Analysis of Flexible Work Practices - Research Proposal Example

Formal Report on Flexible work practices Name Professor Institution Course Date Formal Report on Flexible work practices Table of Contents Formal Report on Flexible work practices 2 Table of Contents 2 1.0 Introduction 3 2.0 Flexible work practices 3 3.0 Appropriate data collection methods 6 4.0 Questionnaire 7 5.0 Legislation 10 6.0 Ethical Consideration 10 7.0 Summary 11 8.0 Results 11 9.0 Conclusion 15 10.0 Recommendations: 15 11.0 References 17 1.0 Introduction Turnover is a reality of modern working practices because layoffs and job shifts has turned to be the norm. Modern employment arrangements are frequently manifested by turnover in view of international economic forces and job situations driving people out of certain jobs and also out of the labor force (Baron et al, 2001, p.963). Overloads and Pressures of time also instill the new fact of employment. Several factors consisting low job contentment, insecurity and low tenure is said to lead to turnover. Managers are forced to come up with workable arrangement that can ease busy schedules of employees while reducing the turnover (Gill 2009, p.45). Employees are then given flexibilities to manage their schedule outside their work where they are less stressed, less abstracted and hence more productive. In light of that, research was carried to investigate whether flexible work practices (e.g. working from home, flextime, job sharing) reduces employee turnover. This report gives the summary, results, conclusion and recommendations of that research. 2.0 Flexible work practices With changing time in the employment environment, managers find it good to change the structure of work to accommodate the set objectives and also as a way of solving the problem of high levels of unemployment (Christensen & Schneider 2010). This aspect is also attributed to advancements in technology. With technology, people can now work from anywhere, be it in house or any part of the world. In employment arena work flexible work practice has become a major concern for managers. These practices have its highs and lows to the organization. According Christensen & Schneider (2010), flexible work practices are the non-usual work agreements that enable employees to keep productive and still satisfy employers' work demands. It can also be explained as one of a continuum of work arrangements that changes the place and time which work gets completed on a normal basis. This research seeks to find out whether flexible work practices (e.g. working from home, flexitime, job sharing) reduce employee turnover. The population target of this study is the management staff and employees of technology companies in Melbourne city in Australia and their customers. The technology companies selected includes HP, Apple, Samsung and Nokia. The appeal to take part was issued to 356 out of 500 staff. Owing to the limitations mentioned the interviews’ sample size is limited to ‘4. Sources of information Source 1 Source 2 Source 3 Title Workplace Flexibility: Realigning 20th Century Jobs to 21st Century Workers Union impact on the effective adoption of High Performance Work Practices Labor Pains: Change in Organizational Models and Employee Turnover in Young, High Tech Firms. Author Christensen Kathleen, and Schneider Barbara Gill, C. Baron James N, Hannan Michael T, & Burton M. Date of publication 2010 2009 2001 Publisher Cornell University Press Elsevier B.V. American Journal of Sociology Type of Information (primary or secondary information) Primary/Questionnaires Primary information Secondary Brief summary of the information It provides the framework in which questionnaires can be used to collect information. It also gives it advantage and disadvantages in research This discusses the problem of employees’ turnover and how they can be resolved. It provides a vivid picture of employment relations should shape ideas in this field and encourage future research Is the information useful? The information is viable The information is helpful in choosing the data collection method The information is useful and accurate 3.0 Appropriate data collection methods The research will employ survey methods to collect information from the employees. Because it is not feasible to get information from the every employee of all companies in Melbourne city, a random sampling is to be applied in this research to choose the sample population once is done stratification. Questionnaires will be given out randomly to employees and top managements in these technology companies, within working hours to gather primary data. As mentioned earlier mixed research methods has been used since it assists this research to understand both employers and employees’ opinions on flexibility via questionnaires that employees complete by themselves and the semi-structured interviews. It assists to be embraced because it emphases frame of my research philosophically and theoretically while employing numerous methods. These methods of research have to be embraced because also concentrates on the significance of flexible work practices in opinion of the company by qualitative research methods and relate it with evidence gathered from the staff by means quantitative method. It will assist in gaining a whole picture of the flexible operation at technology companies. It does not deal with just gathering both the types of data but it employs the strengths of every answer the research asks. Besides the survey, semi structured Interviews were carried out by the investigator to obtain the staff attitudes regarding flexible work practices. The investigator took the role of interviewer while conducting the interview at office site within working hours. 4.0 Questionnaire Kindly answer the questions below by ticking the suitable answer. General information 1. Please indicate your gender. (a) Male (b) Female 2. Which technology firm do you work for?..................................... 3. For how long have you been with your bank? (a) no more than a year (b) 1-2 years (c) 2-3 years (d)3-4 years (e) more than 5 years 4. What position do you hold? (a) system analyst (b) Departmental Head (c) IT Officer (d) Manager (e) Assistant Manager (f)Any other (specify)……………………….. 5. Does your company engage in flexible work practices (e.g. working from home, flexitime, job sharing)? (a) No (b) Yes If yes why…………………………………… 6. Technology firms consider flexible work practices as a way of reducing employee turnover (a) Agree (b) Strongly agree (c) disagree (d) strongly disagree 7. Engaging in flexible work practices improves technology companies’ performance. (a) Agree (b) Strongly agree (c) disagree (d)) strongly disagree 8. Have you ever taken part in any flexible work practices? (a) Yes (b) No 9. Is there a connection between flexible work practices and technology firm’s effectiveness? (a) Yes (b) No 10. Do you think participating in flexible work practices has helped your company gain competitive edge? (a) Yes (b) No If the response is yes explain how in the space given below. ………………………………………………………………………… 11. How many times does your company engage in flexible work practices? 12. Flexible work practices as a whole is a passing trend. (a) Always (b) once (c) many times (d) Never (a) Agree (b) Strongly agree (C) disagree (d) strongly disagree 13. The public or technology company costumers would frequent companies which are involve in flexible work practices. (a) Agree (b) Strongly agree (c) disagree (d) strongly disagree. 16. Can flexible work practices reduce workload? (a) Yes (b) No 17. What influences the decision for you company to take part in flexible work practices? ………………………………………………………………………….. 18. Do you think the option of flexible work practices your company involves in influence its reputation? (a) Yes (b) No If no why……….. 19. Apart from reduction of employees’ turnover, what other benefits do companies engaging in flexible work practices have? …………………………………………………………… Thank you for taking your time to respond this questionnaire. 5.0 Legislation The Employment Act of 2002, work and families act of 2006 offers the right to demand flexible working in the Australia (Jones, Chonko, Rangarajan, & Roberts 2007, p.666). The law through regulation Act of 1998 regulates the working time to in the UK 48 hours weekly and also provides that employee can be given leave entitlements which is granted in the European working time directive (EWTD). Realization work and family balance for dual job couples is crucial but employees this particular generation are going to work live as opposed to living to work (Jones Eli, Chonko, Rangarajan & Roberts 2007, p.663). The annex of the flexible work practices regulations (2003) is now operational which provides the right to ask for flexible working for nearly a third of the work force in Australia. 6.0 Ethical Consideration This study is based on the answers of the staff and the organizational information collected from its site. The researcher highly regards the consent of the interviewees and values confidentiality in each element of this process. This is clarified in the letters requesting for participation and also emails. 7.0 Summary The research was conducted in Melbourne City to investigate whether flexible work practices such as working from home, flextime and job sharing among others reduce employee turnover. Interviews were conducted using questionnaires that were issued randomly to the employees of the selected technology companies including HP, Apple, Samsung and Nokia. The participants were sampled carefully to include both male and female gender to get a clear picture and opinion concerning the subject matter. The research will entail the application of determined range of questions based on the research problem, typically in a questionnaire form. This research is one addition to current researches and studies carried out in past. This subject matter is point of focus of several organizations across the globe. It could will positive information and knowledge for Human Resource managers and policy makers. 8.0 Results 356 out of 500 staff and managers from these four companies asked about the subject of the study think that flexibility work practices, especially working from home reduces employees turn over. 96 disagree that these kind of arrangement does not reduce turn over but reduces performances. The rest did not respond to questionnaires. This is because of distractions at home and also because no one monitors and evaluates the work except the employee him or herself. From the questionnaires, one of the participants who is a female Human Resource manager who has worked art HP more than 5 years and currently on flexi-time responded that this arrangement has seen her work which can now work and pick her kids from school early enough. Another male participant working in IT development team with eight people in his project claims that flexible work practices has enhanced his work, they can now work from home, enabling to quickly complete their work. It has also reduces employees complains and conflicts which normally leads to high turnover. The third participant from Samsung who is an IT manager for the past two with this company says the use of flexi arrangements for three months has enabled him to commit to both work and family reducing his worry of work and family time. However, has slowed down his work rate. The fourth person interviewed was a female staff working at Apple for the last three years. She used to a full time employee, but presently taking her masters degree at Melbourne university. She adjusted her contract with the company to part time hours and this accommodates her study time. This fifth respondent who works for Nokia as IT officer strongly disagreed claiming that working at home is disadvantageous because nobody can help you when stacked and at the same time a lot of distractions come your way. Based on the results found out from both quantitative and qualitative research, most of the staff at HP are contented concerning their flexible work plans. HP is attempting to create flexible and relaxed work atmosphere for its workers. Over 80 percent of the workers concurred that they are contented with regard to the structure with their managers and company’s values on its employees. All the survey and the interviews demonstrated that 80 percent of the participants were capable of reducing their levels of stress and strategize on their work to revolve around the family commitments and work balance building harmonious relationship. However, it must be noted here that at the time of the interviews the concern regarding the attitudes of the managers came up. When asked whether the flexibility option that the employer offers can make them loyalty to their work, 66 percent of the participants agreed they would stay, 34 percent said the option is did not return the questionnaires. However, it is worth being noted that no respondents who answered the questionnaires opposed the statement which demonstrates that Apple is thoughtful of its employee demands and understands the gains of flexible working practices to the worker. When employees were asked if the flexible work practices provided by their organization assist in improving performance, 78 percent of the participants concurred while 23 percent disagreed. To find out the function of flexible working practices on the staff’s intents to remain at their current job, 65percent of the participants concurred to that statement, and 26 participants strongly agreed that it enables them remain in the position and just one participant representing 2% percent disagreed. The minority population of the respondent survey has demonstrated that HP is committed employers which take into consideration the welfare of its staff. 87 percent of the participants argued that HP is offering them flexible working practices that favor and it certainly has an influence on the workers’ levels of Job pleasure. Even the respondent agreed that working and still being capable to manage matters out of work place has considerably enhanced the workers’ commitment to the organization. This answer supports Grzywacz & Marks (2000, p.121) argument that, organization which employs its flexible processes efficiently will probably be efficient and cost-effective in their short run activities and better positioned for long term good performance. This could be substantiated with the employees’ reactions in situations they have valued their organizations and mentioned that they would like to remain in their current jobs. This cuts the cost of training and recruitment enabling the organization to perform better. Apple has set its niche in the present market by offering flexible working procedures on a higher level to the staff. The study has established that working from home, flexi time and compressed hours or week has been demonstrating beneficial to the workers for a number of reasons. Since most of the workers are male (76%), the effectiveness at apple can be drawn from the 13% of the male employees returning back to work following their leave. One more effective measure which has been on the account of Apple was re-establishing the flexible working practices in the last two years. This enabled the managers and employees to have a full responsiveness on the processes and how they operate. The gains are evidently clear when the investigator compared the survey to Apple employees’ survey which has demonstrated that At the same time organizations must aim to absorb flexible work methods to their staff and benefits from its impacts. From this research, it is categorically clear that flexible working practices in a company not just benefit the employee or the employer, but the whole organization. Hence flexible working has to be understood as an effective approach that assists the forms in relation to long term gains and competitive advantages. According to the research, implementing and embracing a flexible work practice reduces employees’ turnover, and save the organization money in their long run on expenditures related to replacing important employees. Pruchno (2000) claims that the cost related to employee turnover can to 130% of any employee's salary. In future organization ought to get used to making their employees work more autonomously and be flexible in their working hours. 9.0 Conclusion The major aim of this research was to establish the effect of the flexibility of the employee in relation to commitment to his company and work-life balance. It also emphasized on the way flexible work practices can assist the company in effective work relations with the staff. The study has mentioned that the flexible practices certainly have positive impacts on the employees with regard to balancing individual life around work commitments and job satisfactions. Unlike the usual bureaucratic process applied by the companies, today’s organizations are concentrating on the building of employee interest’s practices so as to deal with the word wide competition and growing consumer expectations. 10.0 Recommendations: With regard to the research, the recommendations made by the investigator that if implemented effectively could create a better flexible working procedure at these technologies. Training managers: due to the fact the flexibility concept is reasonably new, building awareness concerning the flexible work practices and its connection to turnover and productivity assists to narrow the gap between rhetoric and execution. Responsiveness: Employees at both HP and Samsung bear some beliefs and perceptions that capitalizing of the flexible working polices might move their occupation backwards. This complaint can be resolved by relating evaluation to performance as opposed to the number of hours one has worked Seeking Government support: capitalizing on the support of the government training programs and schemes for workers assists resolve the challenges of flexible work practices. Attraction and retention: Numerous employer benefits are derived from employees’ retention including skills and experience. To retain employees, organizations must find a way of reducing employees stress by given them a lee-way to work independently either at home or through flextime arrangement. Flextime provides workers a good balance between work needs and outside, home or school activities. Time and Competition: for an organization to compete and take advantage of service delivery, they must consider time as a factor. As such mangers must lead by example and embrace an arrangement where he or she carries work home and complete them on time to meet customer demands. If this becomes a culture employees will also embrace it and use this arrangement to complete their work in time. When products or service are delivered on time customers becomes satisfied. 11.0 References Baron, JN., Hannan, MT & Burton, M 2001, Labor Pains: Change in Organizational Models and Employee Turnover in Young, High Tech Firms, American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 106, p. 960–1012. Christensen, K & Schneider, B 2010, Workplace Flexibility: Realigning 20th Century Jobs to 21st Century Workers, New York, Cornell University Press. Jones, E., Chonko, L., Rangarajan, D & Roberts, J 2007, The Role of Overload on Job Attitudes, Turnover Intentions, and Salesperson Performance, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 60, p. 663–671. Grzywacz, J & Marks, NF 2000, Reconceptualizing the Work–Family Interface: An Ecological Perspective on the Correlates of Positive and Negative Spillover between Work and Family, Journal of Occupational Health Psychology. Vol. 5, No. 1, p. 111–126. Gill, C 2009, Union impact on the effective adoption of High Performance Work Practices, Human Resource Management Review, Vol. 19, p. 39-50. Read More