HRM textbook

448 PART 4 COMPENSATION
group, along with other employers former employees. As a result, a small business
owner may be able to get insurance for its people that it couldn t otherwise afford.
Flexible Work Schedules
Flexible work schedules are increasingly popular. 133 Single parents often find them
crucial for balancing work and family responsibilities. And for many millennial
employees, flexible work schedules provide a way to pursue their careers without
surrendering the quality of work life they desire. There are several flexible work
schedule options.
FLEXTIME Flextime is a plan whereby employees workdays are built around a core of
midday hours, such as 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Workers determine their own starting
and stopping hours. For example, they may opt to work from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
or from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. The number of employees in formal flextime
programs from 4% of operators to 17% of executive employees doesn t tell the
whole story. Many more employees, probably almost half, actually take advantage
of informal flexible work schedules. 134 In practice, most employers hold fairly close to
the traditional 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. workday. Therefore, the effect of flextime for most
employees is to give them about 1 hour of leeway before 9:00 a.m. or after 5:00 p.m.
COMPRESSED WORKWEEKS Many employees, like airline pilots, do not work
conventional 5-day, 40-hour workweeks. Similarly, hospitals may want doctors and
nurses to provide continuing care to a patient, or manufacturers may want to reduce the
productivity lost whenever workers change shifts. Workers like these typically have
compressed workweek schedules. This means they work fewer days each week, but each
day they work longer hours. Nonconventional workweeks come in many flavors. Some
firms have 4-day workweeks, with four 10-hour days. Some workers in hospitals,
for instance work three 12-hour shifts, and then are off for the next 4 days. 135
EFFECTIVENESS OF FLEXIBLE WORK SCHEDULE ARRANGEMENTS
Studies show that flexible work schedules have positive effects on employee productivity,
job satisfaction, and employee absenteeism; the positive effect on absenteeism
was much greater than on productivity. Compressed workweeks positively affected
job satisfaction; absenteeism did not increase, and productivity was not positively
affected. Highly flexible programs were actually less effective than less flexible ones. 136
Some experts argue that longer, 12-hour shifts may increase fatigue and accidents.
However, one report suggests 12-hour shifts can actually be safer, in some respects.
For example, 12-hour shifts reduce the general workplace confusion that often
occurs during shift changes, since there are fewer shift changes per day. To reduce
potential side effects, some employers install treadmills and exercise bikes, and special
light boxes that mimic daylight.
WORKPLACE FLEXIBILITY As anyone who has flown next to someone tapping
away on a laptop knows, employees are increasingly conducting business from nontraditional
settings, using technology like iPads and BlackBerry-type devices. 137
Workplace flexibility means arming employees with the information technology
tools they need to get their jobs done wherever they are. For example, certain Capital
One Bank employees received mobile technology tools such as wireless access laptops
and BlackBerry-type cell phone devices. The program seems to have led to about a
41% increase in overall workplace satisfaction, a 31% reduction in time needed to get
input from peers, and a 53% increase in those who say their workplace enhances
group productivity. 138
OTHER FLEXIBLE WORK ARRANGEMENTS Employers are taking other steps
to accommodate employees scheduling needs. Job sharing allows two or more people
to share a single full-time job. For example, two people may share a 40-hour-per-week
job, with one working mornings and the other working afternoons. About 22% of the