Flexible work schedules and organizational effectiveness

Flexible Work Schedules

According to the latest figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 27.5% of all full-time wage and salary workers have flexible schedules. After completing an analysis of what factors predict which occupational categories will attain the highest relative to lowest levels of flexible work schedules, several interesting insights emerge. Those insights based on analysis of several peer-reviewed articles and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics is provided here. What is immediately apparent form the analysis is that there is no single, statistically significant factor that can predict the availability and use of flexible schedules across occupation, socio-economic or educational level (Baltes, 497). Instead what emerges is a more complex series of factors that explain and predict which professions or occupations, workers and roles are most and least likely to have flexible work schedules.

Factors Affecting and Influencing Flexible Work Schedules

While the choice of one occupation over another will have a contributing effect to a statistically significant level to a professional having the option of flexible work schedules (Baltes, 499) this alone does not explain the pluralistic landscape of flextime work. There are a series of factors that must be taken into account when triangulating to the conclusions or observations of which occupations have the higher potential for flexible schedules relative to those that do not. Occupations that by their very nature require a high degree of flexibility to complete tasks and responsibilities tend to have a higher proportion of employees working flextime (Golden, 1157). Workers in these occupational categories include agricultural workers, farmers, sales managers, sales representatives, managerial and technical professionals (Kossek, Barber, Winters, 37). These professions are often given the flexibility the need to get their work done, as in the case of agricultural workers, the days vary significantly by season and stage of the planting, nurturing and harvesting process for crops and the need for flextime in caring for livestock. The technical professionals including scientists, computer technicians and others with advanced degrees, tending to be male, Caucasian and highly educated, tend to be given freedom to complete their tasks independently. It is acknowledge in further studies based on U.S. Census data that these professionals are considered to have a very high level of personal motivation to complete tasks (Baltes, 509). In addition to technical professionals, sales professionals from the representative to managerial and director level tend to also have greater flexibility than their peers who work in marketing or administration functions within a business (Kossek, Barber, Winters, 42). Those who are self-employed are across the spectrum of professions, education levels, gender, and income, and show how multifaceted the dynamics of flexible schedules are, not assignable to a given profession, age, gender or income level (Baltes, 512).

Based on an analysis of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data available, there is also greater tendency to give flextime or flexible schedules to those workers who are consistently working less than forty hours a week (Baltes, 510). Keeping with the pluralistic nature of flextime, those who are in professions that require a relative high level of education (masters or PhD-level positions) who are working over 40 hours a work (median level of 50 hours) tend to also have a higher propensity to report they receive the options of flexible schedules (Golden, 1157). It is apparent also from the data that this isn't necessarily because employers are altruistic or focused on motivation per se. Instead it is clear that those who work more than 50 hours a week are expected to produce the best work during their individually-based most productive times of the day (Kossek, Barber, Winters, 42). This is evident in how much freedom those with advanced degrees, in research- and science-based professions have in terms of start and end times. One finding that resonates and holds true across all demographics and job-based data is that if a given position starts at a very specific time each day, there is a very high probability it will not be eligible for flextime (Baltes, 512). The greater the level of flexibility in start and end times, combined with the greater the responsibility for results across all professions, the higher the potential a given position will be potentially moved to flexible schedules.