Measurement Of Flexible Employment in the UK - Research Paper Example

The Concept of Flexibility: Labour markets of modern day and contemporary economies are going through unprecedented proportions of evolution spurredby the competitive conditions in the global information economy among other present-day labour market dynamics. As such labour market flexibility has become one of the salient aspects relating to labour market welfare. Flexibility has been used to characterize organizations, job content, people's pay and the length of their working life. (Edna Murphy, 1996). Flexibility is the term most commonly used in Europe where some commentators prefer the phrase 'peripheral work force' (Atkinson, 1984) or the (equally inaccurate) term 'atypical working'. A broad definition of 'atypical' employment is that adopted by Delsen (1991), who describes it as deviating 'from full time open ended work employment: part time work, seasonal work'. In the US the most common term which largely overlaps what is referred to in Europe as flexible working patterns is 'contingent work' (Freedman, 1986). ( H Harris, C Brewster and PSparrow,2003 pg 101) Although some consultants have tried to foster the term 'complementary working', Polivk and Nardone (1989) define contingent employment as 'any arrangement that differs from full time, permanent, wage and salary employment'. Morishima and Feuille (2000) noting that contingent employment can include a variety of workers The common themes that unite the individuals in these diverse categories are that they receive few or no fringe benefits, they have little or no expectation of long-term employment with the firm on whose premises they work at any given time, and they occupy a secondary position to the regular, full-time employees in the firm's status hierarchy. They conclude that although an accurate account of the situation in the USA and Japan, within the European contest such distinctions do not hold true. The complex aspects of flexible working practices render varying effects and implications. Part time work for example will apply to any work hours short of the normal working week for each country which vary across the globe. For instance in France and Belgium, part time work is defined as four-fifths or less of the collectively agreed working time; in the Netherlands and USA as less than 35 hours per week; in the UK as less than 30 hours, with lower thrash holds in relation to social security contributions. Elsewhere, the norm is concentrated around 25-30 hours per week (Bolle, 1997 and Brewster et al, 1996). THE FLEXIBLE FIRM Source: as cited in Keizer (2007). Various scholars have had their significant contributions to the entirety of the Flexibility discipline. Nonetheless John Atkinson stands out for his 'The Flexible Firm" model. Whilst at the institute of man power studies John Atkinson and his colleagues propounded the much quoted model depicting the divisions, between 'core and peripheral' work forces. In this model the core workers are full time permanent career employees who have won security by virtue of committing to functional flexibility in the short term and long term basis. The organisational value of such is encapsulated in the terms and conditions that bind them whilst their remuneration is largely influenced by their achievements including those of t the team and the organisation. (John Stredwick & Steve Ellis, Flexible Working Practices techniques and innovations, pg 11 & 12) The first peripheral group has less job security and access to career opportunity. And their jobs are plug in ones, not skill specific to the firm. Organization looks to the market place to fill the jobs, many of which are filled by the women, and numerical flexibility is achieved by the normal wastage which is fairly high. .(John Stredwick & Steve Ellis ,Flexible Working Practices techniques and innovations, pg 11 & 12) The second peripheral is an extension of the first, with much part time working, shift working, zero hour and short term contracts which maximize flexibility. Such terms and conditions minimize organizational commitment to the employee, job security and career development. .(J ohn Stredwick & Steve Ellis Flexible Working Practices techniques and innovations, pg 11 & 12) the model enunciates that varying external groups augment numerical flexibility by filling positions like office cleaning, or very specialized, including IT areas, on a contract or a self employed basis. Despite the popularity of this model it does not fit every situation in practice Flexibility has been categorized in different ways: 1. Numerical Flexibility. This refers to flexibility in hours worked and pattern of work; Variable pay patterns and incentive; different types of contracts used to achieve objectives, such as sub contracting, use of consultants and better use of part time staff . It is the adjustment of number of workers, simple flexibility which results in flexibility in the number of employees. This form of flexibility follows the peaks and lows of seasons, in certain season for example when harvesting, more staff can employed and after harvesting the staff can be dismissed. (Edna Murphy, 1996). 2. Locational Flexibility. This is sometime dubbed the 'anywhere, any time' working scheme, mobile and peripatetic working, home working, tele-working, networked organization or virtual office. Local flexibility means that the employee can work away from a central office base. Sometime this will be in a fixed base, such as from home, or sometimes it can involve working on the move. (Edna Murphy, 1996). 3. Functional Flexibility Also known as employee versatility, functional flexibility is the term which describes the situation where employees are able to perform different tasks, for example through multi skilling, continues learning and development, team working, and so on. Functional Flexibility results in job flexibility i.e. the workers are trained to handle various tasks and jobs. This form of flexibility is very interlinked with the employees' skills and the organisation ensures that there should be a process to enhance their skills periodically within the semi-skilled and un-skilled workers. (Edna Murphy, 1996). Temporal flexibility. 4. Temporal flexibility refers to the variation in the numbers of hours worked and the timing of the work. Typical forms are flextime, overtime, shift working, zero-hours contracts, compressed working week, seasonal-hours contracts, and annual-hours contracts. (Dictionary of Human Resource Management; 2001, p363-363, 0p) (http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspxdirect=true&db=buh&AN=25506397&site=ehost-live) Types of Surveys: Cross section survey: Cross-sectional studies also known as Cross-sectional analysis involves observation of some subset of a population of items, in which, groups can be compared at different ages with respect of independent variables, such as IQ and memory. It takes place at a single point in time. It is used in most branches of science, social sciences and in other fields as well. Examples of surveys from UK: Workplace Employee Relations Survey: A series of large-scale surveys of UK establishments have been undertaken in the last twenty years. The other surveys, previously called Workplace Industrial Relations Surveys (WIRS), were undertaken in 1980, 1984, 1990, 1998, and 2004. WERS98 covers 2. i9r establishments (with ten or more employees) in Britain. The database is composed of responses from face-to-face structured interviews with 3,073 managers and 950 worker representatives, and 28,323 questionnaire responses from a representative sample of employees from selected establishments. (Dictionary of Human Resource Management; 2001, p407-407, 0p) (http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfvid=4&hid=7&sid=21ff9c80-d8ab-47b6-8d30-cdf0c3d4d295%40sessionmgr104). The 2004 Workplace Employment Relations Survey (WERS 2004) fifth in a series, aims to provide a nationally delegate account of the state of employment associations and working life inside British workplaces. The WERS surveys are a basis of important information about altering patterns and current practices in employment relations in Britain. (http://www.wers2004.info/pdf/An%20Introduction%20to%20WERS%202004%20April07.pdf) The intention of each survey in the series is to offer large-scale, methodical and dispassionate facts about numerous aspects of employment relations across almost every division of the economy in Britain. This facts is collected with the following objectives in mind: - to offer a mapping of employment relations practices in workplaces across Great Britain, and to check changes in those practices over time; - to notify policy development, and to encourage and inform debate and practice - to provide a inclusive and statistically dependable dataset on British workplace employment relations that is made openly available for research. (http://www.wers2004.info/pdf/An%20Introduction%20to%20WERS%202004%20April07.pdf) Data are composed from interviews with workplace managers who have day-to-day liability for personnel matters, interviews with worker legislative body (where they are present), and from employees using a self-completion questionnaire. (http://www.statistics.gov.uk/STATBASE/Source.aspvlnk=1328&More=Y) The innermost focus of the survey series has been the official and prearranged relations that take place between management and employees at the workplace. Major topics covered in WERS include: - Workforce composition - Management of personnel and employment relations - Recruitment and training - Workplace flexibility and the organisation of work - Consultation and information - Employee representation - Payment systems and pay determination - Grievance, disciplinary and dispute procedures - Equal opportunities, work-life balance - Workplace performance - Employee attitudes to work (http://www.wers2004.info/pdf/An%20Introduction%20to%20WERS%202004%20April07.pdf) Advantages of WERS: Surveys of such nature are normally adopted where there is need to gather large scale and statistically authentic data about various aspects on industrial relations and employment dynamics across all the sectors of the British economy. "This evidence is collected with several objectives in mind. It aims to provide a mapping of employment relations practices in workplaces across Great Britain, monitor changes in those practices over time, inform policy development and permit an informed assessment of the effects of public policy, and bring about a greater understanding of employment relations as well as the labour market." (Workplace Employment Relations Survey 2004). WERS is ideal in the assessment of organisational flexibility especially in assessing aspects of distribution between core and marginal workforce. This model is also laudable for its expedience in measuring numeric and temporary flexibility. Contrary to the common approach of using data from a single entity, firm or any narrowly-defined population, the 19198 WERS come in handy in face of the fact that the literature on the effects of teams on organisational performance is naturally mixed, and apparently there is need for approaches employing large nationally-representative samples to identify the effects for the typical organisation. Structured to gather facts on team production, team autonomy, firm characteristics, and latest financial performance the 1998 WERS is a highlight of some feasible dynamics of the WERS as a cross-sectional research modus-operandi. Disadvantages of WERS: Despite its expedience in certain dynamic of measuring flexibility, the cross-sectional model of WERS comes short in the measuring of functional flexibility. In is noteworthy that due its scope and content the WERS focuses on organisational flexibility and not individual flexibility. It must be understood that sound positions regards flexibility can be arrived at with authentic evidence from both organisational and individual flexibility angles. "Cross-sectional researchers obtain a 'slice' of its target group and bases its overall findings on the views or behaviors of those targeted, assuming them to be typical of the whole group." (Longitudinal Study: 24-0702008). This aspect highlights the setback of this research model in gathering data. The surveys assume that findings obtained form selected population samples are representative of the entire group patterns. Longitudinal Survey: A longitudinal survey involves repeated observations of the same items over long periods of time. In psychology to study developmental trends across the life span longitudinal study, is used, because it tracks the same people, and so the differences observed in those people are less likely to be the result of cultural differences across generations. Longitudinal studies observe the state of the world without manipulating it, it is argued that they may have less power to detect causal relationships than do experiments but they have more power to exclude time-invariant unobserved individual differences, and observing the temporal order of events, because of the repeated observation at the individual level. It allows social scientists to distinguish short from long-term phenomena, for example poverty. If the poverty rate is 10% at a given point of time, it may mean that 10% of the population is always poor, or that the whole population experiences poverty for 10% of the time. Types of longitudinal studies include cohort studies, panel studies and retrospective study. Cohort studies is defined as a group experiencing some event typically birth in a selected time period, and studying them at intervals through time, Panel studies is defined as a sample of cross-section, which is surveyed at usually regular intervals. A retrospective study is a study that looks back in time. For example a researcher may look up the medical records of previous years to look for a trend. (Cross-Sectional Versus Longitudinal Survey Research: Concepts, Findings, and Guidelines. By: Rindfleisch, Aric; Malter, Alan J; Ganesan, Shankar; Moorman, Christine. Journal of Marketing Research (JMR), Aug2008, Vol. 45 Issue 3, p261-279, 19p, 7 charts, 1 diagram; DOI: 10.1509/jmkr.45.3.261; (AN 31996793). Labour Force Survey: The Labour Force Survey (LFS) is a periodical sample survey of households living at private addresses in Great Britain. Its principle is to supply information on the UK labour market that can then be used to expand, administer, assess and report on labour market policies. The questionnaire design, sample assortment, and interviewing are carried out by the Social and Vital Statistics Division of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on behalf of the Statistical Outputs Group of the ONS. ONS publishes full UK LFS results. though, the fieldwork is carried out disjointedly; by ONS for GB, and by the Central Survey Unit of the Department of Finance and Personnel in Northern Ireland on behalf of the Department of Trade and Investment (DETINI). The survey seeks in sequence on respondents' personal circumstances and their labour market status during a exact reference period, normally a period of one week or four weeks (depending on the topic) immediately preceding to the interview. The LFS is carried out under a European Union Directive and uses globally approved concepts and definitions. It is the foundation of the worldwide comparable (International Labour Organisation) gauge known as 'ILO unemployment'. (http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Source.aspvlnk=358&More=Y) Advantages of LFS: Longitudinal surveys are advantageous when it comes to accounting for the difference between net and gross change. Gross change is only visible in longitudinal data. Continual observations on particular target groups and individuals allow for the possibility of controlling unobserved differences between individuals by using fixed and random effect models. In the light of preceding nuances longitudinal surveys are valuable for obtaining valuable data on individual flexibility rather than organisational flexibility. On the other hand longitudinal surveys have presented valuable dynamics on the part of employees' needs such as work-life balance, changing lifestyle and work style/schedule. The need for life-long learning through training or education preferences is also one the reasons uncovered on why employees prefer to choose non-standard working hours or contractual arrangements. Various LFS reviews have shown that the British Labour Force Survey has stood out as major source for labour market statistics and has also provided demographic and other household statistics to a level of precision not matched by any other household survey. This is so since many employers based surveys can only offer efficient access to information stored in business records, but that information is very limited in breadth.As such the LFS is able to collect data which other forms of employer surveys cannot. Give disadvantages of LFS. The salient demerits of LFSs have been largely based on model's tendency to divert from its primary purpose. Owing to this LFSs come short of functioning primarily as the prompt publication of key aggregate, whole economy indicators for the integrated assessment of labour market. LFSs still need to be fine tuned in a way will enhance the effectiveness of the survey in fulfilling its primary purpose, and not just whether they do nothing to compromise that purpose. Comparability with other sources has become important for LFS data because estimates from employer based surveys have long been at the heart of National Accounts since they tie up with company based output data. For many purposes the sources can be reconciled but the breakdown by industry shows very different distributions from the LFS and the employer based surveys. National accountants have therefore felt unable to use LFS data as fully as they might. This discrepancy culminates from different perceptions of company activities between the company head office and the individual employee respondent. Measuring flexibility using survey: If surveys are used to measure temporal flexibility, then number of hours worked is easy to calculate but it is difficult to calculate the number of hours per week, as the hours can vary every week for an individual. For instance if a employee works for 4 hours this week, but works for 10 hours next week , in this case it is difficult measure the fluctuations caused per week. If snapshot survey is used to measure, then it fails to capture the fluctuations caused. So survey can calculate the no of hours worked easily, but it fails to capture the fluctuations caused. It is difficult to measure functional flexibility with a survey. Surveys give useful insight into numeric flexibility, because it is easy to calculate the no of hours worked, using a survey. Labour market flexibility continues to be one of the key issues in the reform of labour markets in modern e economies. Despite the vast studies and researches aimed at addressing this issue, labour market flexibility has been scrutinised principally by concentrating on the measures that firms adopt to adjust to market fluctuations. Flexibility has been traditionally perceived as away of catering to the employers' or companies' needs. However, flexibility in the labour market also enables individuals to accommodate various needs that occur throughout their lives and to facilitate one's work-life balance. This has been more so in through the dispensation of new findings obtained though the cross-sectional and longitudinal surveys. Surveys give a valuable overview of scenarios in focus.. Surveys give a useful insight into numeric and temporal flexibility. They are not good in measuring functional flexibility, for this purpose qualitative research is needed. Longitudinal survey is most useful because involves a sequence of measurements taking over a period of time. The distinction between cross-sectional and longitudinal studies is that cross-sectional studies take place at a single point in time and longitudinal study involves a sequence of measurements taking over a period of time. Cross- sectional survey cannot capture fluctuations in hours worked, whereas longitudinal survey captures it. Longitudinal survey repeats same question at several point in time, but is better at measuring flexibility, but it is expensive and time consuming. Meaningful flexibility surveying can be achieved through the employment of both cross-sectional and longitudinal surveys. Cross sectional survey will provide valuable data on the key dynamics of organisational flexibility whilst longitudinal surveys will provide valuable statistics on individual flexibility. This is important in the cotemporary dispensation of effective labour markets evaluation and management. Surveys have contributed significantly in the development of the labour market domains through presenting the dynamics of company and employees needs. Through the outputs of both longitudinal and cross-sectional surveys stake holders of labour markets have been able to determine the organisational dynamics that entail cost-cutting needs, ensuring quality service among other things. Reilly (2001) In Heejung Chung (2007) concurs, "Improving quality and service, along with meeting supply needs such as customers' needs, are additional reasons why companies take up various flexibility arrangements ". References Heejung Chung (2007), Flexibility, but for whom (Accessed 21 July 2008) Rose, M. (1999b), 'Explaining and forecasting job satisfaction: The contribution of occupational profiling', Working Paper 3: ESRC Future of Work Programme, Swindon: ESRC, ISSN 1469-1531. Kersley B, Alpin C, Forth J, Bryson A, Bewley H, Dix G, Oxenbridge S (2006) Inside the Workplace: Findings from the 2004 Workplace Employment Relations Survey, Publisher: Routledge. Daniel W W and Millward N (1983) Workplace Industrial Relations in Britain: The DE/PSI/ESRC Survey, Publisher: Heinemann. Millward N and Stevens M (1986) British Workplace Industrial Relations 1980-1984: The DE/ESRC/PSI/ACAS Surveys, Publisher: Gower. 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