Critically evaluate whether flexible working arrangements are beneficial for employers and employees?

Flexible work options provides an secondary approache to getting work done through non traditional work hours, blood structures ,and military positions. The availability of whippy work options grants an opportunity for individuals to mould their careers in rig to optimise their work and personal commitments. As for organisation it promises an increase in productivity,boost employer of choice,reduce fix cost. However plasticness is also reputed as high-priced for employers and favours unequal treatment in cost of compensation and benefits for employees.This essay aims to control the nature of flexibility and further highlight the different types of flexibility throught the on the table firm mildew(Atkinson) . In the 1990s up til present day flexible work practices has become a central point for Uk g overnment policies with Fagan et al (2006) believing globalisation competition,productivity,active ageing the long hours culture were occurrencely the spring for the rise of flexible working practices.It is important to none that this belief rest the same today, except that advancement in technology is an additional influencing factor. Atkinsons model of the flexible firm is an arrangement in which mangament offers employees different forms of flexibility practices namely functional,numerial and financial flexibility in order to optimize the engagement of human resources and quality of work. It is mainly focused on dividing the workforce into nub and peripheral groups. The core group entails full clipping,well paid,secure professional theorises,functional flexible and onerous to replace.Whereas the peripheral group consist of employees who are numerically flexible(Legge) because their acquirements are large in the labour market hence relatively despensible thus number 1 communication channel security,consequently may lead to impression productivity due to low morale or they are only needed to complete particular task e. g lawyers. From the employees view,it is better to be part of the core than the fringe since the former provides business organisation security,increase career opportunities and better work conditions.Alteration in job design grants the core workers the benefit of soft HR practices implemented to grasp high performance, high commitment and high motivation and thus committal to the organisation despite managements persuasion to work across demarcation blood line as it reduces cost for them. But on the other hand it enhances the its not my job syndromein employees(Mcdonals,2010). If employees dont practice their new skill regularly they loose it. Therefore the cost of training and retraining does not serve the purpose signifi tin cantly.However in the Uk in that location is a liking for numerical and temporal flexibility at the expense of functional flexibility(Macdonald,2010). This can be witnessed in an increased use of part timers,short term contract,cleaning agencies. This facilitates the firm s ability to sort out the level of labour inputs to meet flunctuations in output(Jenkins,2004). However campos and Cunhas highlights the downside of outsourcing as there is a loss of control over proprietary information and little job security. Nontheless numerical flexibility through part timers helps to reduce be for employers, for example, workers can be employed when they are needed.It is not necessary to pay for workers who are not productive. This helps attract inward investment. Unlike temporal flexibility it relates to variation in the number of working hours. Flexi time gives employees control over their work schedule thus not only benefiting the employee in terms of achieving a work life balance,job satisfaction but the employer too as it reduces absentism(Lee,1991) therefore higher productivity. Furtheremore teleworking allows employees individual choice in the location of work and covers the possibility to work from home and cutting down job related expenses e. g food ,clothes,communiting expense.However Brannen (2005) argues that what appears on the surface to represent a yield of control by management to empower employees actually results in a loss of control,because flexible work arrangements unsettles what is a reasonable amount of time to spend at work. This is because individuals find it hard to disengage from work. Hence critics of the flexible firm model by Legge. She believed there is a hidden order of business in the flexible firm model,which craftiliy promotes flexibility is good,but the real question is for whom? Futhermore there tends to be a pattern of professional isolation(Macdonald,2010).To conclude one can note that flexibility promises to provide organisations with a competitive edge by cutting down cost for employers,boost employer choice,increase in productivity and assure employees job satisfaction,motivations,work life balance. However,there still appears to be many unresolved issues relating to the flexibility debate. Th is is highlighted by legges critism of mixed empirical support for the flexible firm model and the advantages of the flexibility is not equally shared. Notedly due to unequal treatment in terms of pay and increased job insecurity for workers.