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BENEFITS AND CHALLENGES OF FLEXIBLE WORKING PRACTICES a) What difficulties do you see with the implementation of flexible working arrangements within a work-life balance framework? Employers who favor flexible work arrangements also know that there are several problems associated with these plans. One of them is the fact that they may not be able to include the employees in their planning stage. Thus, workers are not able to comprehend the rules in following these time schedules.
In order to solve this, employees can take the interests of their workers in mind and develop a flexible work program. They can assess if the work arrangement is right for their type of work. The best kind of arrangement is for the personal needs of the employees to be addressed well and at the same time will also address the needs of the company in order to give high quality products and services (Schaefer). b) Where might resistance come from and why?
Resistance can come in the form of issues that can arise from other employees who are following a regular schedule. They may not be able to understand that these flexible schedules have a purpose to it. Defenders of the flexible work initiatives say that the competitive advantages of the program will be good in employee retention. Resistance can therefore come from those who have a specific work hiring. Those who do routinely work loads will also resent this because they do the same kind of work whereas those who are on flexible work are able to match the peaks and valleys of the activity (Flexible Working Practices Boost Business Success). c) What other barriers might there be to the effective implementation of such arrangements?
Maximizing employee performance through motivation requires several actions. Some barriers that can come into the picture are jealousy on the part of those having fixed schedules. That is why there must be constant building up of people. These goals may include job-specific performance goals as well as behaviors that extend beyond job tasks but are necessary for the organization to function effectively. To be motivators, rewards must be aligned with the things that employees value. The rewards that employees want can be determined simply by asking them.
Some employees value monetary rewards above everything else, whereas others value scheduling flexibility, the opportunity to work on special projects, training and development opportunities and so on. Whenever possible, effective managers must find ways to use various rewards to motivate a variety of employees. By clarifying performance expectations which are connected with flexible schedules, then these problems can be avoided. Linking performance to rewards that employees value and paying attention to employee perceptions of equity, managers can increase employees motivation levels.
Even when employees are highly motivated, however, other barriers to effective performance may exist. To remove these barriers, the manager must first identify them. The barriers to performance may be caused by underdeveloped competencies, inappropriate performance goals, or lack of feedback about performance (Gewirtz 1996). To perform well, people must know more than simply what is expected of them. They must know how to do their assigned tasks. That means, they must have the competencies to perform just as poorly as competent employees who are unmotivated.
Organizations that take a systematic approach to recruitment, selection, and placement usually are less likely to put employees in jobs for which they arent qualified. But because jobs can change over time, managers must also consider whether additional training is needed in order for employment to remain competent in the context of their changing jobs. d) How would you convince management that work-life balance policies are important for organisational effectiveness? According to author Cole, stress is a reaction to a physical, mental, or emotional stimulus that upsets the body's natural balance. The author states that Stress is unavoidable and can either be positive or negative, or it can also be physical or psychological. (Cole, 1999). Indeed, in order to maintain or increase motivation, the link between rewards and performance must be clear.
On the one hand, managers seldom believe that they fail to reward good performance. On the other hand, employees frequently report that good performance isnt what counts in their organization. When such perceptions are discovered, managers must do more than simply assert that employees are wrong if they believe that performance isnt being rewarded. A managers responsibility includes uncovering the roots of such perception and working to change them. I will tell management to negotiate and persuade people well in order to have their cooperation. Through interactions with various kinds of people in a potential workplace, one gets to know particular complexities of people and use this to a good advantage.
Dabbing into the corporate world as new graduates in business or even taking the college requisite job training would also be good venues for the practice of these skills. A manager needs to motivate his men to have the willingness to perform above and beyond the call of duty even if the task is gargantuan. This is the kind of motivation that is required of a leader. Having good work habits means that employees do more than just complete assigned tasks well. Having good work habits also means assisting others and generally contributing to the success of the entire team or organization. Cognitive skills are essential in assessing strengths of a company.
Opportunism is often hard to sell to other managers and investors. Opportunity hunting is an incredibly empowering process. Even the smallest organization can find many available categories of opportunity based on their strength set. One needs to be able to filter those choices based on various criteria (time to implement, cost to implement, training, etc) and choose the ones to explore next. Reinvention for companies is a way of life, not an event. Reinvention does not occur once.
It is continuous. As one looks for changes, hunt and gather opportunities, reposition and remarked, and do all the things necessary to transform the organization, one must constantly evaluate the results. Keep what works and discard or avoid that which does not. Even the so-called steps of reinvention are not really tangible steps. One should always be seeking and cataloguing strengths, always looking for new weaknesses, always turning lacks into strengths and always seeking out new opportunities and new customers. Taking responsibility for ones life at work and beyond involves self-management competency.
Often, when things dont go well, people tend to blame their difficulties on the situations in which they find themselves or on others. One must learn that effective self-management does not fall into this trap. Self-management competency includes integrity and ethical conduct and personal drive and resilience. Self-management does require much time and effort.
Dee Hock, the man who built the powerhouse Visa card used by half a billion customers worldwide, would often say to managers, Invest at least 40 percent of your time managing yourself your ethics, character, principles, purpose, motivation and conduct. In organizations that rely on teamwork, some of these forms of power are more useful than others. Collaboration starts as a mutual agreement of varying levels and purposes between groups, organizations, companies, and governments. Globalization trends include the phenomenon of increasing collaborative ventures among different government, public, and private entities. James Austin remarks: The twenty-first century will be the age of alliances (As cited in Harvard Business School 2001). Collaborations offer solutions to many under-resourced, under-skilled firms and organizations, even governments.
Several different models describe how effective leaders influence others. There is no single or simple answer to which style of leadership works best. Currently, the transformational model has many supporters, reflecting efforts of many leaders to transform outdated forms of organizations into more competitive ones. REFERENCES "Flexible Working Practices Boost Business Success. " Leadership & Organization Development Journal. February-March 1997. Cole, J. (1999), "De-stressing the workplace", HR Focus, Vol. 76 No. 10, pp. 1.
Gewirtz, D. , (1996). The Flexible Enterprise. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Schaefer, Patricia. Flexible Work Arrangements: Employer Solutions to Common Problems. Retrieved Oct. 7, 2008 at: web Scholl, R. (2002) Motivational Processes Expectancy Theory, University of Rhode Island.
Retrieved Oct. 7, 2008 at: web
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Research essay sample on Benefits And Challenges Of Flexible Working Practices
