Flexibility & Work-Life Balance: Who Benefits?

HRM Assignment
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Introduction: Flexibility and work-life balance are two terms that go hands-in-hands with
HRM practices, however, there is much confusion between the meanings of the two and despite
of its presence in the practices they are not clearly differentiated[ CITATION Chr10 \l 1033 ]. Work-
life balance aims to provide a balanced life to an employee to satisfy his/her needs and to keep a
balance between the work/ paid vocations, and personal life or the life outside the office.
Flexibility refers to the various arrangements made by the employer to ease their employees
while trying to get more output. A few decades ago, when things were not as fast as they are
today, flexibility and work-life balance were directly proportional to each other. The higher the
flexibility the higher was work-life balance[ CITATION Sha14 \l 1033 ]. It is because the employer’s
understanding towards flexibility was different than what they perceive today. The purpose of
flexibility was to create a link between the needs of customers and businesses while recognizing
the family caring responsibilities. Flexibility in working hours allows employees to choose their
working hours and workplace as per their convenience[ CITATION Chr10 \l 1033 ]. In the past, the
reason for offering flexibility to employees was to benefit the customers, organizations, and the
employees at the same time. From the perspective of customers, the flexibility allowed them to
access goods and services at different times other than the normal working schedules. For
organizations, flexibility provides them a clear understanding of the efforts and performance of
their employees to maximize profit. For individual employees, flexibility gives a better work-life
balance for a prosperous career and personal life[ CITATION Chr10 \l 1033 ]. Unfortunately, the
meaning of flexibility has changed in the recent years because of the rapidly increasing
competition and transforming corporate world. Today, employers are using flexibility for the
betterment of the organization, customers and personal benefits and the benefits of employees
are jeopardized. This compelled the employees to work even longer hours other than their
normal hours to gain economic relief. As a result employee has less or no time to spend on their
personal activities. Moreover, Nick Gteenhalgh identified that the longer working hours has
made the employees disillusioned, unproductive, resentful and dissatisfied [ CITATION Kra14 \l
1033 ]. The labor unions and employee rights and legislation agencies should consider the
negative shift of the paradigm of flexibility and should make some efforts to provide better
work-life balance to employees for the benefits of all the stakeholders of a business.
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Juliet Brouke, a partner at Aequus Partners claimed that the real essence of the flexibility has
been shifted to a negative side that is flexibility is now turned to the competition for employees
that how they can get more performance out of a few people/employees[ CITATION Kra14 \l 1033 ].
This is absolutely true, because the modern world employers are treating people as machines
who have to work hard with consistent potency throughout the day. Employees, on the other
hand, are impotent to show their resistance because they have to earn a good living to offer a
standard life to their family and by showing their resistance they can lose their job and finding a
new and competent job is a hectic. The real essence of flexibility was to help employers in
controlling costs while at the same time allowing employees to get a proper balance between
their personal and professional lives. Since employers used flexibility to further economic
development, the majority of the employees are dissatisfied [ CITATION How13 \l 1033 ].
According to the case information, most Australians are failed in bringing a proper balance
between the professional and personal life due to the change in the paradigm. Over 20% of
people work continuously for 48 hours or more while more than 60% do not request for regular
holidays[ CITATION Kra14 \l 1033 ]. It can be easily judged that the flexibility has been moved from
its original paradigm and people are impotent to follow a schedule prepared by their employer
because they do not have any other option as almost all the employers are following the same
phenomenon just for the sake of their own benefits. The original paradigm of flexibility was
designed to benefit all the stakeholders (customers, employer, and employee) but the new
paradigm is compensated only the former two while the later one is at the extreme edge of
disadvantages and dissatisfaction. Employers are rapidly adopting the new paradigm with a
perception that it is more beneficial for the organization, however, the truth is totally different,
and they are actually neglecting the negatives of the new paradigm that is stressing their
employees to work beyond their capabilities[ CITATION Con13 \l 1033 ].

The new paradigm of flexibility and work-life balance has resulted in a number of performance
related issues such as decrease in productivity, an increase in dissatisfaction, high employee
turnover, and decrease in overall performance and is also leading to a number of other
implications[ CITATION Ahm13 \l 1033 ]. It has been observed that some employers are using
flexibility as an economic development tool in which they are offering a tough schedule to their
employees in which employees have to work for about 48 hours a week on average and in some
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cases the figure can be increased to 60 hours. People who are working 48 hours a week have to
work for about 9.8 hours a day. They only have 14.2 hours to perform other activities. In the
remaining 14.2 hours a day, an employee have to sleep, spend time with family, friends and on
other activities which is not possible for them and as a result the majority of employees do not
take proper sleep[ CITATION Pai14 \l 1033 ]. As a result, employees cannot perform efficiently at
their work places and a competitive and out performer can soon become a less productive and
poor performer. As per the case information, more than 60% people also work on their holidays
which mean they have to work more than 12 hours per day. The reduction in work-life balance is
not only affecting the performance and productivity of employees but at the same time it is
confronting them with a number of health issues and family conflicts[ CITATION Ahm13 \l 1033 ].
A few decades ago, Boundary theory was considered as the foundation of flexibility and work-
life balance. Analysts identified boundary theory for the help of employers to set an appropriate
working schedule for employees. Boundary theory was considered as an effective tool to bring
balance between personal and professional life of an employee that increase the mindfulness of
employees, which in turn increasing job satisfaction of employees and their performance
level[ CITATION Ste11 \l 1033 ]. Unfortunately, the boundary theory has been eliminated from the
flexibility and work-life balance, which increased negativity among employees, emotional
exhaustion, reluctance to change, and job dissatisfaction. The elimination of such effective
theories and tools has further complicated the HRM practices for the management and as a result
many employers are taking wrong steps to improve their overall performance [ CITATION Bul07 \l
1033 ]. Key implications of excessive work of employees include stress, work overload,
tiredness, stalled work, and emotional exhaustion. All these things lead to poor performance and
low productivity that instead of benefiting causes several issues for the employers. According to
the research of Pew research center conducted in 2013, over 56% working women are
dissatisfied from their working schedule as it is impossible for them to create a proper balance
between their personal and professional life while about 50% men are found dissatisfied in this
research from their work schedule[ CITATION Jam14 \l 1033 ].

Critics, on the other hand support the shift in the original paradigm of flexibility and work-life
balance by arguing that the use of the original flexibility technique is not applicable in the
economic downturn because an employer needs to have a great workforce to work in different
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working hours. The larger the workforce the higher will be the operating costs of an organization
[ CITATION KMo10 \l 1033 ]. Therefore, they believe that the new paradigm is actually effective
and realistic because it is not possible for every employer to compensate accurately an army of
workers with limited/finite resources. Moreover, critics also believes that managing a diverse and
massive workforce is very difficult and it has a number of risks for the organization and for the
employer, therefore, the use of the new flexibility paradigm is justifiable as it is financially
benefiting the employees and is helping the employer to reduce costs. By getting more output
from fewer employees, an employer can improve the expertise of his/her employees in the
relevant field and can effectively boost productivity and performance[ CITATION Ste11 \l 1033 ].
Critics have a long list of the advantages of limited force and they also argue that having
excessive working hours is not as bad for an employee as it is perceived. In this rapidly shaping
world, everyone have a desire to offer a good living standard for him/her and for the family
members. This is not possible for a person to meet all the increasing demands with a regular
job/working hours. To satisfy such needs, employees have to work for some additional hours to
make some more money[ CITATION Pra10 \l 1033 ]. A few years back, people were not money-
minded as they are today; therefore, they are also willing to work for extra time and are keeping
all of their personal activities for annual holidays. People living in rich countries are competing
with each other to improve their life style while people in poor countries are working hard for
further development. This is showing that the new phenomenon of flexibility and work-life
balance is also acceptable for employees and this is really unfair to blame only the employers for
the change. The change in the philosophy of flexibility and work-life balance is beneficial for
both groups (employer and employee) as well as for the customers[ CITATION Pro08 \l 1033 ].

When it comes to health and safety of the employees, the supporters of excessive work hours
argue that the health and safety condition of the employees depends on the self-management
skills of an employee. This is the responsibility of each employee to have an overtime policy
which will help the employee in maintaining good health and performance level[ CITATION
Rot12 \l 1033 ]. All employers have a determined schedule in which they are offering a break to
its employee every three or four hours of work, it has been noted that many employees do not
take the advantage of the break, which means they are not taking care of their health. It is the
responsibility of an employee to effectively utilize the break to relax his/her mind and muscles.
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Similarly employees should avoid double shifts in the greed of making extra money[ CITATION
Poe08 \l 1033 ]. For example, if an employee have to work for 8 hours, he/she should not opt to
work for another 8 hours consistently. Moreover, it is the moral and legal right of an employee to
request a proper overtime schedule from his/her employer. However, it has been observed that
many employees do not have any information about their legal rights, safety measures, the rules
and regulations of their organization regarding employees control environment and regarding
overtime [ CITATION Sus12 \l 1033 ]. Critics also argue that the new meaning of flexibility is not as
bad as it is made by some employers due to their negative reactions. There are a number of
employers who have not enough information about this technique; hence, they are using it as per
their understanding, which is creating problems for both the organization and for the employees.
By setting up a proper system, work schedule and health and safety measures, employers can
ensure a healthy work environment for their employees in excessive work hours[ CITATION
Pai14 \l 1033 ]. Such safety measures and arrangements ensure good performance, high
productivity, controlled cost, low absenteeism and high employee satisfaction. In this regard, it is
totally unfair to blame the change in the paradigm of work-life balance because the negative
results of this change are because of the poor management skills of some employers and
employees [ CITATION Rot12 \l 1033 ]. To justify their claims, critics argue that why only 56%
women are dissatisfied instead of 100% and why only 50% men are not satisfied rather than
100%. It is showing the rest of 44% and 50% are properly managing this shift and are satisfied
with the change, respectively. It means the problem is with people not with the system itself, and
in this fast moving corporate world, this is the only way to keep up with the competition
[ CITATION Rob04 \l 1033 ].

Critics have presented a good rebuttal to the above discussed facts, but still, their position is quite
weak in supporting this global issue. The first claim of the supporters of the new work-life
balance was that the new flexibility paradigm is a tool that is used by employers to cope with the
economic downturn. This is not an appropriate way to deal with the economic downturn because
in this way they are simply negotiating the work-life balance and is creating problems for
employees only. There are a number of other ways that an employer can use to facilitate work-
life balance while reducing costs and improving productivity[ CITATION KMo10 \l 1033 ].
Employers can offer a relaxation to employees using technology, which means employers should
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set some goals and objective for a specified time and should assign the portion of work to each
employee to complete within the given time. Employers should give flexibility to an employee to
work from home instead of forcing him/her to work for longer hour in office. Work from home
will not only help the employer to control costs but will also help the employee to complete
office work in a more relaxed and informal environment. During hard economic times, instead of
firing employees, the employer should opt for unpaid vacations. Even employee understands the
position of an employer and they also prefer unpaid leave instead of firing from job[ CITATION
KMo10 \l 1033 ]. The employer can divide his/her employees in groups and can retain out
performers at first during economic recession and after some time, for example, after a month or
two, the employer can send this group on unpaid leave and can call the other group for further
work. Such a technique will not only allow the employer to retain his entire workforce but will
also allow him to not compromise on the quality and performance. On the other hand, the
technique will also help employees to enjoy a work-life balance even during the hard economic
times[ CITATION KMo10 \l 1033 ]. The employer should call a meeting or should use other ways to
communicate the economic situation and required changes with different levels of management.
This will make the work easy as those employees who are willing to work for longer hours will
approach their managers. Employer should try to stay calm because the results of a research in
which 22 countries participated have shown that people are more likely to work for longer hours
in poor economic conditions[ CITATION Pra10 \l 1033 ]. In this regard, the supporters of the new
phenomenon of work-life cannot justify their position by linking the issue with responding to the
economic downturn.

Critics also claimed that the shift in the paradigm of flexibility and work-life balance became
worsen due to the poor management skills of employees and some employers. It is also not the
case on behalf of employees, because it is a matter of common sense that how a person can
effectively manage or distribute 12 or 14 hours a day in various tasks or activities including
family time, personal grooming activities, exercise and in a proper sleeping time[ CITATION
Kum11 \l 1033 ]. Moreover, pointing out that if proper management is not an issue, then why only
56% women and 50% men are dissatisfied from their schedules instead of 100%. The reason
behind this information that Pew research center provided is that these workers have to work for
longer hours because their employers have limited resources and limited staff. When situation
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become rough at work, the majority of long hour workers take their work home and strike at their
families and when situation become tough at home they than cannot focus on work in
office[ CITATION Dav02 \l 1033 ]. They further concluded that it is beyond the control of employers
and of employees to keep things consistent all the time. It has been scientifically proved that
consistent exposure to stress, pressure and emotional exhaustion ends up with serious health
issues[ CITATION Pro08 \l 1033 ]. Even Barbra Holmes of Managing Work Life Balance
International identified that the new approach is extremely hazardous for the health of employees
because human body can only cope with long working hours up to some extent[ CITATION Kra14 \l
1033 ]. The only solution to such issues is the use of the original paradigm of flexibility and
work-life balance in which there are sufficient employees for various shifts and in which
employees can share jobs with each other and can even ask for leave to manage their personal
issues[ CITATION Chr10 \l 1033 ].

Conclusion:From the above discussion and arguments, it became clear that the purpose of the
original paradigm of the flexibility and work-life balance was to benefit customers, employers
and employees all at the same time. In the recent years, due to increasing competition, modern
employers have changed the essence of the flexibility and have neglected the importance of
work-life balance[ CITATION Chr10 \l 1033 ]. For modern employers, it is just a tool to improve
economic outcomes. Due to modern practices people became confused between the definition of
flexibility and work-life balance. Moreover, people today are mostly materialistic in nature,
which are in the race of making more and more money; hence, they do not understand the real
advantages and disadvantages of a particular approach. Juliet Bourke is right in claiming that the
flexibility has shifted from its original purpose which posed several health and psychological
issues to employees. The shift in the paradigm of flexibility and work-life resulted in
disillusioned, unproductive, and resentful employees with high absenteeism and high turnover.
From all the facts and figures discussed in this essay, it is concluded that for a healthy and safe
work environment and for high performance, employers should implement the traditional
flexibility approach based on job sharing, flexible working hours, annual hours, staggered hours
and compressed hours to facilitate employees[ CITATION PDe11 \l 1033 ]. This will not only bring a
proper balance between the personal and professional life of an employee but will also help the
employer to facilitate employees even during economic downturn. The advantages of the new
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approach are far less than its disadvantages and the current approach is only benefiting
employers for a limited time. It is the responsibility of the HR experts in an organization to
properly implement flexibility and work-life balance thinking about the benefits of employer and
employees[ CITATION Poe08 \l 1033 ]. [ CITATION Sha14 \l 1033 ]
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