Managing Flexible Workforce

The employing of contingent workers is an intentional business decision by companies. The search for greater flexibility, in terms of numbers of employees and in terms of the skills those employees possess, is the main reason reported by companies for the increasing use of contingent workers. (Daly, 2013) According to the Department of Labor (2015), employers

As a busy Woman/Mother, I personally support a flexible workplace environment. I have experienced what it is like to be an employee and not being granted flexibility when it comes to needing time off for family commitments or having the patience and respect shown to me from an employer, when it comes to training or seeking knowledge. Having that flexible attitude from my employer at that present time would have launched me into "can do" mode and I would have achieved much more in my position as an employee due to that simple adjustment from my employer. I am one woman and if I could have a change in my work ethic due to change in another's mannerisms and expectations then imagine what a whole team of employers/employees could achieve together.

Even though employee retention starts with attracting potential employees, today’s society has placed a new and greater demand for skilled and educated employees as new hires for their companies. These employees, however, are starting to become harder and harder to find. So

The management team expects this loving, hardworking and committed workforces but only asks for a contingent, temporary employee. Contingent workers are disposable or part timers. These employee are known as, “first to go and last to be called”. The book says, “Contingent workers

Workplace Flexibility will provide information of the variations in work schedules arrangements for employees, such as Breaks/Lunches, Episodic time off, Short and Long term time taken from work. The advantages, disadvantages, policies and benefits for both the employer and employee from these arrangements. The appropriate forms needed, the mandated Labor Laws, who may be qualified and the requirements for approval for part-time and full-time employees.

Small and medium-sized firms (SMEs) have the fact that 94 per cent of all private sector firms in the UK have less than 250 employees. These company’s also use flexible working arrangements to recruit employees.(PSI,2006).

In today’s fast-paced competitive world, flexible work arrangements are a key component to ensure employee commitment. Flexible work arrangements ensure that employers have a flexible work force i.e. there is availability of sufficient labor to meet the workload at all times. Transforming practices in the work place so that it suits employee needs better, is extremely crucial in ensuring employee satisfaction and commitment. Flexible work hours, telecommuting, compressed work weeks etc. are examples of flexible work arrangements. We would be concentrating on implementing flexible work hours at our work place.

J. Atkinson described the way in which firms are able to develop flexibility in their approach to employment as shown in his diagram. (http://www.welfare.ie)

Essay Question: 2. There has been an increase in the number of employers adopting flexible working practices. Critically examine the advantages and drawbacks of this for both the organisation and workforce.

Surviving those changes requires adaptation, not only in the retooling of physical plants and the retraining workers, but also in the way we manage those workers. Some feel that there appears to be an underlying theme in books and papers on the subject of HRM, that there is only one correct way to manage people. (2) Maslow on Management offers a much different approach, demonstrating conclusively that one size does not fit all; i.e., that different people need to be managed differently.

Corporations all around the wolrd are now providing with flexible work arrangements that allow their current employees to create an equilibrium between their personal lives and their careers. Although having these arrangements helps companies engage and retain outstanding employees, they have presented some challenges and predicaments as well. Some of the most common types of flexible work arrangements include: flextime, compressed work weeks, and telecommmuting.

Some think of recruitment and retention as two separate entities within HR however, they like a marriage as they go hand-in-hand, and when one area struggles, it will create issues for the other. Failing to recruit the right employees in the beginning will only lead to retention problems later. Moreover, the HR department also has a special bond, not only with management, but the employees. The relationship between HR and the employees plays a critical role in the success of an organization. When HR fails to support the employees, Chen, Lin, Lu & Tsao (2007) the performance level of the employees will diminish as a direct effect. Simply put, if an employee is at work and stressing over being paid correctly, or receiving their benefits; they cannot focus on their job, and depending on the work they perform can lead to injury or even worse death.

There are major challenges confronting the workforce program managers and executives that are focused on staffing. In this area a common language must be ensured to support hiring practices. The lack of common words and definitions can cause serious communication concerns between program managers and suppliers of benchmarking workforce programs across organizations. In order to help prevent these issues, lexicon suggests a set of “working definitions to be use by program managers (American Staffing Association 2015, para.1).

Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) can be defined as the linking of human resources with strategic goals and objectives in order to improve business performance and develop organizational culture that fosters innovation, flexibility and competitive advantages. It is an approach to the development and implementation of Human Resource (HR) strategies that are integrated with business strategies and enable the organization to achieve its goals (Armstrong, 2000). For most organizations, HR is responsible for the recruitment and selection of personnel. Organizations often depend on their HR department to ascertain the appropriate talent to man available positions and clearly define the responsibilities of those positions, but are not limited to those standards. It is important that a company or organization maintain SHRM in order to address the wide range of organizational issues as they pertain to the many factors of managing human capital and getting the job done. When utilizing SHRM, HR transforms into a dynamic entity to ensure that benefits and policies are aligned to properly manage the practices of the entire organization. Because of this, the HR department is able to strategically support the entire organization by becoming a neutral decision maker in disputes and decisions across

In order to sustain in the business market and meet the consumer demands, the organizations and the employers of 21st century are required to come up with new methods and unbeatable prices of products and services. Moreover due to the emergence of globalisation, these organizations are bound to apply cost-cutting approach (lower wage approach), which influences the shifts in workforce composition, labour utilization and labour demand. (Rani, 2000) This shift leads to what can be defined as ‘labour flexibility’. According to Standing (1999), the term can be defined as a rise in new technologies, development