Flexible Working Programs

The flexible working programs can be perceived as a ‘double edged sword’. This is on account that some employees who are parents find it advantageous while some of the employees who are yet to start their families find it disadvantageous per se. Striking a balance between personal life and career is turning out to be increasingly challenging due to the ballooning pressure that society has placed on employees. This write up demonstrates that human resource managers should implement a feasible work life balance policies in a manner not to overwork some employees at the expense of others. 

Flexible working schedules are common in the modern day economies. For this reason, some countries have endorsed laws to enable specific group of workers to work under flexible schedules. For instance, some Scandinavian countries grant parental leave amongst other friendly time provisions to their employees(Darley, 2017). The implementation of flexible working schedule makes it possible for employees to strike a balance between their personal lives and their career lives. Furthermore, organizations consider implementation of such kind of programs with an intention to remain competitive and retaining top performing workforce. Such arrangements brings forth a win-win situation for the organization and the employees. On the one hand, while the employees will be loyal to the organization and improve their performance, on the other hand, the employees will enhance their familial bonds, hence improving their personal lives. 

The employees who do not have child care responsibility might be indifferent about the flexible work programs. Some of such employees would deem such arrangements unfair if their personal needs are not catered for.  There are a couple of reasons that can contribute to their indifferent attitude. For instance, when the human resource do not make arrangements on how the workload of the employees on leave will be effectively managed, then the remaining employees will be compelled to work under duress to meet deadlines. As such, some employees may feel the need to exclude such programs from their work place. 

In a bid to address the personal needs of both the employees with children and families and those that are yet to start their families, the human resource managers should incorporate schedules that are advantageous to both parties. As such, beside introduction of flexible work programs that are beneficial to the employees with children and families, the human resource can also implement flexible schedules that can allow employees to request for a sick leave. Such an arrangement would make it possible for all employees to accommodate their personal commitments and manage life time transitions notwithstanding the pressure from careers.

Conclusively, as demonstrated, flexible working schedule is advantageous to the workers with families and children. Firstly, it can mitigate the parenting stress, improve loyalty to their organization and bring about job satisfaction. On the other hand, it can be beneficial to the organization since it creates a strong company culture where the pool of experienced employees are retained in the organization, hence gaining a competitive advantage. However, this discussion underpinned the need for the human resource to incorporate some other flexible programs that are implementable for the employees without families. Such programs includes sick leaves. This will be a pragmatic move to illustrate to such employees that their personal needs are not neglected by the company. 

References

Darley, L. (2017, September 21). The Future Of Work: Flexible Work Arrangements. Retrieved from www.forbes.com: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2017/09/21/the-future-of-work-flexible-work-arrangements/#517ec3d4ff3f