FLEXIBLE WORKPLACE

Most organisations have struggled on how to improve employee’s productivity,

engagement, lower absentees, reduce employees stress and most importantly
motivate them. According to Dickens (2005) the answer lies in a balance between
the employees work and personal life as a good fit between work demands and
other life responsibility can improve the quality of both work and home life of
employees, which in turn can affect employee’s productivity, absenteeism,
turnover and motivation (Hayman, 2009). This has made it has flexible work
schedule which is only provided in a flexible workplace an important tool in
improving employees motivation.

According a survey carried out Pedersen and Jeppesen (2012) more than 70% of
managers reported that after moving to flexible working, there was an increase in
their productivity. They further stated that 63% of managers linked business
growth directly to the move to flexible working. Flexible workplace has now being
attributed to an increase in employee’s productivity, which in turn enhances
business growth.

A survey by Wolf and Beblo (2004) indicted that 76% of managers who have
adopted flexible working gave employees retention and motivation as a reason.
They further stated that 82% of the managers claim that flexible working benefits
their business. The survey they carried on the employee’s show that 95% of the
employees interviewed said that informal job flexibility motivated them to
succeed. Flexible workplace is benefits business as due to improved retention rate
and most importantly the motivation it provided the employees which encourages
them to succeed.

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Working flexible those not imply that employees will work less as a survey carried
out by Pavlova (2019) stated that staffs work longer hours when offered flexible
working. He further stated that workers are more creative when they work flexibly.
This implies that flexible working schedule motivates employees to put in extra
effort to enhance productivity.

A study by Mital (2010) stated 65% of the employers surveyed reported that
flexible working scheme made recruiting easier. He also stated that 56% of the
employers reported a drop in absenteeism when they adopted flexible working and
95% of the medium sized employers already offer flexible working patterns.
Beyond the fact that flexible working schedule makes recruiting easier and created
a drop in absentee, most organisation are beginning to adopted it (Chamberlain,
2014).

This has made it crucial for the implementation of flexible working hours as it
keeps employees engaged and performing while giving them the ability to work in
a way that fit their needs and preferences. One option is tell communing or
working from home, this saves time and money in communing cost and allows
employees to meet the demands of their busy life while still getting the job done.
This will save the club money by lowering utilities and overhead cost and is also
good for the environment by taking vehicles of the road and reducing energy
consumption. Other flexible working initiative or flexible work schedule like
compressed work weeks, job share, Career breaks, shift-swapping, part – time,
time off and sabbaticals will not just give employees time for family and personal
growth but also improve their productivity. According to a survey by Brandth and
Kvande (2001) in 2001 flexible working initiatives was reported to increase staff
motivation but also their productivity as it gives them time to rest and become

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more productive. Therefore, the implementation of a flexible workplace is crucial
for motivating employees and improving their productivity.

REFERENCES

Brandth, B. and Kvande, E. (2001). Flexible Work and Flexible Fathers. Work,
Employment and Society, 15(2), pp.251–267.

Chamberlain, J.A. (2014). Bending over Backwards: Flexibility, Freedom, and

Domination in Contemporary Work. Constellations, 22(1), pp.91–104.

Dickens, A. (2005). The flexible workplace pocketbook. Alresford: Management

Pocketbooks.

Hayman, J.R. (2009). Flexible work arrangements: exploring the linkages between
perceived usability of flexible work schedules and work/life balance. Community,
Work & Family, 12(3), pp.327–338.

Mital, K.M. (2010). Flexible Work Options and Value Creation. Global Journal of
Flexible Systems Management, 11(4), pp.25–33.

Pavlova, O. (2019). The impact of flexible working arrangements on competitive

advantages of organization. Vilnius University Open Series, (2), pp.55–61.

Pedersen, V.B. and Jeppesen, H.J. (2012). Contagious flexibility? A study on

whether schedule flexibility facilitates work-life enrichment. Scandinavian Journal
of Psychology, 53(4), pp.347–359.

Wolf, E. and Beblo, M. (2004). Does Work Time Flexibility Work? An Empirical
Assessment of the Efficiency Effects for German Firms. SSRN Electronic Journal.