Why Business Have to Give Employees Flexibility Balace Family and Work

American Periodical of Industrial and Business Management
Vol.iv No.1(2014), Article ID:42311,4 pages DOI:10.4236/ajibm.2014.41004

Affect of Flexible Working Hours on Work-Life Balance

Centre of Post Graduates Studies, Limkokwing University of Artistic Technology, Cyberjaya, Malaysia.

E-mail: shagvaliyeva@gmail.com, rashadyazdanifard@yahoo.com

Copyright © 2014 Sussanna Shagvaliyeva, Rashad Yazdanifard. This is an open up admission commodity distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted apply, distribution, and reproduction in whatsoever medium, provided the original work is properly cited. In accord of the Artistic Commons Attribution License all Copyrights © 2014 are reserved for SCIRP and the possessor of the intellectual property Sussanna Shagvaliyeva, Rashad Yazdanifard. All Copyright © 2014 are guarded by law and by SCIRP as a guardian.

Received December ten^thursday, 2013; revised January 1^st, 2014; accustomed January half-dozen^thursday, 2014

KEYWORDS

Flexible Working Hours; Benefits; Work-Life Balance; Stress; Wellbeing

Abstract

Nowadays, flexible working hours are condign important to the workplaces. A lot of organizations offer flexible working hours to employees due to the benefits that flexibility gives to both employee and employer. Greater employee productivity and higher organization profitability are the most common benefits. Also, flexible working hours promote and facilitate work-life balance. Reduced stress and increased employee wellbeing are outcomes of the work-life balance. In this paper, the relationship betwixt flexible working hours and work-life balance is investigated.

1. Introduction

Flexible working hours have recently gained a lot of attending from organizations and scholars equally family-friendly policy. Nowadays, organizations are trying to contain a culture of trust by offering employees flexibility in the workplace [1]. In add-on, some researchers debate that flexible working practices facilitate piece of work-life balance, and with shifting family patterns such practices are beneficial for both women and men [2-4]. In this paper, relationship between flexible working hours and worklife rest is examined. This newspaper investigates whether flexible working hours support and heighten work-life residual or conversely create difficulties in balancing betwixt work and life roles.

Firstly, some previous findings on flexible working hours are examined. With the employ of existing evidence, flexible working hours are considered from employee and employer sides in order to show that flexibility in the workplace beneficial is not only for employee, merely for employer as well. Secondly, existing literature on worklife balance is scanned. Stress and employee wellbeing are discussed as they are two primal outcomes of work-life remainder, one is negative and the other one is positive respectively. The literature lacks the evidence of flexible working hours impacting on piece of work-life residual; nevertheless, two concepts are frequently used together in the studies. The newspaper proceeds with a cursory discussion on a chosen topic. And finally, conclusion is provided to summarize the ideas of the newspaper.

2. Flexible Working Hours

Work flexibility implies non only variation in fourth dimension and place of the chore, merely likewise sharing of the job, career breaks (motherhood/paternity leaves), part-time and term-time working [5]. In the other report on flexible piece of work organisation (FWA), researchers discussed iii wide categories of FWA-flexi-time (flexibility in scheduling), telehomeworking (flexibility in location), and function-fourth dimension (flexibility in length of the work) [half dozen]. While each of the organisation could exist used individually, they are frequently combined to compliment each other [7]. It should be noted that piece of work flexibility offers convenience in planning, not reducing the working fourth dimension. Thus, flexibility in piece of work might be summarized equally the ability of employee to control his/her working time duration every bit well as location of work (remotely from role), this ability in scheduling

 work suppose to be offered by employer [eight].

2.1. Benefits for Employers

Employers accept introduced flexible working packages (part of work-life policy) in order to attract, recruit, and retain highly qualified staff to their organizations [9]. With the power to schedule the work himself/herself, employee feels that employer cares nearly wellbeing and not-working life of employee [10]. That leads to increased satisfaction with the chore and employer, resulting in college work commitment [11]. According to some other previous findings, flexible working result in employee loyalty and appointment, increased organizational commitment, and higher job satisfaction, besides flexible working packages help to recruit and retain talented employees for the system [12]. Furthermore, increased productivity, reduced employee turnover and absenteeism have been identified as advantages of flexible working for the employers [xiii]. Thus, flexible working practices are beneficial for employers, hence flexibility was embedded to the work in guild to give employees an choice to cull at what time, how much time, and from which place to work.

2.two. Benefits for Employees

Despite credible advantages of flexible working practices (employee personal control over work scheduling), some employees, mostly men, think that such practices result in lower income and higher employment insecurity [14]. Co-ordinate to the same findings, men run across flexible working practices as a way to develop their organizational commitment, while women associate flexibility with the work-life balance improvement. The evidence suggests that flexible working practices fit women more and so men and are more than likely to be employed by women due to the ideology beliefs of motherhood [xv]. The findings from previous research also assert that women request and access the flexible working hours more frequently then men [xvi]. Still, due to the changing family patterns and gender norms, every bit well as rise of women workforce, flexible employment is slowly started utilizing by men these days [17]. Flexible working practices help to fulfil work-life responsibilities and might result in work-life balance. The literature suggests that in that location is a positive human relationship betwixt flexible working practices and health issues-employees' better mental health and stress reduction [18].

3. Work-Life Residual

Work-life balance concept recently gained attention due to its relevance and importance to all employees, despite of their relationship status, family size, and number of children. Some researchers believe that lack of residual is an result of disharmonize between work and life responsibilities [19]. In their study on the support for the work-life residuum, researchers institute that emotional and instrumental support for employee during the work has a positive human relationship with the work-life balance satisfaction [twenty]. The positive relationship has been found between worklife rest and piece of work performance [21]. Thus, successful accomplishment of life responsibilities (family unit and parental roles) results in better piece of work performance. While finding a balance in life and piece of work responsibilities increase general life satisfaction [22].

3.ane. Stress and Work-Life Balance

Each person defines stress in a different way. For some stress occurs from working overtime, from pressure to meet deadlines, or from fear of failure. In general, stress occurs when person has no control over when, where, and how he/she does the work [23]. High level of stress might result in mental and physical health problems, such as headaches, depression, centre attack, and cancer; stress is also an antecedent of unhappy and disharmonious relationships that cause work-life conflict [24]. The evidence suggests that those employees who take work-life balance difficulties feel college stress then those who establish balance betwixt work and life responsibilities [25].

3.two. Wellbeing and Work-Life Balance

The definition of wellbeing is associated with health and wellness [26]. It is employer's responsibleness to create working environment (workplace health culture) that promote employee wellbeing [27]. Furthermore, authors suggest that physiological wellbeing leads to mental wellbeing, and both are helping to attain work-life balance. The other previous findings suggest that employee wellbeing directly influence productivity and performance; also as organizational commitment, task satisfaction, and work-life balance are outcomes of employee wellbeing [28-xxx].

4. Flexible Working Hours and Piece of work-Life Balance

Flexible working hours have been introduced as a benefit for parent/caring employees in social club to assist them fulfilling work and life responsibilities and achieving worklife rest [31]. In the recent work-life balance survey, researchers found that employees believe that flexible working practices improve workplace morale, which might positively influence work-life balance; in addition employees believe that employer is able to help them balance their piece of work and life roles [32]. Every bit an instance, flexible working hours is one of the all-time activities to increase employee wellbeing, equally it helps employee to bargain with responsibilities exterior the work [33].

5. Discussion

Flexible working practices are benign for both employee and employer. Hence, in the first place flexibility was introduced to the workplace in guild to help employees with kids or employees who intendance after siblings to manage their time betwixt work and life. As flexibility gives employee the power to command when, where, and how much time do they work, flexibility definitely contributes to improvement in allocation of work and life responsibilities. Thus, employee might end up fulfilling his/her working as well likewise not-working roles hands. Finally, successful achievement of inside the work and outside the work responsibilities leads to finding worklife balance, which increase overall life satisfaction. To summarize, it might be said that use of flexible working practices positively influence on work-life residue and overall life satisfaction of the employee.

Looking from employer signal of view, flexibility in the workplace also brought some important benefits. Higher satisfaction with the work and employer, better employee performance, greater organizational commitment, and lower employee turnover and absence are all outcomes of flexible working practices that at the cease atomic number 82 to increasing company's productivity and profitability.

The stress on the work impacts on employee's personal outside the work life, which creates difficulties in finding work-life remainder. Stress causes some serious mental and physical problems that negatively influence on employee's productivity and wellbeing. Thus, it might be said that on the work stress decreases employee's piece of work-life balance, while wellbeing contributes to higher level of piece of work-life remainder. It is the responsibility of employer to create the wellness workplace (stress-gratuitous and trust-based surroundings) for employees in order to increment their productivity.

Previously, flexible working hours accept been highly requested and used past women due to their family roles. However, flexible working hours are offered to men too. Nowadays, both women and men due to the new family patterns use flexible working practices, where both parents have equal family roles and dual family income. Thus, it is important for both of them to successfully fulfil work and life responsibilities and achieve work-life balance.

six. Conclusions

This newspaper examined flexible working hours from its positive point of view. The investigation showed that introduction of flexible working hours brought some benefits for both employee and employer. Also, flexibility in the workplace gives employees time to perform outside of the work roles and it helps balance employees' work and life.

Trust between employer and employee is an important consequence when it comes to flexible working hours. If not monitored by manager, flexible working hours might create some difficulties in the workplace. Farther study on flexible working hours need to be taken to sympathize the drawbacks of such practices. But after investigating flexible working practices from both positive and negative sides, organizations might consider applying flexibility to the workplace.

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