Flexible Work Arrangements Research Articles

Analysis of The Influence of Personality and Flexible Work Arrangements on Work-Life Balance Mediated by Organizational Support at The North Medan One-Stop Manuggal Administration System (SAMSAT) Office

The North Medan One-Stop Manuggal Administration System (SAMSAT) or known as the One-Stop Manuggal Administration System is a combination of 4 (four) agencies that have motor vehicle tax objects domiciled in North Sumatra. The problem that occurs is that in 2022 there will still be a high level of work errors made by employees. These errors can occur due to decreased employee productivity, which will then cause stress and disrupt work-life balance. This research is a quantitative study that aims to analyze the influence of personality and flexible work arrangements on work-life balance through organizational support. The population of this study is that the population in this study is all permanent employees at the North Medan Samsat. Meanwhile, the number of samples was 80 respondents. The analysis technique used is Partial Least Square (PLS), which is a component or variant-based Structural Equation Model (SEM). The results of the research, data prove that personality influences organizational support with a p-value of 0.000, flexible working hours arrangements influence organizational support with a p-value of 0.002, organizational support influences work-life balance with a p-value of 0.000 , personality influences work-life balance with a p-value of 0.012 and flexible working hours arrangements influence work-life balance with a p-value of 0.000. Then, the results of the mediation test show that personality influences work-life balance through organizational support with a p-value of 0.000 and flexible work arrangements influence work-life balance through organizational support with a p-value of 0.004.

The Impact of Training and Development, Job Embeddedness and Flexible Working Arrangements on Talent Retention Among Young Generation in Pharmaceutical Companies in Malaysia

The study aims to investigate the relationship between training and development, job embeddedness and flexible working arrangements on talent retention among the young generation of employees in Malaysian pharmaceutical companies. This research will employ a cross-sectional survey design, using the questionnaire survey method to collect data on the study variables. The sampling technique used in this research is non-probability, purposive sampling. A sample will be collected from 348 young-generation employees working in pharmaceutical companies residing in Malaysia. PLS-SEM will be used to analyze the hypothesized relationships, providing valuable insight into critical factors influencing talent retention in pharmaceutical companies in Malaysia. The scarcity of research in the pharmaceutical context emphasizes the importance of identifying key influences on employee retention, which include training and development, job embeddedness, and flexible working arrangements. Interventions addressing these elements are critical for retaining skilled employees and improving organizational performance. The result of this research contributes to the comprehension of retention schemes, training and development plans, effective flexible work arrangements, and factors promoting job embeddedness. The findings guide organizational leaders in predicting employee preferences, reducing turnover rates, and implementing effective retention strategies, ultimately contributing to enhanced productivity and economic growth in Malaysia's pharmaceutical sector. The research also highlights the positive impact on employees' career advancement, employability, work-life balance, and overall well-being.

EXPLORING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN WORK-LIFE BALANCE AND EMOTIONAL CONTENTMENT AMONG WORKING MOTHERS AND IN THEIR MOTHERHOOD

Purpose: This research study aims to investigate the relationship between work-life balance and emotional contentment among working mothers and in their motherhood as well. This paper aims to explore how working mothers make sense and respond to their professional desires, responsibilities and expectations within the context of motherhood. It also seeks to explore what it takes for mothers to live up to their potential at work, what it takes for mothers to reach top positions in their field of work and the challenges they face. With the growing number of mothers participating in the workforce globally, understanding how work-life balance influence their emotional well-being is essential for promoting overall family and societal harmony. Emotional contentment will be gauged by measuring positive and negative affect, life satisfaction, and overall emotional well-being. The ultimate attempt in this research is made to understand if mothers are really, emotionally content in their lives at the end of the day, and with the ultimate aim of pooling opinions as to which incentives, strategies or measures can help reduce the conflict between family life ,work and emotional Contentment. In this paper attempt was made to understand the WLB and Contentment of women from all walks of life in all sectors and in all industries. But hardly there were any who were really content and happy. It is hypothesized that a higher level of work-life balance will be positively associated with increased emotional contentment among working mothers. Design: This research and study is taken from secondary data, like google scholar, Research Gate, Academia, literature review, journals books and blogs Findings: The findings from this research will contribute to the existing literature by shedding light on the factors influencing emotional well-being among this particular demographic group. In all of the findings there was the absence of emotional contentment with the mothers. Its either just satisfied with the job and work -life balance or just managing with the challenges. But there is no real contentment in their lives really. The conclusions may assist employers, policy makers, and working mothers themselves in developing strategies and policies aimed at improving work-life integration and promoting emotional happiness, joy and fulfilment in their lives. Originality Value: There is a deep exploration of the specific relationship between Work-life balance and emotional contentment among working mothers. The focus on emotional contentment specifically among working mothers is relatively limited in the literature. This research seeks to fill the gap by investigating how work-life balance, and various factors influence the emotional well-being of working mothers to achieve contentment. Paper Type: Literature Review paper KEYWORDS: work-life balance, emotional contentment, working mothers, well-being, family support, flexible work arrangements, autonomy.

Moderating Gender in Work From Home Policy Implementation on State Civil Apparatus Performance using Multigroup Analysis

The WFH (Work from Home) policy has significantly changed the work landscape, particularly within governmental institutions. As organizations grapple with implementing this policy, they must navigate newfound disruptions and adapt to a new way of working. Understanding how this policy is executed sheds light on its impact on employee performance and whether the implemented work system is suitable. This study analyzed the relationship between WFH policy implementation and various factors such as work productivity, worklife balance, and overall apparatus performance, with a subsequent examination of gender moderation. Data were collected through a Google forms survey from January to February 2023, targeting all East Java Region's BPS (Central Bureau of Statistics) Regency/City personnel. Results indicate that the WFH policy enhances employee performance and productivity, both directly and indirectly. However, it also appears to diminish work-life balance. Overall, no significant differences are observed between genders regarding the implementation of WFH, whether in terms of performance, work productivity, or work-life balance, either directly or indirectly. The WFH policy emerges as a viable solution, particularly during the pandemic, offering workplace flexibility and ensuring employee health security

Support on the way to the top? The effects of family-friendly flexible working arrangements in organisations on the promotion of women to management positions—the case of Germany

Women are still significantly underrepresented in management positions, even though they have been able to increase their share to a small extent in recent years. Using arguments derived from signalling theory, this study examines whether organisational family-friendly flexible working arrangements (FFWAs) help to increase internal promotions of women to supervisory or managerial positions and thus reduce the existing gender leadership gap. This effect is investigated using longitudinal data for German workplaces and employees covering 1631 firms and 314,201 employees and fixed effects logistic regression models. The results demonstrate that the implementation of FFWAs improves the chances of internal promotions to supervisory or managerial positions for employees, with women and men benefiting equally. However, if I use a broader definition that also includes highly qualified specialist roles, implementing FFWAs can provide better promotion opportunities for women. Second, FFWAs increase the likelihood of being promoted to managerial positions with reduced working hours, and this effect is slightly stronger for men. Third, surprisingly, no significant positive effects of FFWAs were found on mothers’ promotion of managerial positions. These results show that, even with organisational support, it remains difficult for women to reach management positions and combine family and career at the same time.

Increasing Productivity of Gen Z Employees: The Role of Flexible Work Arrangements and Participative Style

Orientation: Employee productivity is affected by various social and psychological variables. Flexible work arrangements (FWAs) and participative styles are expected to influence employee productivity.Research purpose: This study examined the effect of FWA and participative styles on employee productivity, specifically of Generation Z (Gen Z) employees. It also examines the mediating role of emotional engagement on the effect of FWA and participative styles on employee productivity.Motivation for the study: Gen Z workers have specific work-behavioural characteristics, including freedom and flexibility. This study provides empirical evidence of factors that increased the productivity of Gen Z employees by examining the influence of FWA and participative style.Research approach/design and method: This study was designed as explanatory. Data were collected using a survey involving 259 employees by purposive sampling technique. The data were analysed by the Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) method with the IBM AMOS 26 program.Main findings: Flexible work arrangement, participative style and emotional engagement affect employee productivity in direct and indirect relationships. However, there is no significant effect of FWAs on emotional engagement.Practical/managerial implications: Organisations need to develop FWA systems and more employee participation at work. It is expected to strengthen emotional engagement in their organisation and increase their productivity indirectly.Contribution/value-add: The study took Gen Z as the object of this research to support the assumption that this generation prefers a flexible way of working but still supports their productivity achievements.

The Effect of Work Flexibility, Work-Life Balance, and Job Satisfaction of Millennial Employees

Job satisfaction is a collection of feelings and beliefs that people have about their current job. Job satisfaction is also the employee's feelings towards the workers he does. Employee feelings towards work can be interpreted whether employees feel satisfied, comfortable, safe, and peaceful in doing or completing their work. The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of Flexible working arrangement and Work life balance on Job Satisfaction with Work engagement as a mediation variable. This study uses quantitative methods with the number of samples are employees of PT. Heintech Dwikarya Swapraja with a total of 171 respondents. This research was processed using SmartPLS data processing software and data collection was carried out through Google forms. Flexible Working Arrangement has a significant effect on Job Satisfaction, Flexible Working Arrangement has a significant effect on Work Engagement, Work-Life Balance has a significant effect on Job Satisfaction , Work Engagement as a mediation variable has a significant effect on Job Satisfaction, while some variables that do not affect Work Engagement do not have a significant effect on Job Satisfaction, Work-Life Balance does not have a significant effect on Work Engagement, Work Engagement as a mediating variable does not have a significant effect on Job Satisfaction.

Balancing Work and Leisure: Unraveling Constraints on Work-Leisure Integration in Bleisure Travel

ABSTRACT Bleisure travel has gained momentum due to the flexibility of the modern workplace and the desire for work-life balance. Despite this, due to the contrasting characteristics of work and leisure and the limited resources available to travelers such as time and energy, it is difficult to assume that integrating these two domains has always been seamless. Utilizing a focus group interview and an online survey, this research explains travel attributes that generate conflicts between work and leisure during bleisure travel, impacting travelers’ subjective well-being. Findings contribute to the travel and work-life balance literature, offering insights for travel managers to mitigate conflicts and enhance travel benefits, recognizing the complexities of harmonizing professional responsibilities and leisure pursuits in contemporary travel practices.

Flexible Work Arrangement (FWA) Model for the Commission On Audit Regional Office XII

Flexible Work Arrangement (FWA) Model for the Commission On Audit Regional Office XII

Still a ‘boys’ club': a qualitative analysis of how gender affects a career in anaesthesia in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand

SummaryGender inequity remains an issue in anaesthesia despite increasing numbers of women training and achieving fellowship in the speciality. Women are under‐represented in all areas of anaesthetic research, academia and leadership. The Gender Equity Subcommittee of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists recently conducted a survey asking “Does gender still matter in the pursuit of a career in anaesthesia in 2022?”. The survey was distributed to a randomly selected sample of 1225 anaesthetic consultants and completed by 470 respondents (38% response rate) with 793 free‐text comments provided. Three overarching themes were identified: gender effects on the career and family interface; women do not fit the mould; and gender equity changes the status quo. Women respondents described a need to make a choice between career and family, which was not described by men, as well as stigmatisation of part‐time work, a lack of access to challenging work and negative impacts of parental leave. Women respondents also described a sense of marginalisation within anaesthesia due to a ‘boys’ club' mentality, a lack of professional respect and insufficient structural supports for women in leadership. This was compounded for women from ethnically and culturally diverse backgrounds. A need for specific strategies to support anaesthetic careers for women was described as well as normalisation of flexibility in workplaces, combined with a broadening of our definition of success to allow people of all genders to experience fulfilment both at home and at work. This study is the first published qualitative data on factors affecting gender equity for anaesthetists in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. It highlights the need for further exploration, as well providing a foundation for changes in attitude and structural changes towards advancing gender equity.

Factors that Promote and Protect Against Financial Toxicity after Orthopaedic Trauma: A Qualitative Study.

Financial toxicity is highly prevalent in patients after an orthopaedic injury. However, little is known regarding the conditions that promote and protect against this financial distress. Our objective was to understand the factors that cause and protect against financial toxicity after a lower extremity fracture. A qualitative study was conducted using semi-structured interviews with 20 patients 3 months after surgical treatment of a lower extremity fracture. The interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using thematic analysis to identify themes and subthemes. Data saturation occurred after 15 interviews. The percentage of patients who described the identified themes are reported. A total of 20 patients (median age, 44 years [IQR, 38 to 58]; 60% male) participated in the study. The most common injury was a distal tibia fracture (n = 8; 40%). Eleven themes that promoted financial distress were identified, the most common being work effects (n = 14; 70%) and emotional health (n = 12; 60%). Over half (n = 11; 55%) of participants described financial toxicity arising from an inability to access social welfare programs. Seven themes that protected against financial distress were also identified, including insurance (n = 17; 85%) and support from friends and family (n = 17; 85%). Over half (n = 13; 65%) of the participants discussed the support they received from their healthcare team, which encompassed expectation setting and connections to financial aid and other services. Employment protection and workplace flexibility were additional protective themes. This qualitative study of orthopaedic trauma patients found work and emotional health-related factors to be primary drivers of financial toxicity after injury. Insurance and support from friends and family were the most frequently reported protective factors. Many participants described the pivotal role of the healthcare team in establishing recovery expectations and facilitating access to social welfare programs.

Telework and new work practices: The role of managers

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, academic research has primarily focused on the challenges posed by flexible working arrangements. However, there has been a lack of exploration into managers’ intentions to either promote or reject remote work. This paper utilizes a TAM analysis to examine managers’ attitudes and motivations towards implementing telework in a sample of European companies. Our findings reveal that this intention is largely influenced by their perception of its usefulness. Additionally, telework is more likely to be accepted when managerial teams believe that those who hold significance to them also support the implementation of flexible work practices in their companies. Our research contributes to the existing literature by considering the impact of job performance, quality of output, and digital skills on telework adoption. The results confirm that skills related to communication and team building are crucial competencies for successfully implementing telework. The ability of leaders to effectively build, motivate, recognize, and hold accountable teams in virtual environments can make all the difference.

Integration of work and life roles: an interpretive study of women entrepreneurs in the United Arab Emirates

PurposeUtilizing boundary theory as a guiding framework, this study aims to explore facets of work–life balance (WLB) that women entrepreneurs experience in the context of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It sheds light on strategies women entrepreneurs use to manage and shape boundaries between their personal and professional lives.Design/methodology/approachIn this qualitative study, we conducted in-depth interviews with 50 women entrepreneurs to gain a deeper understanding of their WLB challenges.FindingsIntegration is a boundary management approach used by most women in our sample, facilitated by the thin work–life boundary inferable from their entrepreneurial careers. Integration has all the hallmarks of being imposed on women entrepreneurs because of family role challenges and societal expectations, on top of their entrepreneurial obligations. Women are reactors; they shoulder societal, family and entrepreneurial roles while having little control over events and circumstances.Practical implicationsBoundary theory suggests two roles must be interconnected to coexist successfully. Women entrepreneurs can benefit from the synergy between their personal and professional lives. As their roles tend to be more complex, it is essential to consider the consolidation of both spheres as an ongoing process to maximize their benefits.Originality/valueToday’s independent forms of working are contingent on flexible work arrangements, work intensification and wireless communication. Understanding how women entrepreneurs find balance amid boundarylessness adds to our limited knowledge of people in comparable environments.

Telework and Work Flexibility in the United States Federal Government Post-Pandemic

A decade before the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States (US) federal government was working to create flexible work environments for employees under the 2010 Telework Enhancement Act. Given this reality and the growing desire for greater flexibility of workers inspired by the “Great Resignation” during the pandemic, the US federal government appears to have recovered lost employees faster than other levels of the public sector. Still, given that federal workers skew older with less than a tenth of the workforce being under age 30 years and nearly a third reaching retirement age, a true crisis still looms in our administrative state. Using the 2021 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey Data, we analyze what factors predict turnover intention post-pandemic, focusing the analysis on teleworking and other workplace flexibility policies. We use the findings to make recommendations to help increase employee recruitment and retention within the US federal government.

COMBATING BURNOUT IN THE IT INDUSTRY: A REVIEW OF EMPLOYEE WELL-BEING INITIATIVES

This study conducts a systematic literature review and content analysis to explore the effectiveness of employee well-being initiatives in combating burnout within the Information Technology (IT) industry. With the rapid pace of technological advancements and the high-pressure environment characteristic of the IT sector, burnout has emerged as a significant concern, affecting not only individual employees' mental and physical health but also organizational productivity and success. The primary objectives of this review were to identify the state of employee well-being in the IT industry, evaluate the current and potential future strategies for burnout prevention, and offer strategic directions for fostering a healthier workplace. Data were sourced from a comprehensive search across multiple academic and professional databases, focusing on studies published in English from 2000 to 2024 The inclusion criteria targeted research explicitly related to well-being initiatives in the IT sector, resulting in a selection of empirical studies, review articles, and grey literature for analysis.Key findings indicate a prevalent issue of burnout among IT professionals, driven by unique industry challenges. However, initiatives such as flexible work arrangements, leadership development, mental health support, and the use of AI for personalized well-being interventions show promise in mitigating these effects. The study concludes that fostering a culture of well-being and resilience within the IT industry requires a multifaceted approach, emphasizing the need for organizational commitment to employee health and continuous adaptation of well-being strategies to meet evolving workforce needs.
 Keywords: Burnout Prevention, Information Technology (IT), Employee Well-being, Systematic Literature Review

Enhancing Productivity at Home: The Role of Smart Work and Organizational Support in the Public Sector

In recent years, Italian Public Administrations (PAs) have swiftly adapted to flexible work arrangements due to the impact of COVID-19. The flexible work has led to addressing new challenges including the need to balance work demands with family commitments, a lack of social support, struggles with inadequate technology, and managing home interruptions that negatively affect home performance. Based on the job demands-resources (JD-R) model, the present study aims at examining the negative impact of home interruptions on smart working performance and the moderating role of two potential job resources: organizational support and perceived quality of the smart working. A convenience sample of 301 Italian public employees engaged in smart working completed an online questionnaire. Multivariate regression analysis results showed that organizational support plays a moderating role in reducing the negative effect of interruptions on home performance. However, the findings did not support a moderating role for the perceived quality of smart working. Overall, these findings highlight the critical role of social factors in buffering the negative effects of smart working, as compared to the quality of the technological arrangements. This information could be valuable for organizations looking to enhance the effectiveness of smart working by focusing on organizational support.

A data-driven agent-based model of occupants’ thermal comfort behaviors for the planning of district-scale flexible work arrangements

In a global context of increasing flexibility in the way workplaces and the districts in which they are located are used, there is a need for occupant-driven approaches to plan urban energy systems. Several authors have suggested the use of agent-based models (ABM) of building occupants in urban building energy simulations due to their ability to reproduce emergent behaviors from individual agents’ actions. However, few works in the literature take full advantage of the ABM paradigm, accounting for both occupant presence and energy-relevant behaviors at the district scale. In this work, we propose a methodology to develop a data-driven, agent-based model of building occupants’ activities and thermal comfort in an urban district. Our methodology combines the use of campus-scale Wi-Fi data to derive feasible occupant activity and location plans, along with thermal preference profiles derived from a longitudinal field study where off-the-shelf, non-intrusive sensors were used to capture the right-here-right-now thermal preference of 35 participants in the same case study district. Our model is then used to explore how different district operation strategies could affect building energy performance in the context of increased workspace flexibility. Our results show that by providing a diversity of building operation conditions, with different buildings having different set point temperatures, occupants’ thermal comfort hours could be improved by an average of about 10% with little effect on district energy performance. Meanwhile, a 6%–15% average decrease in space cooling energy use intensity was observed when implementing occupant-driven ventilation and setpoint controls, regardless of location choice scenario.

The flexibility paradox and spatial‐temporal dimensions of COVID‐19 remote work adaptation among dual‐earner mothers and fathers

AbstractThere is an increased blurring of work and home life in contemporary society due to access to technology and the mass expansion of remote work during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Flexible working arrangements like remote work can lead to men self‐exploiting themselves in the workplace and women self‐exploiting themselves in the domestic sphere in the context of a work‐centric society that is reliant upon passion at work and traditional gender norms. This study extends Chung's ideas on gendered patterns in the flexibility paradox by examining spatial‐temporal dimensions of COVID‐19 remote work adaptation among an extreme sample: dual‐earner parents with young children. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted on Zoom with 20 mothers and 17 fathers working from home in the U.S. with children ages 5 and under between the summer of 2020 and the spring of 2021. Findings indicate that fathers' work is prioritized in spatio‐temporal terms whereas mothers' work is fragmented and dispersed. Gendered patterns in the flexibility paradox and labor shouldered by mothers as primary caregivers are considered as potential theoretical explanations for the privileging of fathers' workspace and work time.

Assesing the Dynamics of Employee Benefits for Virtual and Flexible Work Arrangements of Obapack Company Limited, Ghana

The human resource of every organisation plays a crucial role in the organisation’s fortunes, as they apply other resources to achieve the aims of that organisation. In recent times, owing to the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic, the attention of researchers has been drawn to virtual or remote workers. Researchers note that flexible working conditions affect the performance of employees. Therefore, this study sought to examine the effect of flexible working arrangements on employees’ performance in Obapack Company Limited. In line with this, effect of FWA on organization commitments, job satisfaction, employee performance and work-life balance were examined. To achieve the aims of the study, a descriptive, quantitative cross-sectional design was adopted. The stratified sampling techniques were combined to recruit 70 virtual workers into the study, after which they completed questionnaires on the variables of the study. Descriptive analysis of the data was done using frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviations in Statistical Product for Service Solution (SPSS) version 25.0. To further explore the relationship between FWA and employee benefits, inferential statistics, such as linear regression, was utilised. The main FWAs examined within the context of Obaapack Company were flexi-time, annualised hours, and homeworking. Flexible Working Arrangements affect job satisfaction, work-life balance and employees’ performance positively. However, FWA affect organizational commitments negatively. FWA should be encouraged in the company, especially, job-shared which much attention was not given to it. This will improve upon the satisfaction, work-life balance and employees’ performance. Furthermore, Obaapack Company Limited should include other factors such as motivation that also influence organizational commitment since FWA only do not boost the staff’s commitment. Lastly, employees should also observe and follow the organizational principles regarding FWA in order for them to have a work-life balance.

Fathering Identities and Men’s Engagement With Flexible Working Arrangements

This research examines how fathering identities and normative gendered expectations shape the way men engage with a broad range of flexible working arrangements (FWAs). Forty-three heterosexual white-collar Australian fathers participated in this qualitative research, involving one-to-one semi structured interviews which were discursively analysed using Foucauldian Discourse Analysis. Three fathering identities emerged from the data: “The Present and Visible Father”, “The Involved and Competent Father”, and “The Father as Helper.” The findings demonstrate that fathering identities have a profound impact on men’s flexible working practices, that fathering identity is fluid and complex, and that a tension still exists between the expectations surrounding involved fathering, persistent traditional fathering norms, and the material reality of men’s work practices.