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Company X

Executive Overview

Flexible Work Schedules Study

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Running head: Flexible Work Schedules

Statement of Problem

Company X currently employs 1,500 employees. Due to the nature of the field, 71% of our current working population is female. We conducted a study to see if flexible work schedules would help address some of the problems female workers face causing them to leave the workforce. We believe that by implementing a flexible work schedule we will be able to retain more female employees and increase job satisfaction and performance. If our results are positive from our test sample flexible schedules would go into effect in all departments permanently in September 2015.

Methodology

After noticing an increased turnover rate in our female workforce, Company X decided to give flexible work schedules to a portion of one department over the span of 5 years. Of the 250 employees in this department 178 were female. The population surveyed consisted of 108 women who were given flexible work schedules, and 70 women who had regular work schedules. The employees in the study were surveyed when they were terminated or after the 5 year period. The variables of our survey included age, ethnicity, education level, family responsibility, children’s ages, marital status, flexible schedule availability, job satisfaction, and salary range. Preliminary analysis of the survey included frequency distributions, bar charts, and Chi-Square test data. We split the data by full-time, part-time, and terminated employees. Chi-Squared tests were used to compare flexible work schedule availability and how it relates to employee satisfaction, performance, and retention. Chi-Square tests were also used to eliminate the interaction between other variables, such as family responsibility, to job performance.

Results

Statistical Analysis

Research Question 1: Are employees with flexible schedules more satisfied?

· A Chi-Square test was performed on flexible work schedule availability and employee satisfaction and resulted in (X2=16.642, p=4.521 E-05, df=1). This revealed that there were significant differences in flexible work schedule availability that could not be explained by probability.

Research Question 2: Are employees with flexible schedules higher performers?

· A Chi-Square test was performed on employees currently employed who were part of the study. The test revealed that positive employee performance is linked to flexible work schedule availability (X2=5.2716, p=2.167 E-02, df=1).

Research Question 3: Is there less turnover when employees have flexible schedules?

· A Chi-Square test was performed to evaluate the relationship between turnover and flexible work schedules. The test revealed that the data was statistically relevant and showed that employee turnover was reduced by 17.3% when employees were offered a flexible work schedule (X2=4.409, p=.03574, df=1).

Implications and Results

The findings from Question 1 show a difference in job satisfaction between the two employee groups that participated in the study, indicating there is a connection between flextime availability and employee satisfaction. The group that had flexible schedule availability reported high job satisfaction.

The findings from research question 2 indicate a relationship between the availability of flexible work schedules and positive employee performance.

The findings from Question 3 are significant, showing a 17.2 % reduction in turnover when flexible schedules were made available.

Based on the results of the three questions, a flexible work program would address the company’s problem with retention and have the added benefits of higher employee satisfaction and better job performance.

Background of Organization

Company X – a data-entry firm - employs 1,500 workers, 71% of which are women. Over the past decade, we have noticed an increase in employee turnover in our female workforce, which has cost the company money connected to searching, hiring and training new personnel. There were also periods when such turnover affected our ability to meet production deadlines, as female staff members left to take jobs with fewer hours or moved on to businesses that would provide them with some control over their schedules.

We decided to survey our staff to determine what was causing high turnover. We found that our female workforce was in fact struggling to maintain a work-life balance.

Such pressures are not uncommon for women, our research showed, with home and work responsibilities often being at odds.

Looking into different programs that could alleviate that pressure, we found that implementing a flexible work schedule program would result in no cost to the company and could help with employee retention, satisfaction, and performance.

To analyze if such flexibility would provide the desired result at our company, we produced the following study.

Women in the Workforce

In previous generations, work arrangements were straightforward: an employee was given a fixed, fulltime schedule. Requests for flexibility were typically denied, leaving employees to grapple with balancing home and workplace commitments (Greenberg & Landry, 2011).

Organizations are now increasingly acknowledging the benefit of addressing the work-family conflict that their employees face, since they see returns in the form of fewer absences, more commitment and better retention. One method of addressing work-family conflict is offering flextime, or flexible schedules that allow workers to choose their arrival and departure times while being at work during a core time set by their employers (Sharpe, Hermsen, & Billings, 2002).

The number of women in the workforce is significant and research shows the conflict between home and work is greater for women than for men (Carlson, Grzywacz, & Kacmar, 2010).

The United States Census Bureau’s Equal Opportunity Tabulation, analyzing the last five decades, shows that women have gone from comprising 38% of the country’s labor force in 1970 to 47.2% in 2010, or 72.7 million women workers, ages 16 years old and older. Women’s share of the workforce has risen in Massachusetts to comprise 48.8% of the state’s total, making it among the highest in the country (U.S. Census Bureau, Equal Opportunity Tabulation, 2010).

Median earnings nationwide are $36,300 for women and $47,100 for men, making women’s incomes essential, in many cases, to the support of their households. About 38% of managerial positions were held in 2009 by women (U.S. Census Bureau, Women in the Workforce, 2010).

Work and family roles of women, compared to men, are simultaneous. They overlap in terms of time and extend over larger portions of the day. (Krausz & Freibach 1983).

Schedule flexibility plays a stronger role for women than men regarding work-family interface. A 2009 study reinforced the earlier conclusions of Krausz and Freibach, finding women continue to bear more of the family demands and are more likely to experience conflict. Therefore providing a resource like flexibility to deal with competing demands is more likely to be beneficial for them. (Carlson, Grzywacz & Kacmar, 2010).

Time is a valuable resource for all working adults, but particularly for working parents, who must deal with the constant sense of time urgency caused by work-home conflicts. Despite the number of mothers of young children who are now working outside the home, there have been few societal attempts to realign the world of work with the demands of contemporary home life. For example, the school day is still structured to end before most parents return from work and summer breaks, originally designed so farm children could help with planting, harvesting and other chores, continue even though most children no longer have such commitments. Such situations cause stress for working adults. Organizations need to reorganize around the new norms and allow more options for flexible work schedules. (Halpern, 2005).

Women must sometimes opt out of the labor force due to child-rearing commitments. Among women in management and professional occupations, 15% opt out when their children are pre-schoolers. That rises to about 23% for those in service and sales industries and office workers (U.S. Census Bureau, Women in the Workforce, 2010) .

Women therefore have a greater appreciation for the availability of family responsive policies, such as flexible work schedules, that would help alleviate challenges created by competing roles of worker, spouse, and parent (Scandura & Lankau, 1997).

Flexible schedules allow women to continue to manage their family duties, unlike the more rigid schedules which interfere with attempts to cope with their dual roles and obligations (Krausz & Freibach, 1983).

Schedule flexibility creates the opportunity to minimize work-family conflict, promote work-family enrichment and improve functioning and performance at work and at home (Carlson, Grzywacz, & Kacmar, 2009).

A 2010 study involving men and women regarding flexible work arrangements revealed 80% of workers polled would like to have more flexible work options if there were no negative consequences at work. One perception that must be overcome, based on the 2010 study, is that those who chose flexible schedules might be less likely to advance in their careers. Among employees who did not have any scheduled hours of work at home, 43% said they would like to be able to have that option. Among full-time employees, nearly 20% responded they would prefer to work at home part-time but 70% said they couldn’t afford to do so (Georgetown University Law Center, 2010).

The trend toward flexibility is on the rise, whether that translates to working at home or having a flexible schedule at the workplace. Schedule flexibility is among the most common of flexible arrangements available (Carlson, Grzywacz & Kalmar, 2010).

This study focuses on flexible scheduling. The percentage of workers on flexible schedules has increased from 12.4% in 1985 to 27.5% in 2004. Still, nearly two thirds of those who reported working flexible schedules were not participating in a formal program. Most businesses provide flexible work arrangements on an informal or individual basis (Halpern, 2005).

Research has shown employees with time-flexible work policies report less stress, higher levels of commitment to their employers, and reduced costs to their companies due to fewer absences, fewer days late and fewer missed deadlines (Halpern, 2005).

Flexible Work Schedules and Retention

Flexible work schedules result in better retention, and lower rates of tardiness and absenteeism among employees (Pierce & Newstrom, 1980).

In a study of nurse turnover in Italy and its relationship to work-family conflicts and enrichment, findings show nurses experiencing high levels of work-family support through arrangements such as schedule flexibility, reported lower intentions to leave their positions by virtue of higher levels of professional commitment (Russo & Buonocore, 2012).

Family-friendly policies, such as schedule flexibility, can be the difference between an employee being able to work full-time rather than part-time. In a study related to the medical profession, female Dutch doctors indicated that flexible working hours minimized work-life dilemmas without encouraging them to work less hours. The company also benefitted since one full-time employee costs less than two part-timers in terms of related costs such as search, hiring and benefits (Pas, Peters, Doorewaard, Eisinga, & Largo-Janssen, 2011).

The existence of flexible work programs has been shown to be significantly related to organizational commitment and job satisfaction. Even if employees did not enroll in the programs, research confirmed that they were more likely to have a positive attitude towards their company, and increased employee commitment (Scandura & Lankau, 1997).

Regarding employee attitudes, data suggests that the flexible schedule may have an association with the level of employee commitment to the employing organization. In addition, symptoms of psychological stress may be less under a flexible work arrangement (Pierce & Newstrom, 1983).

The availability of flexible work arrangement enforces the perception for current and prospective employees that the organization cares about the well-being of its workers (McNall, Masuda, & Nicklin, 2010).

There is a proven correlation between an employee’s perceived organizational support, demonstrated through benefits like schedule flexibility, and positive behaviors such as greater levels of task performance and decreased turnover intentions (Muse & Wadsworth, 2012).

In many instances, schedule flexibility is available but managers are not fully using that flexibility. In the current work environment where many firms cannot offer regular pay increases, job security or upward mobility, offering flexibility to accommodate individual needs may give a company a competitive edge when recruiting (Kossek, Barber & Winters, 1999).

Organizations looking to attract and retain top talent should consider how to facilitate work-family enrichment by offering policies that permit greater schedule flexibility, which may indicate an overall supportive work environment (McNall, Masuda & Nicklin, 2010).

Flexible Work Schedules and Attendance

Employee stress, a result of concerns over their children after school, can result in decreased productivity and increased absenteeism, costing a company $496 to $1,984 per employee annually. For large employers, absenteeism resulted in a loss of over $1 million per year (Georgetown University Law Center, 2010).

In terms of organizational outcomes, a flexible schedule can benefit, in particular, married women and especially mothers, since rigid schedules can interfere with attempts to cope with their dual roles and obligations (Krausz & Freibach, 1983).

Stress caused by the work-home conflict affects performance. Under conditions of stress, an employee’s capacity to apply his/her abilities to the ability requirements of the job will be affected (Pierce & Newstrom, 1980).

Home-work conflicts appear to have resulted in depression and other physiological reactions, based on a study of those conditions in women in flexible and fixed work schedules, who were employees at a large insurance company (Krausz & Freibach, 1983). Absenteeism rates were significantly lower under the flexible than the rigid schedule and married women and more so for mothers (Krausz & Freibach, 1983).

Chronic stress resulting from the conflict between work and home commitments can impact health. There are known identifiable physiological mechanisms that underlie cognitive performance that directly link to stress and poor job performance. The negative effects of stress caused by time pressure can be alleviated by increasing employees’ ability to control the way they meet their time commitments (Halpern, 2005).

Flexible Work Schedules and Employee Attitudes

Evidence suggests there is a psychological process related to flexibility. Perception of time autonomy, a result of flexibility, impacts employee attitudes through need fulfillment. Employee satisfaction and organizational commitment increase with increasing degrees of perceived time autonomy, while experienced symptoms of psychological stress decline (Pierce & Newstrom, 1983).

Many employees possess a need for autonomy and responsibility, the need for a harmonization between work and personal time demands, as well as a desire to participate in the decision. Flexible working arrangements provide for the fulfillment of these needs, impacting both organizational commitment and job satisfaction (Pierce & Newstrom, 1980).

The more time autonomy that employees perceive that they have for scheduling their work and non-work time the more their work-related attitudes and behaviors are influenced. With increasing degrees of perceived time autonomy come increases in employee satisfaction (Pierce & Newstrom, 1983).

A study using employees on both traditional schedules and flexible schedules showed clear-cut and positive significant effects of flextime on satisfaction (Pierce & Newstrom, 1983).

Employees may look for evidence that organizations understand and care about how they lead fulfilling lives outside of work. When employees see evidence of this concern in the form of flexible policies, they are more likely to reciprocate in the form of more positive attitudes and behaviors such as higher job satisfaction and lower turnover intentions (McNall, Masuda & Nicklin, 2010).

In a study of German office workers, researchers found high levels of organizational and time expectations negatively impacted employee satisfaction with work-life balance, implying such rigid time demands lessen an employee’s ability to reconcile multiple role demands of work and family life (Beham & Drobnic, 2010).

Having control over one’s working time, space and mode of task accomplishment, on the other hand, enables employees to better manage multiple responsibilities and were associated with a positive evaluation of work-family balance (Beham & Drobnic, 2010).

Work Schedules and Job Performance

A concern of organizations implementing flexible work schedules has been that they have less control managing their employees, which would result in lower productivity. However this is not the case. Studies confirm workers who are offered flexible work schedules actually have slightly increased productivity. No negative performance difference between those working traditional schedules and working flexible schedules (Orpen, 1981).

While studies have shown positive effects on employee attitudes, there were negligible effects on job performance and productivity. Indications are that flexible work hours may have more advantages than disadvantages for organizations as a means of improving the quality of working life (Orpen, 1981).

Flexible Schedules Benefit Employers

Employers who invest in keeping employees healthy and with reduced stress levels by giving them the flexibility they need to meet family obligations should be able to realize savings by reducing health costs, absenteeism, and employee turnover, while seeing a more committed workforce. When workers are ill, they perform poorly and take more sick time, driving up insurance and other healthcare costs. Health care costs, absenteeism and worker turnover are among the largest costs to employers (Halpern, 2005).

Method

Participants and Procedure

Of our 1,500 employees and five departments, we randomly selected one department to run a five-year study on. The department consisted of 250 employees, 178 of which are women who were surveyed. The men were excluded from this survey since we were only addressing retention, performance, and satisfaction of our female workforce. The 178 women surveyed comprise 11.87% of our entire workforce, and 16.71% of our female workforce. Of the 178 women surveyed, 60.67% were given flexible work schedules. The mean age of participants was 43.29 years (SD=9.92 years). Of those surveyed 61.8% of employees were working full-time, 20.79% were part-time, and 17.42% were terminated before the five-year conclusion of the study.

Of those surveyed 61.8% of employees were working full-time, 20.79% were part-time, and 17.42% were terminated before the five-year conclusion of the study. Of those surveyed, 35.39% made $40,000 or below, 29.78% made between $40,000 and $70,000, 8.99% made between $70,000 and $100,000, 4.49% made $100,000 or above, and 21.35% declined to divulge salary information.

Regarding the marital status, 69.10% reported being married or living with a partner, 5.62% reported being single, and 25.28% reported being divorced. Of the participants, 21.35% did not have children while 78.65% had children. The mean number of children was 1.96 (SD=1.067). The education level of participants varied, and of those studied 2.78% had high-school only experience, 15.14% had some college or an associate’s degree, 35.96% had bachelor’s degrees, 3.92% had law or professional degrees, 16.84% had master’s degrees and 16.84% gave no response.

Participants were surveyed upon termination, or at the five-year conclusion of the study. The study was mandatory for everyone to complete and was part of an agreement of employment they signed at the five-year start date when the study was implemented. Employees were distinguished by randomized ID #s generated for them in hope that more candid answers would be given if they remained, to the best of our ability, anonymous. The survey was completed on a computer and took approximately 20 minutes for participants to complete. All participants who made it to the five-year conclusion completed the study together. Employees who were terminated before the conclusion completed the study in the same setting on their last day of work.

Measure

In the provided survey, we asked participants to indicate their level of agreement with a survey question using a 5-point Likert-type scale, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree/ negative connotation) to 5 (strongly agree/ positive connotation). In questions where the 5-point Likert-type scale did not apply, participants were instructed to give a nominal value or choose from a provided list.

Job Satisfaction

One question was asked in the survey, “You are satisfied with your job?” which was then exported into an Excel file where it was analyzed using filters. The answers were given in a nominal format representing 1 (disagree), 2 (tend to disagree), 3 (tend to agree), and 4 (agree).

Turn Over

The survey questioned participants on their current job status, along with termination dates. Subsequent questions were given to list job satisfaction with salary and working conditions to try to determine a motivation for terminating employment.

Flexible Work Arrangement

To evaluate the accessibility of flexible work schedules, participants were asked, “Does Company X offer a flex time schedule for your position?” Participants were given the choice to answer 1 ( Yes, flexible work schedule if offered for my position) and blank ( No, flexible work schedule is not offered for my position.) This question did not take into account whether the employee was a full-time or part-time employee within the organization.

Control Variables

There were also a number of background and family questions asked in the survey, to measure the influence these had on the employee satisfaction, job performance, and retention. These questions included education, which was coded on a seven-point scale ranging from 1 (high school or less) to 6 (advanced and doctorate degrees) and 7 (not listed). Participants were asked a question regarding their marital status, which was coded as 1 for “single,” 2 for “ divorced, living without assistance,” 3 for “divorced, living with assistance,” and 4 for “married.” A nominal question was included regarding how many children the employee had and the ages of those children. There was also a question on the survey regarding ethnicity, which used nominal values from 1 to 7 to indicate different ethnic backgrounds, 1 for “African American,” 2 for “American Indian or Alaskan Native,” 3 for “Asian or Pacific islander,” 4 for “Hispanic,” 5 for “White,” 6 for “Other,” and 7 for “not listed.”

All of the survey information that is relevant for our analysis has been organized into Table 1 and 2 in the following pages.

Results

Table 1 shows the means, standard deviations, and percentages for the survey questions. The availability of flextime work schedule affected employee satisfaction, performance, and retentions. Chi-Square tests were performed to examine how statistically relevant survey questions were to one another and will be analyzed in this section.

Research Question 1:

To test the hypothesis that employees with flexible schedules are more satisfied in their careers, a Chi-Square test was used to evaluate the statistical relevance of the survey data. The Chi-Square test indicated that the analysis data for flexible work schedule versus employee satisfaction did not happen by probability and is statistically relevant to the analysis. The test produced values that were well within the confidence interval (X2= 16.586, p=4.6485-E05, df=1), which allowed us to accept the hypothesis that the data is significant. The sample group indicated that 30.9% more of those employees with availability to a flexible work schedule exhibit job satisfaction than those that did not have an option to work a flexible schedule. Further Chi-Square test analysis showed the sample data for part time employees (X2= 9.549, p=0.006934, df=1) and full time employees (X2= 9.309, p=0.002279, df=1) were both very significant to the test results.

Research Question 2:

To test the hypothesis that employees with flexible schedules attained higher job performance was evaluated with a Chi-Square test. The Chi-Square test showed that survey data from the sample group is statistically relevant and did not happen by probability. The Chi-Square test produced values that were well within the acceptable range to reject the null hypothesis and to accept the hypothesis that the data is significant (X2= 5.27162, p=2.1676E-02, df=1). The survey indicates that 19.4% more of employees who have availability to flexible work schedule will meet above average work performance. To eliminate other factors related to job performance, a Chi-Square test was performed to determine the relationship between job performance and having children, since child-rearing demands can often interfere with work-life balance. The Chi-Square test concluded that in the sample data children did not have a significant impact on job performance (X2=. 8471, p=0.2711, df=1).

Research Question 3:

A Chi-Square test was used to test the hypothesis that there will be less turnover if employees have availability to flexible schedules. The test quantified that the sample data was statistically relevant, even though the data fell just outside the confidence interval of 95% (X2= 3.576, p= .0586 , df=1). The survey sample data concludes that employees with a flexible work schedule exhibited a 26.9% higher retention rate than those employees that did not have availability to a flexible work schedule.

Study Limitations

Every study runs into limitations or certain factors that may skew the results. In this case, we only focused on one department, which resulted in 11.87% of our entire workforce. This study may have had more varied results if we didn’t limit it to the one department.

Employees who took the survey upon termination may have felt pressured to not answer 100% truthfully because they did not have the option to remain anonymous the way employees who made it to the five-year mark did. Their answers may have skewed towards being more positive about the company, even if they didn’t feel that way.

This study could have been more effective if we also factored in absenteeism. Research backed the notion that flexible work schedules reduced absenteeism, which we could have proven by including it as part of our survey. In the future, the data for days out for employees with flexible schedules and non-flexible schedules could be analyzed to see how much could be saved on reduced absenteeism for employees with flexible schedules.

Conclusion and Recommendations

The objective of this study was to investigate whether a flexible schedule program at Company X would have a positive impact on employee satisfaction, job performance and retention.

Based on our statistical analysis of the group on flexible schedules and the group on fixed hours, one can conclude greater job satisfaction for workers can be achieved through the implementation of a flexible work schedule program.

Our analysis of both groups also revealed positive employee performance is linked to flexible work schedule availability.

Regarding the company’s history of high turnover, the analysis showed that employee turnover could be significantly reduced. Among the study group, turnover was reduced by 17.3% for employees with the availability of flexible work hours. If flexible work schedules were implemented for the entire company, and the 17.3% reduction in turnover remained, Company X would save $947,600 every five-years on employee separation costs alone.

Analysis of the data provides a persuasive argument that flexible work schedule program would have a positive impact on Company X.

References

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Carlson, D. S., Grzywacz, J. G., & Kacmar, K. M. (2010). The relationship of schedule

flexibility and outcomes via the work-family interface. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 25(4), 330-355. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/02683941011035278

Kossek, E. E., Barber, A. E., & Winters, D. (1999). Using flexible schedules in the

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women upon satisfaction, strains, and absenteeism. Journal of Occupational Psychology, 56(2), 155. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.villanova.edu/login?URL=?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/199338607?accountid=14853

Greenberg, D., & Landry, E. M. (2011). Negotiating a flexible work arrangement: How