Work–life balance policies: Challenges and benefits associated with implementing flexitime

Abstract

<strong>Orientation:</strong> Helping employees to balance their work and family lives is a business imperative. Work–life balance policies (like flexitime) aim to support employees to do so. However, implementing these policies is problematic.<p><strong>Research purpose:</strong> The aim of this article is to report on the challenges and benefits associated with implementing flexitime as a work–life balance policy.</p><p><strong>Motivation for the study:</strong> Organisations must develop and implement work–life balance policies. This requires human resource practitioners to investigate and understand experiences and perceptions about the challenges and benefits of flexitime.</p><p><strong>Research design, approach and method:</strong> The researcher used a qualitative research design with an exploratory approach. She drew a nonprobability purposive and voluntary sample (<em>n</em> = 15) from the financial sector. She used semi-structured in-depth interviews to collect the data and conducted content analyses to analyse and interpret them.</p><p><strong>Main findings:</strong> The researcher extracted four main themes (individual and general challenges, the aspects organisations need to implement flexitime effectively and the benefits that would follow its implementation) from the data. Its benefits vary from work–life balance to employee loyalty and commitment. Some challenges are maintaining productivity, a shortage of critical resources and understanding flexitime.</p><p><strong>Practical/managerial implications:</strong> The research identified requirements that human resource practitioners should attend to in order to ensure that organisations use flexitime more effectively.</p><p><strong>Contribution/value-add:</strong> The researcher obtained unique findings about the minimum requirements for implementing flexitime effectively. They could assist organisations to address the challenges that employees face.</p><p><strong>How to cite this article:</strong> Downes, C., & Koekemoer, E. (2011). Work–life balance policies: Challenges and benefits associated with implementing flexitime. <em>SA Journal of Human Resource Management/SA Tydskrif vir Menslikehulpbronbestuur, 9</em>(1), Art. #382, 13 pages. doi:10.4102/sajhrm.v9i1.382</p&gt

Flexi work, financial well-being, work–life balance and their effects on subjective experiences of productivity and job satisfaction of females in an institution of higher learning

“…Downes and Koekemoer (2011) also revealed that frustration was evident in those participants whose access and use of flexitime were obstructed or reduced by such influencing factors. In addition, the Families and Work Institute's 2008 'National study of the changing workforce' reported that women are less likely to be granted flexitime by their employers compared to men.…”

“…South African qualitative study (Downes & Koekemoer 2011) noted that work pressures and workload, client needs and expectations, leader or manager support or lack thereof, nature and scope of work, inherent job requirements, personal choice or working style, personal commitments and responsibilities, and supportive infrastructure, such as childcare that is flexible to adjust to changing work schedules, are the factors that restrict the use of flexitime. Downes and Koekemoer (2011) also revealed that frustration was evident in those participants whose access and use of flexitime were obstructed or reduced by such influencing factors.…”

MNEs and flexible working practices in Mauritius

“…High trust relations are inextricably linked to these forms of working partly because the latter challenge Fordist managerial conceptions of the need to monitor employees at work and to enforce their attendance (Dimitrova, 2003;Downes and Koekemoer, 2011). The persistence of these conceptions is shown by the sizeable group of managers who are demonstrated to have intensified their monitoring efforts in an attempt to reduce teleworkers' job control (Dimitrova, 2003).…”

“…Operational problems must be confronted in implementing flexible working (Downes and Koekemoer, 2011) and managers must be sufficiently motivated by the countervailing attractions of attracting, retaining and motivating their skilled employees to overcome them.…”

Work-Life Conflict of Native and Immigrant Entrepreneurs in South Africa

“…This suggests that the reduction of WLC of employees and entrepreneurs can help to improve the performance and ultimately reduce the high failure rate of SMEs in South (Can't & Wiid, 2013). Some empirical studies have addressed WLC in South Africa (Downes & Koekemoer, 2011;Kotecha, Ukpere & Geldenhuys, 2014). An exhaustive review of the literature by the researcher shows that no study has investigated empirically the WLC of both native and immigrant entrepreneurs.…”