Flexible work schedules.

Flexible work schedules

American employees can anticipate more flexible work schedules in the 1990s with flextime, job sharing and home-based work becoming increasingly widespread, according to a Conference Board survey of senior human resources executives of 521 of the nation's largest corporations.

The Conference Board survey examined six types of flexible scheduling: flextime, part-time work, job sharing, home-based work, phased retirement and compressed workweeks. Currently, 93 percent of the 521 firms that responded offer at least one type of flexible schedule -- most likely to be part-time work -- for core employees. Despite this high percentage, managers, professionals and executives tend not to have flexible schedules. Employees who have a flexible schedule are most likely to be female and employed in a clerical, administrative support or sales occupation.

Half of the surveyed firms offer flextime and only a minority offer other alternatives. Job sharing is offered in 22 percent of the firms, and phased retirement and home-based work alternatives in 9 percent and 7 percent of the companies respectively.

Companies expect to increase their use of all six flexible schedules in the next several years. Survey results indicate that job sharing and home-based work arrangements are two of the schedules most likely to be under consideration now, with phased retirement and regular part-time also likely alternatives to be increased.

"Tightening local labor markets, projected work force shortages and increasing work-family pressures are compelling companies to address the need for flexible work schedules for their core employees," says Kathleen Christiansen, associate professor at The Graduate School of City University of New York, and author of the report. "In the 1990s, flexible scheduling will be a critical issue to companies that need to keep their most valued employees and retain a competitive edge in recruitment."

A need for new management

skills and sensitivity

In the companies that adopted flextime, job sharing and home-based work, human resources officers report high levels of satisfaction with the job performances of employees on these schedules and relatively lower levels of satisfaction with their ease of supervision.

"An effective system for managing employees on flexible schedules must be developed before any widespread implementation of job sharing, phased retirement or home-based work arrangements will occur," says Christensen. "But the fact that companies expect to increase their use of these arrangements could indicate a willingness on the part of management to explore alternative ways of managing employees on flexible schedules."

Obstacles to flexible

scheduling arrangements

Despite the number of American companies which are beginning to consider flexible work schedules, there is strong resistance and many obstacles to rapid expansion of flexible schedules within firms.

"Top management may be reluctant to introduce change; unions hesitate to negotiate certain arrangements; supervisors fear difficulties in managing employees on some flexible schedules and employees who cannot participate are often resentful of those who can," says Christensen. "Perhaps the biggest obstacle that companies encounter in implementing flexible schedules is a philosophical one in which managers are being asked to work outside a system that has always been in place. In developing formal guidelines, human resources units must address fears of the unknown as well as cost concerns."

One of the greatest sources of concern in adopting flexible schedules is the difficulty of supervising workers who are not on site and who work on irregular schedules. Human resources executives who have adopted these programs successfully report that raising company awareness about the viability of such arrangements by relating success stories help break in the new concept.

As important as it is to develop new tools to manage workers on flexible schedules, success of these programs also depends on how dedicated the company is to meeting employees' work-family demands. A well-developed, work-family culture encompasses benefits, time off and work-schedule policies that help employees (both men and women) cope with care of children and the elderly, as well as handling daily needs. A supportive corporate culture generally is fostered by the CEO.

Flexible staffing: the rise of a

two-tiered work force

The Conference Board study also documents a significant work force trend prompted by American companies' desire for elasticity in staffing: the rise of a two-tiered work force. The first tier is a core of salaried employees on a company payroll who are accorded a relatively high degree of job security, perquisites and benefits. This is the group eligible for the flexible schedules noted earlier. The second group, the "contingent work force," includes a cadre of workers, many of whom are not on the company payroll, who are hired as contractors, temporaries or casual part-timers.

The survey finds 91 percent of the firms now rely on contingent staffing, particularly in the form of temporary agency hires and independent contractors, as a way to control costs and operate competitively. Although human resources executives reported expansion in their firms' use of temporary workers during the 1980s, dissatisfaction with the cost and work quality of temporary agency hires is promoting a slowdown in these hires and an increase in the use of internal temporary pools (employees who cover short-term staffing needs).

Coupled with these changes, firms anticipate a leveling off in the number of independent contractors hired for professional, technical or managerial projects.

Flexibility: a corporate

watchword in the 1990s

While the increased management flexibility evidenced in American companies during the 1980s will continue in the next decade, executives predict that the emphasis will shift from promoting flexibility in staffing to meeting the work-family needs of valued core employees with flexible scheduling policies.

"As the labor force changes in our country, American companies will work hard to recruit and retain high-quality employees," says Christensen. "This means that companies will focus on providing benefits that enable workers to more easily balance work and family life."