Flexibility At Work

Flexibility at Work shows you how to obtain the business benefits of flexibility whilst addressing the needs of both employer and employee. Peter Reilly breaks down flexibility into five different types, from functional through to financial. He introduces a model of how mutual flexibility might be developed and the preconditions necessary to make it successful. Along the way he cites much evidence of how employers are introducing alternative working arrangements that provide benefits to both parties.Flexibility can reduce costs, improve quality and service, increase productivity, hedge against change, and meet supply needs.

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.

Flextime, telecommuting, compressed work week, job sharing, downshifting, and hot desking—these terms are infiltrating our vocabulary at an increasing rate, keeping pace with change in the workplace. Although there is a large body of literature on the changing nature of work and workplace flexibility, there is no handbook that synthesizes the research on all aspects of this topic. Pulling together the vast literature on this subject, Avery and Zabel explain the concept of flexible work, trace the origin and growth of this workplace trend, and review the research on a range of flexible work arrangements. Workplace flexibility is international in scope. Companies, both in the United States and abroad, have become increasingly interested in implementing flexible work arrangements. The authors include a chapter on companies in North America, Western Europe, and the United Kingdom that have been leaders in implementing flexible work arrangements. They identify areas ripe for additional research, suggest a broad array of resources, and discuss strategies for locating additional information, including relevant databases, Internet resources, organizations, and search terms. This is a valuable handbook for managers, researchers, and students working or studying in the areas of human resource management, industrial/organizational psychology, and the sociology of work.

Smart Flexibility: Moving Smart and Flexible Working from Theory to Practice is an engaging and practical management book to help organisations implement Smart Working, and take a business-focused approach to ’Flexible Working’. Written for managers at the leading edge of change, Andy Lake takes a strategic, comprehensive and integrated approach to Smart and Flexible Working. Taking an evidence-based approach, he sets out how to achieve measurable benefits across the Triple Bottom Line. Starting from the underlying principles and the compelling context for change, he takes a pragmatic approach to delivering change in each of the key areas of People (HR), Property and Technology. The book is designed to help professionals understand the vital connecting points across disciplines as well as innovations in their own fields. And there are separate chapters that look at the real impacts for sustainability, the impacts for ’Smart Government’, how to manage the ’Anywhere Anytime Team’ and how to take people on the journey towards a Smart Flexibility organisational culture. The book includes many insights based on the author’s experience and the latest research, many practical techniques for implementing change plus ten new case studies. Smart Flexibility is essential reading for anyone involved in workplace change and increasing the efficiency of organisations. It is aimed at managers who need to deliver change, and will be of great interest to consultants in the fields of workplace design, new technologies and HR/OD/Training.

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 title was first published in 2000. Workplace flexibility polarizes opinion; it is either a necessary prerequisite to survival in the global market or a means by which the rights of workers are eroded. The difference comes from a lack of shared understanding of the concept. Organizations need to get to grips with flexibility, not only to address business problems and cope with legal regulations, but also to respond to the pressures of workforce diversity and labour market tightness. Flexibility at Work brings clarity to this misunderstood subject. It will show you how to obtain the business benefits of flexibility through an approach which addresses the needs of both employer and employee. Peter Reilly breaks down flexibility into five different types, from functional through to financial. He introduces a model of how mutual flexibility might be developed and the preconditions necessary to make it successful. Along the way he cites much evidence of how employers are introducing alternative working arrangements that provide benefits to both parties. Flexibility can reduce costs, improve quality and service, increase productivity, hedge against change, and meet supply needs. Can you afford to ignore the benefits it will bring?"--Provided by publisher.

The Oxford Handbook of Work and Family features 35 chapters from leading scholars that focus on the worker, family, organization, community, and how these issues intersect. It includes razor-sharp reviews of long-standing topics of interest, fresh ideas to propel work-family research in new directions, and evidence-based practical recommendations to improve organizational practices.