Flexible Working

Executive Summary

This report will analysis two options for companies to deal with high staff turnover and will meet challenges in performant flexible working, and will use two case studies to compare compressed working week and teleworking. This report also illustrates that different categories of flexible working are suit for different department or companies. Furthermore, this report will describe flexible working has positive and negative effect on employees and employers or organization, such as work-life balance, leisure time after working.  

Table of content

1.0 Introduction                                                  3

  1.1 Background                                                3

2.0 Main body                                                   4

  2.1 Requirement                                                4

  2.2 option                                                     4

  2.3 analysis                                                    5

    2.3.1 compressed working                                      5

    2.3.2 teleworking                                             6

3.0 Conclusion                                                   9

4.0 Recommendation                                              10

1.0 Introduction

Flexible working is more widespread at the whole world. Many companies intend to use it during managing labors. Different kind of types of flexible working are crucial to many organization competitive success (Sethi et.al. 1990, cited in Kesavan. at.al. 2014). In addition, since flexible working be used at the early stage, there were a wide range of employment practice, such as part-time work, temporary help, service employment, employee leasing, self-employment, contracting out, day labor, and home-based work (Kelleberg,2000 cited in Valenauela, 2003:310). The purpose of report is to contribute to reduce high stuff turnover of phonesmart company, and dealing with challenge during carry out the flexible working, while proposing two options and analysis those two options.  This report will analysis flexible working in terms of compressed work, teleworking by needs different categories of requirements of employees or managers, and in this report will also refer compressed working and teleworking are strongly connects with individual’s social and work-life balance in aspects of needing employees or managers of requirements.   

1.1 Background

PhoneSmart company is a global company, and manufacturing, design, or sales distributes in more than 25 countries, with whole employees of about 17500-includes 76% are male. This company meet a significant staff turnover in manufacturing process. Hence, later, during performants those strategies face bigger challenges.  

2.0 Main body

2.1 Requirement

    2.1.1 Cost: Expenses in different categories may include salary, insurance, and extra equipment. But flexible labor source arises from costs necessary to support flexible time and temporary employee’s efforts (Kesavan,2016:1887).  

2.1.2 Satisfaction: Job satisfaction is more important in workplace. According to Tella. et al. (2007:5) states that job satisfaction is a result of employee’s perception of how well their job provides those jobs or job experience that are viewed as important. In addition, employees under a flextime schedule can reduce employee stress, it would lead to higher job satisfaction (Dodd &Ga Briggs, at al. 1999:498).

2.1.3 productivity involves the ratio between output and input, and also expressed as the significant number of production for each labor, or the number of worker for each product (Theo. and Voordt.2004:135). Companies could through increase output to improve effectiveness (ibid:136).

To meet those requirements of employees and managers or organization, there will be several options considered below.

2.2 Options for flexible working

2.2.1 compressed working in some aspect is benefit for organizations such as increase productivity, cost saving; benefit the employee such as increase job satisfaction, and work-job balance; and benefit social broadly, such as traffic congestion (Arbon,2012.389).    

2.2.2 Teleworking: the present study emphasizes that the effects of new technology on teleworking as a flexible working programme (Mueller,1992, cited in Baruch,2000:34-49).

2.3 Analyze two options

2.3.1 A popular organization adopts compressed working week (CWW) as a changing flexible working approach (Bambra,2008:767). Compressed workweek schedule still need employees to attend work at the same time, they meet the interdependence requirement of assembly line setting, especially in the manufacturing process (Baltes,1999:498). Due to employees be demanded to be present at more regular time intervals to service customers on Monday to Saturday, but manufacturing organization do not offer that services(ibid:498).

In Stenzel and Buren (1983) investigated 160 agencies treating their practices and reported that almost 25% of department had implemented replace schedules such as 9-,10-,11- and 12- hours shifts (Amendola. et al. 2011:408). It is noted that employee reaction and attitudes toward this option, because of its higher job satisfaction and greater leisure time, due to it clearly appears that impacted by compressed schedules often get more or better sleep or leisure time than traditional working, such as8-hours schedules(Axelsson,2005,cited in Amendola,2011:410); as well as point that the compressed working had beneficial for their social life and work-life balance, furthermore, increasing employees’ job satisfaction and leading to higher productivities (Ronen and Primps,1981 cited in Amendola. et al.2011:409).

CabTec is a company of Swiss origin that has two plants in Hungary, which produces more than 10,000 products, the staff need flexible working steams from seasonal fluctuations and intense economic change in the automotive industry. To deal with this question, this company adopted compressed work week for several months (Goudswaard,2013:23). By using a compressed working week, for short time, this company was able to save on energy and production costs, with decreasing the number of working hours; another advantage is achieving work-life balance(ibid:24). Furthermore, compressed working week lead to new break system and compensation paid to meet demands of employees, especially, increasing the salary of blue-collar workers (Goudswaard, 2013:25).