Flextime

Contents

Executive Summary 2

Introduction 3

Factors Contributing to FWA Implementation at the Organizational Level 4

Factors Influencing the Outcomes of FWAs - Employee Perpsective 7

FWA Implications on Job Design 8

Limitations 10

Conclusion 10

Executive Summary

A key objective of a human resources approach to managing people is the achievement of flexibility. Through the past several decades, there has been a slow and often unheralded increase in the number of organizations experimenting with and adopting new working arrangements. Now, as we transition through the 21st century, projections indicate that flexible and alternative working systems will become increasingly common as organizations strive to offer employees a work/life balance. Because organizational use of these alternative work arrangements is growing, it is timely to provide leaders with relevant information needed to determine the impact of these emerging work arrangements on a fundamentally important issue in contemporary workplaces - job design.

This paper first defines flexible work arrangements (FWAs) and explains their popularity with both organizations and their employees. It then focuses on organizational factors that permit employees to engage in these types of non-traditional work practices. Next, factors influencing the outcomes of FWAs from the employee’s perspective are examined. Implications to job design are then highlighted. Lastly, the paper concludes with recommending that managers consider new, innovative and flexible approaches to job design in light of competing organizational and work/life employee demands.

Introduction

Organizations have for years been trying to accommodate employees in their pursuit of the elusive work/life balance. It has become an important issue facing organizations as they grapple with attracting and retaining human capital in a highly competitive labour market. Due to societal changes, such as an increasing number of women in the work...