Flexibility in work is increasingly appreciated in the modern world, and therefore many companies are implementing flexible work policies (FWPs). This practice implies that there are no severe restrictions on the schedule, place of work, or contract between employers and employees (Soga et al., 2022). Currently, the world is becoming more digital expanding opportunities for organizing flexible work. Moreover, taking care of employees, respecting their personal boundaries, and maintaining a work-life balance comes to the fore, and such flexible policies can help achieve these goals. Another factor contributing to the popularity of FWPs is safety for personal health in the context of the global COVID-19 pandemic and the recommendation to stay home (Soga et al., 2022). Organizations can choose a policy from an extensive range of types, for example, flexible working hours, remote work, job sharing, part-time employees, hiring freelancers, or other approaches (Soga et al., 2022). Implementing FWPs can lead to significant changes in the organization’s work and requires careful preparation.
Before selecting FWPs for implementation, the organization must consider their advantages and disadvantages. In addition to keeping the employees’ work-life balance, such policies reduce the cost of renting and managing offices, increase productivity and job satisfaction, and provide other benefits (Soga et al., 2022). They contribute to staff turnover reduction and the involvement of talents from different parts of the world. Such policies help companies better adapt to a rapidly changing world, which is necessary to support competitiveness and agility (Kelliher & De Menezes, 2019). Moreover, FWPs help organizations find the right employees to meet their work needs and support team diversity, which promotes creativity and innovation (Kelliher & De Menezes, 2019). As a result, FWPs have become a cornerstone for many business companies in various countries.
At the same time, the shortcomings of such policies attract fewer researchers’ attention, although they are also influential in decision-making. In particular, FWP can lead to distractions, indiscipline, less commitment, lack of communication, family conflicts due to an unclear division between life and work, employees’ psychological problems, and other harmful effects (Soga et al., 2022). Moreover, flexible policies can blur the line between work and personal life because the need to get involved in the workflow can arise anytime. As a consequence, there is no clear split between work and rest, which interferes with recreation and, as a result, leads to reduced productivity. As a result, organizations and employees should assess their abilities to maintain performance before choosing FWP.
Some policies may be more suitable for workers with different employment categories and organizations with contrasting workflows. For example, remote work will be most beneficial for hourly employees who receive payments for the number of hours, as it will save time spent on the way to the office. Salaried employees who receive a fixed fee will benefit the most from the flexible hours policy, as they will be able to work at a time when they feel the most productive. Consequently, to maximize the benefit of FWP, businesses need to focus on their needs, capabilities, and pre-existing practices.
Implementing the FWP is a significant change in the organization’s work; therefore, it is crucial to envision the necessary steps to achieve success. Stouten et al. (2018) combine several organizational change management models and highlights specific actions that can be used to introduce new policies. In particular, it is necessary to conduct research and provide evidence of the benefits that FWP may bring. This measure will create a convincing policy proposal and support communication with employees to obtain an agreement on implementing changes. After that, drawing up a plan for executing the FWP and mobilizing employees to teach new work features is necessary. After some time working in the new mode, managers need to assess and measure the impact of the policy and make amendments to improve it. Addressing the issue of implementing FWPs helps understand how organizations function and what should be considered when managing change. As the discussion above demonstrated, specific employment categories or the organization field may affect policy choice and effectiveness.
Changing workflows to adopt flexible policies often raises concerns among companies because of the potential loss of productivity. While FWPs typically help improve performance, managers can take a few additional measures to support effective performance (Forbes Human Resources Council, 2021). For example, it is critical to trust employees, train them, and get involved in work. Instead of constant monitoring, managers need to use tools that contribute to engagement and set specific deadlines for completing tasks (Forbes Human Resources Council, 2021). Team and one-on-one meetings will help discuss the goals and provide feedback and recommendations. It is essential to develop organizational culture, as it plays a critical role in employees’ involvement, commitment to the organization, and productivity (Forbes Human Resources Council, 2021). Implementing only FWPs is not enough for a successful company’s work – it is crucial to take additional measures.
The search for solutions for FWPs requires research and study of existing scientific literature on the issue. The current research helped me improve my information retrieval, critical thinking, analysis, and writing skills. I faced some challenges as researchers often focused on the narrower aspects of the FWPs problem, and I needed to find information that would answer all my questions. I have gained knowledge of the types and features of FWPs and their application in various circumstances and settings. I have also expanded my understanding of change management across different organizations. Companies and employees need to understand their goals and needs when it comes to flexible policies. In this case, they achieve maximum efficiency and take full advantage of such policies. Thus, the study significantly benefits understanding the issue and developing skills and knowledge.
References
Forbes Human Resources Council. (2021). How to implement a flexible work policy without losing productivity. Forbes. Web.
Kelliher, C., & De Menezes, L. M. (2019). Flexible working in organisations: A research overview. Routledge.
Soga, L. R., Bolade-Ogunfodun, Y., Mariani, M., Nasr, R., & Laker, B. (2022). Unmasking the other face of flexible working practices: A systematic literature review. Journal of Business Research, 142, 648-662. Web.
Stouten, J., Rousseau, D. M., & De Cremer, D. (2018). Successful organizational change: Integrating the management practice and scholarly literatures. Academy of Management Annals, 12(2), 752-788. Web.
Appendix A. Drafts
Draft for Outline
- Flexible work policies (FWPs).
- Types of FWPs.
- Benefits of FWPs’
- Disadvantages of FWPs.
- Features of the FWP for hourly employees and for salaried employees.
- FWPs’ implementation and expected outcomes.
- Actions required to implement FWPs.
- Private organization features and change management.
- Conducting research on FWPs.
- Solutions for FWPs issues through research.
- Skills and knowledge in FWP research.
The Draft
Flexible work policies (FWPs) have no severe restrictions on the schedule, place of work, or contract between the employers and employees (Soga et al., 2018). The world is becoming more digital leading to flexible work. Moreover, FWP needed for taking care of employees, respecting their personal boundaries, and maintaining a work-life balance. COVID-19 pandemic contributes to FWPs popularity to keep people safe.
FWPs examples: flexible working hours, remote work, job sharing, part-time employees, hiring freelancers, or other approaches (Soga et al., 2018).
Benefits: policies reduce the cost of renting and managing offices, increase productivity and job satisfaction, staff turnover reduction, the involvement of talents globally. Shortcomings: lead to distractions, indiscipline, less commitment, lack of communication, family conflicts, employees’ psychological problems.
Notes: Working with employees from different parts of the world leads to the diversity of the team, and increases the creativity of employees. The flexibility of policies also leads to the flexibility of companies themselves, and they adapt to change faster. However, flexible policies can erase the line between work and personal life, the need to get involved in the workflow can arise at any time. As a result, there is no clear separation between work and rest, which interferes with the restoration of strength and, as a result, leads to reduced productivity.
Different employment categories: hourly employees (payment for time of work) and salaried (fixed payment) employees. Hourly: remote work will save time spent on the way to the office. Salaried employees will be able to work at a time when they convenient and feel the most productive.
Flexible policies will be useful for those who have difficulty meeting the traditional schedule – parents, who combine work with caring for children, people who prefer to work at night, students who combine study and practice.
Stouten et al. (2018): several organizational change management models for successful and multilateral policies implementation. Steps:
- conduct research and provide evidence of the benefits that FWP may bring for policy proposal;
- communication with employees to obtain an agreement on changes;
- plan creation on FWP implementation;
- mobilizing and teaching employees about new features of work;
- plan implementation;
- assessing and measuring the effect after some period working with new policies;
- amendments and improvement based on comments and feedback.
FWPs helps understand how organizations function and what should be considered when managing change. As the discussion above demonstrated, specific employment categories or the organization field may affect policy choice and effectiveness.
Changing workflows to adopt flexible schedules often raises concerns among companies because of potential loss of productivity. While FWPs typically help improve performance, there are a few additional measures managers can take under new policies. For example, it is important to trust employees and direct efforts to engage and train them. That is, instead of constant monitoring, managers need to use tools that contribute to engagement, and set certain deadlines for completing tasks (Forbes Human Resources Council, 2021). General and one-on-one meetings will be useful to discuss the tasks set for the team, provide feedback, and recommendations. It is important to work on organizational culture, as it plays an important role in the involvement of employees, their dedication to the organization, and productivity (Forbes Human Resources Council, 2021). Implementing only FWPs is not enough for a successful company, it is important to take additional measures.
Skills: research in scientific literature, information retrieval, critical thinking, analysis, and writing. Research was hard because researchers focused on the narrower aspects of the FWPs and there little research covering all questions.
Knowledge: the types FWPs, their application in various settings, change management in organizations.
Note: Researchers are interested in studying flexible policies, and therefore there is a large amount of research on various aspects of the topic. As a result, it was difficult to find a source, which reveals several questions from those presented in the outline at once, not just one.
When it comes to flexible policies, companies and employees need to understand their own goals and needs. Only in this case, they can achieve maximum efficiency, and take full advantage of such policies.