EMERGING TRENDS IN

HUMAN RESOURCES
BUSINESS STUDIES
CLASS 12
2020-21
EMERGING TRENDS IN HUMAN RESOURCES
1. FLEXIBLE HOURS
2. PERMANENT PART TIME
3. WORK FROM HOME
4. RETAINERSHIP
5. VIRTUAL TEAMS
6. SELF-MANAGING TEAMS(SMTs)
FLEXIBLE HOURS
Flexible work-hours or Flexitime means allowing employees the freedom to
come to work for the prescribed number of hours in a week or month where
they have to be present during the core period and with a flexibility to work
around this period.

Advantages:

1. It reduces employee absenteeism and tardiness.

2. Employee turnover or attrition is reduced.
3. There is improvement in the motivation and morale of employees.
4. Productivity increases because employees work when they feel most
energetic.
5. Employees can balance personal and professional life.
FLEXIBLE HOURS
Disadvantages:

1. Flexitime cannot be used where the work requires all the employees to be
present at the same time.
2. Planning and controlling of work becomes difficult to carry out.
3. Managers may face problem in directing employees outside the core time
period.
4. Operating costs are likely to increase as the office remains open for a longer
time period.
PERMANENT PART TIME
Permanent part time means when employees are employed as part timers on a
regular basis rather than full time basis.

Advantages:

1. The employer can adjust the number of employees per the requirements
which may vary from season to season or from one trade cycle to another.
2. Operating costs are reduced as the office is kept open for a shorter period.
3. Employees can supplement their wage/salary by working somewhere else or
through self-employment.
4. There can be better balance between the personal life and work life of
employees.
PERMANENT PART TIME
Disadvantages:

1. Part time employees may not be totally committed and loyal to the employer.
2. Greater number of part time employees are needed for the work.
3. Part time employees may not entitled to certain benefits such as employee
provident fund, gratuity, leaves etc.
WORK FROM HOME
Work from home or telecommuting is the use of personal computers, networks
and other communication devices to do work at home that is traditionally done in
the office.

Advantages:

1. It enables a firm to attract and retain employees who might not otherwise be
available.
2. Time and expense involved in physical commuting are saved.
3. Employee turnover and absenteeism are reduced.
4. It increases productivity.
WORK FROM HOME
Disadvantages:

1. There is lack of regular interactions and social contact among employees. It

leads to loss of creativity,trust and connectedness.
2. It is difficult to develop appropriate performance standards.
3. Employees who are not given the opportunity may feel discriminated.
4. Appropriate equipment is needed for each employee.
RETAINERSHIP
Retainership means engaging or retaining an outside expert to perform a specific
task and/or for a specific time period.

For eg: Engaging Merchant Bankers to launch an Initial Public Offer.

Engaging a law firm to represent a company in the court of law.

Companies retaining audit firms to carry out statutory audits of their

annual accounts and to finalise their annual reports.
VIRTUAL TEAMS
It is a team consisting of employees who are diverse group of people working from
different places but inter connected through information and communication
technologies such as internet,video conferencing etc.

The main features are:

● It has limited social context

● There is absence of paraverbal and non-verbal communication.
VIRTUAL TEAMS
Advantages:

1. It enables the workforce to share knowledge and expertise and enhances

cross function and interactions.
2. It saves time and travel expenses.
3. It enables the firm to hire and retain the best people irrespective of their
physical locations.
4. Work reports are available online which facilitates swift responses to the
demands of a global market.
VIRTUAL TEAMS
Disadvantages:

1. There is lack of physical contact among team members which lead to less
connectivity.
2. Conflicts may arise among team members due to language and cultural
barriers, unclear objectives etc.
3. Members of virtual team miss the experience of office culture.
4. Employees lose out on the possibility of having a fair assessment and
appraisal. This is because of the distance,the manager may not be in a
position to monitor the employee consistently.
SELF-MANAGING TEAMS
Read from the book exactly