Examining the tensions in workplace flexibility and exploring options for new directions

Putnam, Linda L.; Myers, Karen K.; Gailliard, Bernadette M.

doi:10.1177/0018726713495704

Cited by 241 publications

(298 citation statements)

References 91 publications

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“…As long as free will is present in how flexibility is used in organizations, it can be regarded as contributing to the quality of work experiences. However, Putnam et al (2014) argued that the execution of control is essential in this process. While flexibility may allow employees to have more autonomy over how they conduct their work, the control resides still outside the employee when targets are set within the hierarchy of the organization, and being imposed upon the employee.…”

Section: Employee Perspectives On Workplace Flexibilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, whereas the need for people to work beyond retirement has increased, it has yet been proven difficult to effectively address the issue of continuing working and extending retirement (Wang & Shi, 2014). Many older workers still have (private) early retirement plans, low willingness and intentions to continue working, and many older workers who lose their jobs at higher ages experience many difficulties in finding new jobs, and hence have a high probability of remaining unemployed (Johnson, 2011;Klehe, Koen, & De Pater, 2012;Wang & Shi, 2014).One of the potential avenues for governments, organizations and employees to address these issues is through the concept of flexibility (Putnam, Myers, & Gailliard, 2014; Siegenthaler & Brenner, 2000). It has been argued that flexibility could provide a useful tool for both organizations and employees to enhance motivation, fulfilment and productivity in later life, and to ensure older workers to be able and willing to continue working (Bal, De Jong, Jansen, & Bakker, 2012).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…First, as alluded to above, the definition of flexibility is rather vague, which limits its potential use for understanding how it operates with regards to the motivation, well-being and productivity of workers across the lifespan. The term flexibility has been used in many different fields, including organizational psychology (Allen et al, 2013;Ferguson et al, 2015), sociology (Hyman, Scholarios, & Baldry, 2005;Kalleberg, 2003;Vallas, 1999), strategic HRM (Way et al, 2015;Wright & Snell, 1998), strategy (Sanchez, 1995;Volberda, 1996), and the careers literature (Moen & Sweet, 2004).Flexibility has been used differently across these fields, and thus carries different meanings which potentially contradict each other (Putnam et al, 2014). Thus, understanding how flexibility operates across the lifespan requires an understanding of how flexibility is used in these different fields.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One of the potential avenues for governments, organizations and employees to address these issues is through the concept of flexibility (Putnam, Myers, & Gailliard, 2014; Siegenthaler & Brenner, 2000). It has been argued that flexibility could provide a useful tool for both organizations and employees to enhance motivation, fulfilment and productivity in later life, and to ensure older workers to be able and willing to continue working (Bal, De Jong, Jansen, & Bakker, 2012).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Flexibility has been used differently across these fields, and thus carries different meanings which potentially contradict each other (Putnam et al, 2014). Thus, understanding how flexibility operates across the lifespan requires an understanding of how flexibility is used in these different fields.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Workplace Flexibility across the Lifespan

Bal¹,

Jansen²

2016

Research in Personnel and Human Resources Management

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As demographic changes impact the workplace, governments, organizations and workers are looking for ways to sustain optimal working lives at higher ages. Workplace flexibility has been introduced as a potential way workers can have more satisfying working lives until their retirement ages. This paper presents a critical review of the literature on workplace flexibility across the lifespan. It discusses how flexibility has been conceptualized across different disciplines, and postulates a definition that captures the joint roles of employer and employee in negotiating workplace flexibility that contributes to both employee and organization benefits.Moreover, it reviews how flexibility has been theorized and investigated in relation to older workers. The paper ends with a future research agenda for advancing understanding of how workplace flexibility may enhance working experiences of older workers, and in particular focuses on the critical investigation of uses of flexibility in relation to older workers.Flexibility can be regarded as one the key concepts of the contemporary workplace (Bird, 2015). Organizations try to become more flexible and adaptable to ever changing economic circumstances (Volberda, 1996; Way et al., 2015), while employees are expected to be more flexible in how they approach their jobs and careers (Hill et al., 2008a). Moreover, employees are increasingly looking for more flexibility in how they balance their work with their personal lives (Allen, Johnson, Kiburz, & Shockley, 2013;Ferguson, Carlson, & Kacmar, 2015), and in how they develop their careers (Moen & Sweet, 2004). Finally, governments across the world have increasingly responded to these trends by declaring flexibility the keyword for the future workforce and workplace (Johnson, 2011). In all these instances the denotation 'flexibility' refers to a different object and consequently has a different meaning. 3It is not surprising that the increasing popularity of the allegedly multi-interpretational term flexibility has coincided with rapid demographic changes in the workforce, including the aging of populations across the world (Kooij, 2015;Zacher, 2015). These demographic changes have caused governments, organizations, and employees to take a different position in how work and careers are both conceived and realized when life expectancy will rise to 100 years and above. However, current retirement systems are largely based on people retiring at 65 years (Wang & Shultz, 2010). One of the more immediate consequences of the aging population is that the ratio of working vs. non-working people is declining rapidly, causing more non-working people to be dependent upon a smaller number of people in jobs (Johnson, 2011). As these changes have put greater pressure on the affordability of pensions in many countries worldwide, governments have been engaging in the process of stimulating longer careers and ceasing with financially supporting early retirement. However, whereas the need for people to work beyond retirement has increased...

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Section: Employee Perspectives On Workplace Flexibilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Workplace Flexibility across the Lifespan

Bal¹,

Jansen²

2016

Research in Personnel and Human Resources Management

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Alternative Work Arrangements

Golden

Elia

2017

The International Encyclopedia of Organizational Communication

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Alternative work arrangements are any form of employment that does not conform to conventional norms with respect to where, when, and how work is performed. Various contemporary socioeconomic factors make such work increasingly common. The impact of these arrangements on organizational processes like socialization and identification, and their relationship to new communication technologies and work–life interrelationships, are matters of significant interest in organizational communication.

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