The relationship between flexible employment arrangements and workplace performance in Great Britain

Abstract

Purpose-There is an increasing concern on the quality of jobs and productivity witnessed in the flexible employment arrangements. The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between various flexible employment arrangements and the workplace performance. Design/Methodology-Home-based working-teleworking, flexible timing and compressed hours are the main employment types examined using the Workplace Employee Relations Survey (WERS) over the years 2004 and 2011 in Great Britain. The workplace performance is measured by two outcomes-the financial performance and labour productivity. First, the determinants of these flexible employment types are explored. Second, the ordinary least squares (OLS) method is followed. Third, an instrumental variable (IV) approach is applied to account for plausible endogeneity and to estimate the causal effects of flexible employment types on firm performance. Findings-The findings show a significant and positive relationship between the flexible employment arrangements and the workplace performance. Education, age, wage, quality of relations between managers-employees, years of experience, the area of the market the workplace is operated and the competition are significant factors and are positively associated with the propensity of the implementation of flexible employment arrangements. Social Implications-The insights derived from the study can have various profound policy implications for employees, employers and the society overall, including family-work balance, coping with family demands, improving the firm performance, reducing traffic congestion and stress among others. Originality-It is the first study that explores the relationship between flexible employment types and workplace performance using an IV approach. This allows us to estimate the causal effects of flexible employment types and the possible associated social implications.

The Impact of Individual Needs on Employee Performance while Teleworking

“…Also, people working in different home environments (family type) will have an impact on the conflict they face. Through the insights we got on specific needs for individual (Achievement, Power or Affiliation), we can try to reduce the impact of conflict that an individual might face and this can contribute towards longevity of employee engagement and improving the performance of individual (Giovanis, 2018).…”

“…The impacts of various factors that affect the performance of an employee and their job satisfaction while teleworking need to be evaluated. Firm performance is shown to be positively related to workplace flexibility (Giovanis, 2018) and teleworking, which can be explained by liberation from fixed temporal schedules, and may require an employee to work for more hours to cope up with work overload. Teleworking may enable employees with time and spatial flexibility and also increase organisational flexibility required during uncertainty; thus, a positive relation was showed to exist between telework adoption and flexible work options (Sánchez, Pérez, de Luis Carnicer, & Jiménez).…”

Relationship Between Flexible Working Arrangements and Job Satisfaction Mediated by Work-Life Balance: Evidence From Public Sector Universities’ Employees of Pakistan

“…Flexi hours scheme offers the control to the beginning and ending of the work schedule. It facilitates employees to fulfil their non-labor commitments including childcare, household chores or personal activities, (Giovanis, 2018). where an employee could choose their starting and ending working hours and enjoy its benefits.…”

“…(Baeza, Gonzalez, & Wang , 2018), how people feel about their jobs, is usually their work attitude, indicating their job satisfaction, not only reflects an overall opinion about a worker's well-being, but relationship to important outcomes. (Giovanis, 2018) reported that flexible working arrangements provides employees control over their jobs and autonomy, in work-life balance and job satisfaction resulting in increased productivity. Evidences shows that flexibilities provide balance between work and life especially during parenthood, .…”

“…Our results seem to indicate that employees that feel comfortable and flexible in their jobs and have an effective work-life balance are more satisfied with their jobs and companies. Previous researches pointed out only one or two flexibilities, (Abid & Barech , 2017), in different sectors other than public education, (Giovanis, 2018), or in only one public college which cannot give a broader view about research and responses of people working in public institutions, (Hashim, Ullah, & Azizullah Khan, 2017). So, flexible arrangements are full mediator between employees' work-life balance and job satisfaction.…”