Critically Evaluate Whether Flexible Working Arrangements Are Beneficial for Employers and Employees?

Critically evaluate whether flexible working arrangements are beneficial for employers and employees?

Flexible work options provides an alternative approache to getting work done through non traditional work hours, job structures ,and locations.

The availability of flexible work options grants an opportunity for individuals to mould their careers in order to optimise their work and personal commitments.As for organisation it promises an increase in productivity,boost ‘employer of choice’,reduce fix cost.However flexibility is also reputed as costly for employers and favours unequal treatment in terms of pay and benefits for employees.This essay aims to examine the nature of flexibility and further highlight the different types of flexibility throught the flexible firm model(Atkinson) .

In the 1990’s up til present day flexible work practices has become a central point for Uk government policies with Fagan et al (2006) believing globalisation; competition,productivity,active ageing; the long hours culture were particularly the source for the rise of flexible working practices.It is important to note that this belief remains the same today, except that advancement in technology is an additional influencing factor.

Atkinson’s model of the flexible firm is an arrangement in which mangament offers employees different forms of flexibility practices namely functional,numerial and financial flexibility in order to optimize the use of human resources and quality of work.It is mainly focused on dividing the workforce into core and peripheral groups.The core group entails full time,well paid,secure professional jobs,functional flexible and difficult to replace.Whereas the peripheral group consist of employees who are numerically flexible(Legge) because their skills are abundant in the labour market hence relatively despensible thus low job security,consequently may lead to low productivity due to low morale or they are only needed to complete particular task e.g...