Flexibility And Stability In Working Life

Flexibility is an ambiguous concept. This book contributes to expounding the importance of clearer concepts in the debates on economic systems, labour markets and work organization. The authors place 'flexibility' in a new theoretical context as juxtaposed to 'stability'. Much terminological confusion and is resolved by this suggestion.

Although today's family has changed, the workplace has not—and the resulting one-size-fits-all workplace has become profoundly mismatched to the needs of an increasingly diverse and varied workforce. As changes in the composition of the workforce exert new demands on employers, considerable attention is being paid to how workplaces can be structured more flexibly to achieve the goals of employers and employees. Workplace Flexibility brings together sixteen essays authored by leading experts in economics, demography, political science, law, sociology, anthropology, and management. Collectively, they make the case for workplace flexibility, as well as examine existing business practices and public policy regarding flexibility in the United States, Europe, Australia, and Japan. Workplace Flexibility underscores the need to realign the structure of work in time and place with the needs of the changing workforce. Considering the positive and negative consequences for employer and employee alike, the authors argue that, although there is not an easy solution to creating and implementing flexibility practices—in the United States or abroad—redesigning the workplace is essential if today's workers are effectively to meet the demands of life and work and if employers are successfully able to attract and retain top talent and improve performance.

This book provides a multi-stakeholder perspective on sustainable HRM for the policymakers, managers and academics, addressing issues, approaches, research studies/frameworks and emerging patterns relating to the subject. It discusses various aspects of sustainability, such as making HR more responsible for ensuring sustainability focusing on the triple bottom line, characteristics of sustainable HRM, psychological contracts, emotional intelligence, and psychological capital. The book also explores organizational citizenship behavior, employment relations, employee engagement, sustainable leadership, disruptive HR practices, sustaining employee motivation, educational sustainability, sustainable career management, sustainable environment, employer and employee branding, sustainable organizations, organization culture, training for sustainability, sustainable employee performance, business sustainability and sustainable employability. It provides an update on the concept, processes, issues and emerging paradigms from multidimensional and cross-country perspectives to showcase sustainable HR practices, and appeals to the academics, practitioners and policymakers in the area of HRM.

What are we actually talking about when we talk of flexibility in organizational settings? Do flexible forms of organization lead to varied, challenging and autonomous work or do they have a negative impact on working conditions? These questions are confronted by a group of specialist authors including Stephen Ackroyd, Harriet Bradley, Jan Ch. Karlsson, Philippe Mossé and Michael Rose, who discuss the concept of flexibility in relation to employment practices, organizational structure, cultural peculiarities and network arrangements in France, Italy, Norway, Sweden and the UK. While the question of workplace flexibility has been much debated in recent years, the main issues discussed have been the practice of non-standard forms of employment such as part-time work. This book is distinctive in dealing with flexibility related to organizational arrangements, organizational culture and network arrangements, and in assessing the combined effects of different arrangements in terms of manpower, structure, culture and networks on flexibility.

This volume contains a collection of articles that examines workplace flexibility, work-family conflict, and workers' increasing lack of leisure time and how it pertains to long-term U.S. national stability. The contributors argue that current workplaces are not meeting the needs of today's workers, and the lack of workplace flexibility is having huge human capital costs that are affecting every sector of society. They explore how flexibility, despite having fixed costs, can be an effective tool for attracting and retaining employees and increasing productivity -- the key being to make the workplace flexible in ways that are profitable for employers and also engage workers to feel more satisfied and committed to their jobs.

There is growing interest in flexible working, not only as a means to manage labour more efficiently and for greater agility, but also as a response to increasing concerns over well-being, work-life balance, and participation in the labour force of those with significant non-work commitments (e.g. parents, carers, older workers). As a result, a comprehensive stream of literature on the benefits and challenges of flexible working has developed and led to a body of evidence on the implementation and outcomes of different forms of flexible working arrangements. This book assesses the current state of this literature as follows: Background: the authors review the different definitions that have been proposed, policy developments, availability and uptake. Outcomes from flexible working: the main chapters focus on the outcomes for employers (e.g. performance, employee retention, organisational commitment etc.), as well as for individual employees (e.g. well-being, job satisfaction etc.). Evaluation of extant knowledge: the authors comment on the existing literature and consider the methodological approaches adopted in the literature. Conclusion: suggestions for future research are proposed. Of interest to students, academics and policy-makers, this book provides an expert overview of the empirical evidence and offers critical commentary on the state of knowledge in the field of flexible working and new forms of work.

The future is here. How is your organization responding? Amid the turbulence of a global pandemic, worldwide social justice movements, and accelerated digital transformation, one thing is clear—work will no longer be the same. Employees now expect a flexible, inclusive workplace and a deeper connection to their employer. Organizations must commit to doing good for their people and communities. What should you and your company be doing to adapt? The Future of Work: The Insights You Need from Harvard Business Review will provide you with today's most essential thinking about creating a work-from-anywhere organization, harnessing AI as part of your team, creating an inclusive culture, and building a purpose-driven organization. Business is changing. Will you adapt or be left behind? Get up to speed and deepen your understanding of the topics that are shaping your company's future with the Insights You Need from Harvard Business Review series. Featuring HBR's smartest thinking on fast-moving issues—blockchain, cybersecurity, AI, and more—each book provides the foundational introduction and practical case studies your organization needs to compete today and collects the best research, interviews, and analysis to get it ready for tomorrow. You can't afford to ignore how these issues will transform the landscape of business and society. The Insights You Need series will help you grasp these critical ideas—and prepare you and your company for the future.

Building upon the recent global escalation of the remote work phenomenon, Flexible Work and the Family provides timely insights into flexible work’s implications for the increasingly blurred work-life divide.