HR Essay Sample: Improving Employee Engagement Through Flextime Policy

It is rare to find engaged employees. Based on the Gallups State of the Global Workplace report, approximately 13% of the workers in the world are engaged in their institutions. New Zealand is one of the countries with highest number of engaged employees at 23% with Australia having 24%.Engaged employees are different from non-engaged because of their discretionary effort they put in their roles. Also, they are willing to go an extra mile of working with passion as well as having a profound relationship with their companies CITATION Yer08 \l 1033 (Isaac, 2008). Engaged employees are people who move the business forward by driving innovation. Different from the disengaged workers who may damage the reputation of the company and have intent of acting out of unhappiness, these workers attract more customers in the organization. Human resource departments in most of the institutions struggle with employee engagement CITATION Yer08 \l 1033 (Isaac, 2008). Also, there are difficulties of HR directors to discuss the challenges of involvement. In a period where engaging people well is becoming one of the biggest competitive differentiators in business, according to Josh Bersin, it is critical to evaluate the challenges the organizations encounter while attempting to improve employee engagement.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

Even if engagement is considered an integral part of success, most of the business plans to not have strategic programs to improve it. Also the thread connecting customer satisfaction to involvement misses, generating an ineffective strategy which is consistent to the institutions plan (DFEE, 2000). Also, most of the studied have found that there difficulties in generating an organizational culture under which employees feel that they are part of the process and accountable to their development and actions (Fang and Lee, 2007). Given that most of the business organizations are flattening out valuing every employee as a contributor to the growth of the institution topples the archaic model. Most of the workers do not evaluate their personalities when they get to their workplace. Being aware that their managers as well as other colleagues respect them can have a significant effect on how they perceive their institutions. One of the best strategies to address the challenges facing the engagement of employees in the organization is the flextime approach.

Flextime policy was prepared on November 2001 by the Colorado Department of Personnel and Administrations human resources division. Flextime is a technique which involves a mutually beneficially arrangement between the human resource managers and employees under which both parties come to an agreement on when, where and how the workers will operate to achieve the objectives of the organization CITATION Yer08 \l 1033 (Isaac, 2008). Flexibility may be informal and availed based on discretion or formal and approved via the HR policies. Flextime includes:

practices and policies which govern time, location and scheduling of work,

changes to job autonomy and design, which permit more control to the employees on how and when they work and,

use of technology to work and communicate outside the limits of the main worksite.

Specifically, an employee having a Flextime schedule has alternative end and start times but the total number of hours worked are similar to other full-time workers. Schedules can be established formally for a unit or a workgroup or formed informally with the discretion of the supervisor. The most popular flextime arrangement is one where the employees can make a choice of the time they leave or arrive at the central worksite as long as they are in that location within specified hours such as 9 am to 2 pm. Some of the arrangements make it possible for them varies the duration of workdays or bank time for time off in future. If the human resource managers or employees adopt this schedule, they have to ensure that they offer support regarding:

The establishment and sustenance of effective communication channels

Maintenance of coverage by the office or the human resource department

Measurement of performance

Tracking of working hours

Specification of tasks at the time when the manager or the supervisor is not present

Some of the most common flextime options utilized by organizations include the daily flex-schedule, compressed workweek and five by four workweek CITATION Yer08 \l 1033 (Isaac, 2008). In daily flex-schedule, the employees have the freedom of setting their hours of work within the restrictions established by the management. It incorporates the bandwidth, flexible hours and the core period. Under the compressed workweek, a flexible schedule under is implemented which all the tasks are accomplished in less than five days through increasing the hours of work per day (Berg et al.,2003). The five by four workweek is a schedule under which four days of work are accomplished in one week for 80 hours. The main aim is achieving 80 hours for a period of two weeks (Batt et al.,2003). This arrangement requires the redefining of a workweek for the workers who qualify for overtime, that is, two 40-hour weeks.

Using the flextime policy in the institution can be beneficial to the employees as well as the management. According to the flextime award research, there is a direct relationship between offering flexible working hours and motivation (Golden, 2001). The research shows that if the organization identifies the work-life conflict, which employees have in the modern environment and recognize that recognize that making a critical intervention to offer flexible working time as a support method, then they will reciprocate with a positive attitude towards their work and to the organization (Arnott and Emmerson, 2000). Also, the research supports other studies which have been conducted by human resource subjects. Moreover, it has been found that necessary management intervention is appreciated during the periods of intensive pressure or crisis in the life cycle of the employee. For instance, at the time when they require to take care for their elderly parents or small children ( DTI,2003).

The perspective of work-life conflict is a concern for all workers regardless of their family commitments, age and other attributes. For example, single or young employees will view the benefits of flextime in their own ways such as attending the night classes or avoiding traffic jams (CIPD, 2002). To the workers, this approach provides an opportunity to adjust their schedules in a manner that benefits them. Also, it makes it easier for them to attend to their personal issues because most of the services are provided during the working days. By having flexibility, the policy alleviates the individual scheduling problems as well as other related concerns such as minimizing the travel time to work (Ferrer and Gagne, 2006). To most of the people, this strategy makes them work better since it reduces the stress, anxiety and tension, and assists in increasing job satisfaction. From the managerial perspective, improved motivation among the employees makes the work of supervisors and administrators easy. Also, it provides an opportunity to train the workers because they arrive and depart from their working stations at different times. Flextime can also minimize the overtime hours translated to reduced costs of operations. There is effective communication with this approach given that the managers can concentrate with each employee at different periods. With easy identification of uneven workloads, it is possible to make alternations and even consideration of promotions.

It is apparent that flexible working hours have numerous advantages. However, the critics point out that these programs can have a negative effect on the organization. Flextime approach is not always effective for all industries, groups and people. This policy can be disastrous to workers who have no willingness or able to put a full-time schedule amid the temptations not associated with work. Various research studies have found that in some of the institutions, there is an increase in overhead costs, poor customer service and decreased output. Terry McGeorge, a consulting executive said, many of the factory operations depend on each other being there CITATION Yer08 \l 1033 (Isaac, 2008). A number of observers have found that implementing the flextime approach without adequate plans can result to crisis since there is no constant communication. Given that there are pros and cons associated with flextime policy, companies should or not adopt the approach based on the primary evaluation of some crucial parameters and situations as well as assumed benefits derived from the method.

Bibliography

Arnott, J., and K. Emmerson. 2000. In Sickness and In Health: Reducing Sickness Absence in the Police Service. Police Research Series Paper 147. London: Home Office.

Batt, Rosemary, and P. Monique Valcour. 2003. Human Resources Practices as Predictors of Work-Family Outcomes and Employee Turnover. Industrial Relations, 42 (2), 189-220.

Berg, Peter, Arne L. Kalleberg and Eileen Appelbaum. 2003. Balancing Work and Family: The Role of High Commitment Environments. Industrial Relations, 42 (2), 168-188.

CIPD. 2002. Getting a Kick Out of Work: Flexible Working Trends. London: Chartered Institute of Personnel Development.

DFEE. 2000. Work-Life Balance 2000 Baseline Survey. London: Department for Education and Employment.

DTI. 2003. The Second Work-Life Balance Study: Results from the Employers Survey. Employment Relations Research Series 22. London: Department for Trade and Industry.

Fang, T., and B. Lee. 2007. Family-friendly Benefit Programs and Employee Labor Market Outcomes. 82nd Western Economics Association Annual Conference. Seattle, Washington, June 29-July 3, 2007.

Ferrer, A., and L. Gagne. 2006. The Use of Family Friendly Workplace Practices in Canada. Working Paper Series No. 2006-02. Montreal, QC: Institute for Research on Public Policy.

Golden, L. 2001. Flexible Work Time: Correlates and Consequences of Work Scheduling. American Behavioral Scientist, 44 (7), 1157-1178.

BIBLIOGRAPHY \l 1033 Isaac, Y. 2008. Advangages and Disadvantages of Flextime in Workplace. Retrieved from https://znnum.wordpress.com/2011/09/10/the-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-flextime-in-workplace/