most efficient working time and thus work faster. In addition, the strategy is to distribute tasks among employees depending on their working hours (Townsend et al., 2017). For example, urgent tasks can be distributed among those who are currently working, and longer-term tasks among the rest. Communication and documentation should be based on online remote communication technologies, among which there are options for conferences, chat, screen sharing, etc.
The outcome of remote work for businesses and employees is articulated by increasing company profits, motivation, and work efficiency. Surely enough, it depends on the scope of the business, in some cases, remote work can have a negative impact and difficulties, such as in the medical field. However, if the business is suitable for remote work and employees are more comfortable working from home, it will significantly improve the company’s performance (Townsend et al., 2017). The response lies in the positive reaction of employees and, accordingly, the improvement of attitude towards superiors, dedication, and devotion to the company. Moreover, the above factors will also positively affect the response from customers since under effective customer service, the latter will be satisfied. Finally, all this will increase the efficiency of employees’ work and the business as a whole. The problem lies in the fact that flexible hours are often less paid (Norgate & Cooper, 2020). However, it should be paid as usual hours as it is more effective for employees.
Certain stages must accompany the implementation of part-time remote work in a private organization. For this, it is necessary to analyze the consequences, distribute tasks, develop a schedule, calculate the need for labor and implement it (Norgate & Cooper, 2020). Subsequently, one needs to conduct a comparative analysis of the company’s performance before and after implementation. The impact on the organization, if the business is suitable for remote work, is formulated by increasing efficiency and profitability. Moreover, it improves the company’s image as customer service becomes more qualitative (Norgate & Cooper, 2020). In addition, the implementation of remote work contributes to the change since, with the improvement of performance, one has the opportunity to develop.
When performing the current task, several skills were developed and improved. First, one has developed the ability to search, synthesize, analyze, and process the necessary information among a large amount of data (Norgate & Cooper, 2020). Further, one has learned to present the given information step by step and in a structured way, using appropriate sources. Finally, one can summarize all the information presented according to the initial structure. In turn, the knowledge gained after completing this task includes detailed information about the work of the business and employees (Norgate & Cooper, 2020). Namely, one learned about the types of work in companies, the impact of full-time on employees, and the influence of flexible working hours on a company’s efficiency.
References
Norgate, S., & Cooper, C. L. (2020). Flexible work: Designing our healthier future lives. Routledge.
Sargent, G. M., McQuoid, J., Dixon, J., Banwell, C., & Strazdins, L. (2021). Flexible work, temporal disruption, and implications for health practices: an Australian qualitative study. Work, Employment and Society, 35(2), 277-295. Web.
Townsend, K., McDonald, P., & Cathcart, A. (2017). Managing flexible work arrangements in small not-for-profit firms: The influence of organizational size, financial constraints, and workforce characteristics. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 28(14), 2085-2107. Web.