HC2101 Performance Management for Human Resource

Workplaces of the future will present many challenges and opportunities for both HRM and employees

1. Choose one (1) of the predicted future workplace changes, research the topic to answer the following questions:
a) What are the implications for employees (i.e. different way of working, new skills etc.)
b) What are the HRM implications – how might HR have to operate differently
c) What are the implications for leaders and managers.

In the present scenario, the business environment is changing with a rapid rate. Therefore, it is not an easy job to retain the workforce just by offering them the basic wages and few benefits. There is an extreme need that the organisations must take initiatives to offer utmost flexibility and workplace benefits to the employees. Due to globalization, companies are directing their primary focus on the development of the employees by offering them increased work life balance. The greater the work-life balance is the higher is the work force involvement with the organisation. But in such a dynamic business environment, the needs and the demands of the employees are also changing as well as increasing (Robert Half, 2017). Because of the changing trends, the employees now are demanding for work life flexibility in the place of work life balance.

Due to such changing needs, in the future, there will also be vast changes occurring in the organizational structures and policies. It will result in a negative as well as optimistic outcome upon the human resource department as well as upon the organisational workforces. For attaining future sustainability and increase number of competitive benefits, the organisations are taking initiatives to attain increased level of work-life balance. The purpose of the following report is to throw lights upon the various features of work life flexibility as well as the way in which it is dominatingly replacing the concept of work life balance in the organisations (Acas, 2015). The report will also highlight the implications of work-life flexibility replacing work life balance on the human resource management as well as on the employees. It will also demonstrate the implications upon the mangers or the leaders that in what way they have to manage and respond to such changes in the organizational world.

Work-life flexibility will replace work life balance 

The need for work life flexibility is increasing among the employees in the business organisations. The business institutions are also taking initiatives to fulfill this demand for retaining their most valuable assets. In the past decade, the concept of work life flexibility attained huge emphasis by the organisations for having increased workforce engagement. The concept of work life balance can be understood as the relationship among the work roll of the workforce and the several other obligations of the employees. There is a direct relationship among both these components. The professional and the personal lives of the employees are interlinked and impact each other in various ways. Therefore, there is a must need of work life balance in the organisations (Emory, 2009).

The business institute as well as the government strives hard to have upsurge employee engagement and involvement. Moreover, in the current situation, the lives of individuals is extremely challenging and multitasking where they have to develop a balance among their personal as well as professional accountabilities. The personal accountabilities include taking care of the children, elder people as well as other family members and their needs (ERICSSON, 2015). On the other hand, the professional accountabilities comprises of accomplishment of the organisational goals, performing tasks in team work, work efficiency and attainment of the set targets. Therefore, it becomes challenging for the organisational employees to have a good balance between all these professional and personal accountabilities. And as a result, the employees lack behind in giving adequate time to activities such as playing sports, have personal development, participating in volunteering activities and maintaining their health and fitness (Williams, Blair?Loy and Berdahl, 2013).

From the broader point of view, it can be said that there is no fix or a specific way to achieve work life balance because of the fact that the things are meant to be change. Therefore, the change in the personal and professional life emphasizes individuals to have associated change in their personal commitments and working lives. To solve such issues, the organisations are diverting their focus on attainment of work life flexibility in the place of work life balance. Because of various loop holes in the approach of work life balance, the organisations have to move towards implementing work life flexibility at the workplaces (Kelliher and Anderson, 2008). The problems and challenges are related to decreased workforce skills and morale, change in the job roles, high work pressure, increased level of volatility in the business functions, increased personal accountabilities, etc.

These problems have a direct impact upon the organisational performance as because of all such issues the efficiency and the proficiency of the organisational employees start decreasing which results in distraction focus on the job and the work life. Therefore, to resolve such issues, the organisations started implementing the work life flexibility approach (Emory, 2009). The concept of work life flexibility can be understood as a key element of the work life efficiency and competence. The primary reason behind taking use of the approach of work life flexibility is to get a good response from the employees side in terms of reducing their work pressure and retaining them in the organisation for a longer period of time (Kossek, et al., 2014).

The number of organisations using work life flexibility approach is increasing day by day as there are enormous number of benefits associated with the approach of work life flexibility such as part-time job, flexible working hours, job sharing, compressed workweeks and many other flexible working arrangements (UCDAVIS, 2016). There are several other benefits associated with the concept of work life flexibility both for the organisational employees as well as for the organisations. The most favored outcomes of work life flexibility are increased retention rate, improved recruitments, high productivity, upsurge morale, increased employee commitment, efficient office coverage, protecting the investments, deduction in expenses, building up of a an extremely responsible business institution and offering a recruitment edge (Demerouti, et al., 2014).

Implications for employees

The modification in the organisational practices and the implementation of the work life flexibility approach has great impact upon the employees. Some of the following are the implications over the employees of work life flexibility:

Enable Suppleness

A most prime and key implication is that work life flexibility results in enabling of flexibility or mobility. There has been offered elastic working hours to the organisational workforce. It provides a required amount of mobility to the employees so that they can manage their personal working too. There develops an improved balance between an employee’s non-working and working responsibilities (Grawitch and Barber, 2010).

Increased morale and accomplishment of personal accountabilities

Another key positive implication is that with the presence of work life flexibility, the employees are able to accomplish their personal accountabilities which were used to leave behind because of high work pressure (Richman, 2008). In the past, only the executives and the managerial authorities used to have these benefits because of their powerful positions in the organisations. As per the concepts of equity theory, it is essential that there must be maintained equity in the organisation which states that all the employees must get equal benefits and recognition. But in the absence of work life flexibility and inequitable approaches there occurs number of conflicts (King and Grace, 2010). Therefore, kit results in increased attrition rate of the employees. But with the implementation of work life flexibility, all the employees whether a managerial or a grass root level worker are eligible to have similar benefits. This results in increased organisational commitment, improved working and enhanced productivity and morale.

Physical as well as Mental Wellbeing

By having work life flexibility in the organisations, there is exercised more control by the employees upon their personal and professional lives which develops an optimistic affect upon their physical as well as mental health. For example, it was found in the results of a study which was performed on few of the employees which are there in the extended care facilities that there are high signs of the cardiovascular ailment who are working with squat creativity as well as less amount of family-work openness. The biomarker and the doctors both diagnosed the reports. It demonstrated that there is an extreme need of work life flexibility for the physical as well as mental happiness of the employees (Aging & Work, n.d.). By having supple working arrangements, there is enhanced employee participation in healthy work life that results in reduced rate of issues related to stress, mental pressure, work-related injuries and sickness-absences.

Development of work life balance

The approach of work life balance can be understood as the individual’s ability to maintain an effective balance among the professional and the personal accountabilities.it helps the employees to accomplish the personal responsibilities and have efficient well-being. But still, there exists various loop holes in this approach. The implementation of work life flexibility helps in fixing these loop holes and developing and improving the concept of work life balance (Government of South Africa, 2012).

Improved work-family balance

There are primary two aspects of work-life balance i.e. interference of family in work and interference of work in family. The nature of job impacts the family life of an employee in a positive or negative manner and the family situation affects the efficiency and productivity of an employee in the organization. The flexibility in the working arrangements supports the employees to achieve a higher degree of work-family balance which have positive implications over the organization as well as the employee. In various studies it has been found that the flexible working hours provide extreme support to female employee in comparison with the male employees. The rate of work-family conflict decreased with an increasing rate with the implementation of work-life flexibility approach in the organizations (Jeffrey Hill, et al., 2008). Thus the work-life flexibility eliminates the issues of work-family balance and also improves it.

Reduced negative behavioral practices

Negative behavioral practices can be understood as the behaviour of the employees as a result of high work pressure. Because of the negative behaviour or the spillover, there takes place work place conflicts as well as family conflicts which disturb the personal as well as the professional lives of the employees. But with the implementation of work life flexibility, there develops a balance which reduces the negative spillovers and a peaceful and positive work-family environment is developed (Beauregard and Henry, 2009).

Decreased amount of Stress

It is one of the major positive implications of work life flexibility that the stress level of the employees keeps on decreasing as because of adequate an supple working arrangements the individuals can give equal focus on their job as well as personal commitments. Therefore, there is no stress level which impacts the productivity of the employees. The competence, morale and productivity increases which make an employee fit for the business institute (Hill, et al., 2010).

Implications for HRMs

There are also few implications upon HRM of replacing work life balance with work life flexibility. Such as:

Required to have pioneering working practices

To achieve work life flexibility, it is essential for HRM to have pioneering work practices in the organisation. The employees have a comparison of the benefits and flexibility what other employees are getting in different organisation. Thus, to retain employees and stop them to switch to other organisations, it is essential to offer high supple working arrangements to the workforces (Kossek, et al., 2011).

Increased retention rate of the employees

There is a direct interlinked between the retention rate and the work life flexibility approach. As per the expectancy theory, it is expected by the workforce to have a supportive as well as advantageous workplace and working environment. The benefits other than monetary benefits play a vital role in enhancing the job satisfaction of the employees (Skinner, 2014). It therefore increases the retention arte of the employees in an organisation. One such renowned example of offering work life flexibility is of McDonalds as it provides huge benefits to the employees in terms of flexible shift time, rewards and recognition, etc. (Crawford, R., (2015).

Modified way of functioning

With the incorporation of a new approach i.e. work life flexibility, it is an implication for GRM to modify or restructure its way of functioning. The HRM has to efficiently take care and conscious about that there is utmost efficiency in the working in various sift hours (Vandello, et al., 2013).

Implications for managers and leaders

To manage this change in the approaches, there is a vital role of the organisational managers and the leaders. Following are some of the implications of work life flexibility on the managers and the leaders:

Reduced administrative pressure

With the implementation of work life flexibility, there takes place development of potentialities and skills in the employees that also offer functional flexibility. And as a result there are work sharing practices (Kossek and Van Dynet, 2011). In the absence of some of the employees, the work does not get interrupted as it is managed by other employees. It reduces the administrative pressure of continuous working.

Efficient and effective management

The advantages offered by implementation of work life flexibility have a positive impact upon the management of the workforce. The satisfied employees have high productivity and efficiency in work which results in less work place conflicts as well as chances of making errors. It results in development of an improved association among the leaders and the employees and thus there takes place effective and efficient management in the organisation (Carlson, Grzywacz and Michele Kacmar, 2010).

Reduced rate of nonstop recruitments

Because of increased work life flexibility and the associated advantages offered to the employees, the retention rate of the workforce increases. This results in declined rate of fresh recruitment in the organisation (Jeffrey Hill, et al., 2008). Thus, it saves a lot of time and capital of the human resource department

Conclusion 

In the present business scenario, there is extreme dynamicity that results in changing demands of the business as well as of the employees. To attain high retention rate of the employees as well as increased workforce engagement, it is essential to adopt the work life flexibility practice. From the report, it can be concluded that there is a need to replace work life balance from work life flexibility so that the employees can have an improved professional as well as personal life. The increased number of flexible working elements such as providing time for managing the personal life responsibilities, increase mobility and offering part time shifts results in declined work pressure as well as enhanced employees productivity.

A set of recommendations is also offered to the organisations to have appropriate work life flexibility at the workplace. It is recommended that the organisations must undertake surveys for analyzing the various changing requirements and the needs of the employees so that appropriate practices can also be developed to accomplish those needs. It is also recommended that there must be offered continuous training to the workforce for understanding the work load of the employees and helping them to overcome it (Renee Baptiste, 2008). Therefore, from the overall discussion, it can be stated that for attaining efficient results and increased employee engagement, the organisations must incorporate efficient work life flexibility initiatives.

References

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