Flexible working describes a range of working patterns which can benefit employers and employees and their families. A system of flexible working hours gives employees some choice over the actual times they work their contracted hours. Such a system can be a good way of recruiting and retaining staff – since it provides an opportunity for employees to work hours consistent with their other commitments making the work faster and accurate. When deciding how a flexible work arrangement might affect the work being done, we must look into the aspect of FLWH related to the company.
CAN TRADITIONAL MINDSET ORGANIZATION GOING TO IMPLEMENT FLWH SERIOUSLY?
Yes, it is to be answered affirmatively. An organization tries to find out its employees’ needs and priorities, and considering how they can be met in ways that are consistent with the needs of their business. Work-life balance policies are an important way for the organization as an employer to show their commitment to the quality of life of their employees. By building and protecting their reputation as good employers, a traditional mindset organization finds it easier to attract, retain productive and talented employees in the company.
There must be profound inner transformation on work horizon. Work concern is the lifeblood of management. This concern must be sparkled from within of a person. It can’t be infused from without. So, revolutionary change is need of the hour for an organization having traditional mindset. Tremendous change will result from the collective and deliberate efforts by the work segment.
Change in the mental set up brings change in attitude. Attitudinal change can do wonders. Thorough change in attitude brings change in the system as such. There will be a real progress when work passion, orientation becomes embedded in every channel of management. The only way to upgrade the whole system is by suffusing the best quality work arrangement into the edifice of company as such.
Let us not curse the darkness but, light the lamp of working values in the hearts of employers and employees which will illumine path of company’s prosperity. Hoping for the best…. May the cherished dreams come true.
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF FLWH IN A TRADITIONAL MINDSET Organization FOR EMPLOYERS AND EMPLOYEES
Employees are more committed and trustworthy when you have a personal relationship with them and treat them as whole organization – and take their needs seriously. They feel that you care and take them seriously. Employees with a life tend to be more interesting – they reinforce employer’s culture, brand and image.
Advantages of FLWH for employers of Traditional Mindset Organisation
- Increased employee morale, engagement and commitment to the organization:
When employees are provided with a suitable and flexible work environment, the satisfactory level of the employees will however increase and thus the employers will ensure to be more punctual, committed and open to work more for the company by empowering the work strategy.
- Getting flexibility in return:
Most employers have times when they need flexibility from their employees. A rush orders or complaints, wanting to extend opening hours, a sudden task or someone calling in sick. The employers found that they were more likely to get a positive and flexible response to requests for flexible staff if they had an established track record of being flexible about employee’s needs. Workplace loyalty will also establish and maintain integrity.
- Getting and keeping the right staff:
Offering flexibility has helped employers get and keep the right staff in a tight labour market. Many of the times, employers can think about any employee to fit for the desired position on the organization. It will be going to lessen the number of employee recruitments unnecessarily. Getting most from the available task is however shows the intelligence of the employers over the competitive world.
- Getting things done accurate and faster:
Being loyal with the facility given by the employers, all the employees will become self managing, cherished and self motivated. Confidence level will be increased in a manner that the employee will start his work with new inventory ideas in his comfortable workplace (like home) without any force to sit around an uncomfortable category of employees who are differently mindset over him. He will become faster to finish the task and will be more accurate than ever, enjoying his job like an easy breath for the life.
- Less absence and decreased work pending:
The need to be absent from work to meet family and other responsibilities may be for part of a day, for a day or for a number of days. Being flexible worker, one can manage his personal works easily without seeking leave thus by availing almost 365 days of the year to the company. It will clearly nullify pending works.
- FLWH is economical for employers:
Being flexible with employees, employers might lose nothing but will be going to get benefit of being economical by avoiding unnecessary C.L and Sick Leave systems, extra rewards or incentives, maintaining a large workplace, providing travailing expenses and so on.
Disadvantages
- FLWH concept can’t be applied as it is in Traditional Mindset Organization
It needs some modifications in it.
- All sections can’t gain the benefit of FLWH:
If Traditional Mindset Organization is a showroom with back-end office, the front line workers will lose the opportunity of having FLWH. It may leads to collision between the office and showroom staffs.
- Can’t expect a daily report:
Employers have the right of asking the status of work with their employees often. i.e. asking a report about the work progress is a tonic but the daily reporting is unnecessary in many of the cases.
EXTENT OF APPLICABILITY
Whole organization can’t be brought under the umbrella of FLWH. But many of the departments take over the FWH system by having an opportunity to work under FLWH provided with the approval of employers. FLWH provision can be attributed on the following positions / departments.
- Chief Manager
- Procurement Head
- Administrative Manager
- Marketing manager
- Human Resource Manager
- Internal Auditor
- System Administrators
- Accounts Manager
Although the FLWH is best applicable for the above mentioned positions the concerned persons must be avail in the office on the provided occasions.
Chief Manager:
Being a senior most employee, he is the manager of other managers. He must be very committed towards the employee problems and respond them with the earliest.
- In case of customer need, on the date of appointment with the customers.
- Meetings with employers or Staffs’
- During events of organization.
- Special cases like in the absence of Showroom managers.
- For claiming Traveling expense and dearness allowance.
Chief Manager must be present in office.
With FLWH, he can be flexible at:
- Sales and Accounts bill editing.
- Observations and comparison of sales amongst the branches and suggesting the branch managers for improvement.
- Inventory and Tracks tally.
- Solving problems with accounts section in tracks.
- Creating inventory and tracks for new employees and providing the options.
Procurement Head:
Being responsible for purchase, he has to contact suppliers and give appointments. He must be very sure about the completion of daily works in his department. To instruct his coworkers their duty.
- For the ease of suppliers, on the appointment date with the same.
- In case of customer need – to explain the process of purchasing supplier items.
- For giving any of the department bills towards accounts.
- For claiming Traveling expense and dearness allowance.
- During events of organization.
- During meetings and trainings.
The procurement head must be present in the office.
With FLWH, he can do the following from home:
- Asking the work progress and reporting it to employers.
- Contacting suppliers and appointing time for the suppliers.
- Following up the status of the ordered item.
- Check the franchisee sales and returns in inventory
- Track the employee at outstation.
Administrative Manager:
The administration of a company is not as easy as managing a section. An administrative manager being soul responsible for all of the sections in the company, he will be having equal pressure as employers. He has to deal with files or sometimes a broken chair in the showroom. It is pretty sure that there will be variable work stress for him.
Administrative manager must come 3 days in a week to the office to maintain company files and to look after the stuff ongoing at Muliya. However he must be present for the meetings and events of the company.
He can do the following,
- Online file maintenance.
- Consulting the suppliers of many stuffs (Like if he has to order for a rack, he can consult the required person from his home itself).
- Asking the progress of works of the other sections with the section manager and reporting it to the employers.
- Approvals for staff requirement through email.
Marketing Manager:
The concept of marketing begins with innovative ideas and it never ends. Thus being a manger of innovation he must be able to turn the business of whole company into precious returns through his concepts of the art of advertising.
He must come to the office in the following cases:
- Seasonal Marketing budget by discussing with finance department.
- Strategy of marketing with MD’s (Marketing consultants if any).
- Special business promotional events hosted by the company in any of the branches.
- Meetings in the company with the management or the executives.
The works that can be done from home are as follows:
- Media advertising.
- Delegation of works towards and monitoring marketing executives.
- Innovative event planning for seasonal business promotion.
- Conducting and monitoring marketing survey.
- Studying and replying customer feed backs.
- Next month program fixing and reporting.
- Next month program budgeting and reporting.
- Online business promotion (If any).
HR Manager:
HR manager is the key person being able to bring standardization towards the employee discipline and internal relationship between employees by recruiting employees and conducting trainings occasionally.
He must come to office for:
- Conducting events and trainings in the company.
- Interviews if any when there is vacancy.
- * He is expected to work with human concern (If any of the employees is hospitalized or ill).
He can do the following tasks form home:
- Leave calculations of front-end employees.
- Salary calculations for employees.
- Studying Job applications and Bio-data’s’ if any.
- Planning the salary hike for discussing with employers by observing the work and behavior reports of front-end employees reported by front-line managers.
- ESI form manipulation and informing about to the employees by online.
- Maintaining employee reports.
Internal Auditor:
It is the main duty of auditor to check the accounts, audit stock and employee status.
Internal auditor must come to the office for:
Auditing accounts files and stock on showroom.
To provide financial approvals when needed.
He can do the things like online accounts auditing and financial data handling from home. Checking balance sheet, works of coworkers, daily transactions for errors can also be monitored.
Accounts Manager:
The task of manipulation of the whole economical transaction is being monitored by the accounts manager.
- He must come to the office when,
- There are necessary of passing bills of employees or employers.
- For checking hard copy files in his section.
- To get signature of MD’s for any of the cheque
- Meetings and Trainings in the company
System administrators:
Technology being a basic requirement of each and every activities of a company, system administrator must work on bringing the suitable technology into the organization within the limitations of the employers. They must be able to balance the whole technical aspects in a distinguish manner so that none of the employees get troubled by the technical modernizations.
All the system administrators make their presence alternatively in the office since one of the system administrators must be present to handle the front-end problems and server.
Works can be done form home are:
- Server restarting.
- Server data backup.
- Attendance maintenance and reporting.
- Online solutions for some of the minor software issues.
- Cyberoam and email id creation and handling problems in it.
- Meetings and Training in the company.
These are the department vice works which can be done through FLWH. Author studied traditional mindset companies in the locality and then suggested these points.
