Alternative Work Arrangements

Alternative Work Arrangements

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Alternative Work Arrangements

The 21st Century has ushered in all types of technological wonders and a shift in the culture of many work environments. Instead of the traditional nine to five work week, where the workers commute back and forth every day, alternative work arrangements are developing allowing workers more flexible schedules, telecommuting options, and compressed work weeks. These new work arrangements have provided many benefits for the worker and for the employer but because these types of arrangements are relatively new and move away from the traditional work week they also have some challenges.

There are many different ways that an employee will benefit from the introduction of alternative work arrangements. For one when employees are happy they are far more satisfied with their work environment resulting in increased motivation. Motivated employees are productive employees that take greater care to ensure the goals of the company are met. When employees are happy they are driven to succeed and to see the organization they work for succeed. The alternative work arrangement allows the employee to fulfill their work obligations without neglecting their personal life.

Alternative work arrangements result in employees that save time and money commuting. This gives the employee more time to focus on accomplishing tasks and increases employee retention. When employers only have hire fewer employees it save them time and money on training new employees. Another benefit to the flexible scheduling is it can be matched to peak times of customer demands so both employees and the company benefit (Grimsley, 2013). Telecommuting positions allow the employer a larger market in which to select attractive candidates for job positions. The company no longer just has to select available candidates in there are and can widen the area of search for attractive candidates.

While there are many benefits to the new work arrangement there are also some challenges. For one when employees work a compressed work week there is the risk the work will be rushed in order to meet the shorter deadline. As a result the product or service being provided to the customer might be of poorer quality. In the compressed work week the employee has to work a longer day to make up for the lost hours. For example employees will work ten hours for four days instead of eight hours five days a week. The longer hours could be physically draining causing the worker to slack off ruing these additional hours. This will result in lost production.

Telecommuting has many benefits to both the employee and the employer but it also creates some challenges (Singletary, 2014). When an employee telecommutes to work they are not as closely supervised as other employees. As a result employers are experiencing problems with employees reporting false numbers of hours and failing to complete tasks. When an employee works form home it is harder for the management to measure their work and their performance. When an employee works from home they may rush their work in order to engage in a personal activity. As a result the work could suffer or the customer could be provided a poor product or service.

The types of factors are influencing organizations to consider using alternative work arrangements include technology, high cost of gas, carbon emissions, housing market, and unemployment rates (Almer et al, 2003). Technology has changed every aspect of life making everything simpler and improved many different aspects of work and social life. Technology has opened all types’ doors allowing businesses to employ creative ways to approaching employment. The economy has had the second biggest impact on the development of the alternative work arrangements.

When the economy failed and unemployment rates soared employees were forced to go further and further away from their homes to find employment. As a result the high cost of gasoline has created a hardship to the employee. The alternative work arrangements, such as the telecommuting job, provided an option where the employee would not have to travel to the workplace every day and instead could communicate from home using new communication technologies. The business benefits when they do not have to expend the money needed to create a physical location in an alternative geographical area.

High gas prices are a major problem in the United States. The high cost of gasoline has created major financial hardships to the individual and the business. In order to relieve this high cost many businesses are turning to alternative work arrangements, such as telecommuting, to relieve this high cost. Carbon emissions are another consideration of the socially responsible business. Allowing employee to telecommute relieves the carbon footprint of the business as well as saves the employee money on gasoline and time on travelling.

The availability of alternative work arrangements to employees in the United States should not be mandated by law. Employers have the right to establish work hours and work schedules as they see fit. The intrusion of the government into how a business decides to establish work arrangements would violate the businesses right to compete fairly in the market. Some businesses requires alternative work arrangements but many do not, like a bank.

References

Almer, E., Cohen, J. & Single, L. (2003). Factors Affecting the Choice to Participate in Flexible

Work Arrangements. Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory, 22(1): 71-83

Grimsley, S. (2013). Pros & Cons of Alternative Work Arrangements: Home Office, Virtual

Teams and Telecommuting. Retrieved October 13, 2014 from

http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/pros-cons-of-alternative-work-arrangements

Singletary, M. (2014). Pros and Cons of Telecommuting. Retrieved October 13, 2014 from

http://www.delawareonline.com/story/money/business/2014/08/16/pros-cons-telecommuting/