Flexible Working Arrangements Proposal for Virgin Blue Airline - Case Study Example

Flexible Working Arrangements Proposal for Virgin Blue Airline Introduction The significance providing flexible working arrangements in an organisation cannot be underestimated. Employees seek flexibility in working arrangements in order to effectively address the competing demands of personal responsibilities and work. A considerable number of studies show that flexible working arrangements within an organisation help to bring positive results such as increased productivity, workforce commitment, reduced turnover and absenteeism (Poelmans, 2005; MIT, 2004). Flexible work arrangements also help employees to meet personal needs and family obligations. Moreover, flexible work arrangements within an organisation has been associated with increased employee morale, reduced stress and burnout, increased creativity and job satisfaction. As a result, many organisations have come up with flexible work programs that seek to provide employees with work-life balance. These flexible work programs incorporate work arrangements that accommodate the changing family demographics and personal emergencies (Stredwick & Ellis, 2005). In addition, these flexible work arrangements accommodate employee need to access training and education thus enabling them to enhance their knowledge and skills (Peper, van Doorne-Huiskes & Dulk, 2005). However, in as much as flexible working arrangements in an organisation can be beneficial, it can be costly and impeding to an organisation’s competitive success. For instance, it may require an organisation to hire additional staff in order to meet the increasing work demands. This in turn causes an organisation to incur a lot of costs. In a case where an organisation chooses not to hire additional employees the provision of flexible working hours may bring about a dearth in manpower available within an organisation. Therefore, it is essential for organisations to balance between providing employees with flexible working arrangements that will enable employees to attain a work-life balance and carefully managing costs in a way that promotes the organisation’s competitive success. In order to realise this organisations must come up suitable flexible working arrangement plans (Storey, 1995; Griffin & Moorhead, 2011). This report seeks to present a flexible work arrangement proposal to the management of Virgin Blue Airlines. The key aim of this report to illustrate how the airline can provide its employees with flexible working arrangements and at the same time manage cost in a way that promotes the organisation’s competitive success. The flexible working arrangements highlighted in this report will touch on three worker groups at Virgin Blue Airlines namely; flight attendants, office workers and call centre operators. Foremost, this report will examine how flexible working arrangements can be created within an organisation by reviewing various relevant literatures. Subsequently, this report will illustrate how the management of the Virgin Blue Airlines can create flexible working arrangement for its flight attendants, office workers and call centre operators. Furthermore, this report will provide a flexible work arrangement cost-benefit evaluation for each worker group. Flexible Work Arrangement Flexible work arrangements are alternative work schedules different from the traditional work hours and days. Flexible work arrangements allow employees to choose work schedules that are suitable to them so that they are able to meet family or personal needs. Furthermore, flexible work schedules may enable employees to meet the needs of their customers. Stredwick & Ellis (2005, p. 33) observes that there are a wide range of options that employers can use to provide their employees with flexible work arrangements that will enable them to maintain a work-life balance and at the same time meet the work demands of the organisation. Some of the most commonly used options include; job sharing, flexible hours, part-time work, work leaves, career breaks, tele-commuting or working from home. Job sharing/ Work sharing Job sharing or work sharing is a flexible work arrangement approach that entails two or more employees sharing a full-time work position. In this case two or more people work on a reduced-time or a part time basis on a job that is typically meant for one person. Using this type of work arrangement each person get to choose the working hours that are most convenient for them. For instance, one employee may choose to work during the morning hours whereas another employee may chose to work during the afternoon hours. This type of work arrangement has its advantages and disadvantages (O’Hanlon, 2003). Some of the advantages associated with job sharing include the fact that, it provides employees with more free time such that they are able to create time for personal or family matters or undertake training to enhance their knowledge and skills. Moreover, this type of work arrangement may contribute to productivity in the work place and decrease employee burnout or stress. A considerable number of studies have demonstrated that when two people share the same job the net productivity is likely to increase (Rogers & Finks, 2009; Kirrane, 1994). Nevertheless, some of the disadvantages associated with job sharing include the fact that it may result to low employee income or cause an organisation to incur additional costs in order to pay for additional manpower (O’Hanlon, 2003). Part-time work Any employee working for less than 35-45 hours a week depending on country or region can be said to be working on part time rather than full time. This kind of flexible arrangement is both beneficial to the employer and the employee. The employer can be able to schedule his part time employees to work at peaks hours when demand for their skills and services is high and leaving them to enjoy their free hours which are not bound by the part time contract. A typical example for part time work is a restaurant where clients are expected to throng in masses during lunch hours and evenings. A restaurant owner can therefore make arrangements to have more waiters during these periods and then release them to enjoy the rest of their free time. The working hours are not fixed but can be negotiated and reviewed on a day to day basis and therefore creating more room for flexibility. The success of this kind of arrangement solely lies on the goodwill and amicable relationship between the management and the employees. Employers should desist from forcing their part time employees to spend more time working against their will since this will weaken the cooperation of the employees and contribute to high employee turnover. The main disadvantage with part time employment comes on the part of the human resource manager who is faced with the challenge of setting up procedures and systems which will effectively monitor productivity, absenteeism, time worked and leave due. Such a system will need to be customized to meet the needs of part time workers (Stredwick & Ellis, 2005). Career breaks This refers to taking a long formal break from employment for purposes of furthering ones education, personal development among other reasons. Although a career break may seem to benefit to the employee rather than the employer, it is worth noting that in many cases the employer stands to gain from such work arrangement as well. For example, an employee who has taken a career break in order to further his education will bring more skills to the organization once he/ she is through with education. In addition, the long break will also give the employee an opportunity to freshen up and be energized before resuming employment. Furthermore, it will aid the organization in retaining employees with valuable skills and reduce employee turnover. Therefore, employers need to consider such merits when approached by employees seeking career breaks. However, the employer needs to define and formalize all the details and benefits which the employee will enjoy during such a period. Issues such as career break period, leave, pension and other factors will need to be captured in the agreement. One disadvantage for this kind of flexible work arrangement is that an employee may find it difficult to catch up with colleagues at work especially in fields where specialized skills are needed or the job does not involve repetitive actions. An employee can easily deteriorate in job performance after being away from work for extended periods especially if the reason for their break was mainly due to personal engagements rather than education and career development (Stredwick & Ellis, 2005). Working from home/tele-commuting Working from home has several benefits for both the employer and the employee. These include: the employee saves money and time which he would have otherwise spend will commuting to and from work place. The employee is also able to organize themselves adequately to perform tasks without distractions which they would easily have experienced at the work place. Furthermore, the employee would also be able to perform their household tasks alongside performing work and therefore meet the personal duties without much strain. On the other hand, the employer may also save on buying vital assets which ordinarily the employees would have used in the office. One key disadvantage for this kind of work arrangement is that employees may miss certain crucial events taking place at the work place (Stredwick & Ellis, 2005). Another disadvantage may be associated with difficulty to set up the house environment in order to suit both their work and home environment. For example, an employee may find it difficult to work in the house with constant interference from children and attending to other household chores. Boredom can also result due to extended periods of in house activity and limited immobility. The employee must bear in mind that the home was probably not designed to accommodate her working environment and this may therefore pose some challenges. It is worth noting that an employee should first conduct a risk assessment of the potentially of the house serving the two roles of a home and an office before engaging in such a work arrangement. The employee should assess all the features in the house such as lighting, seating arrangement, available room space and other factors to determine whether the house is suitable for working from home (Stredwick & Ellis, 2005). Flexible hours This kind of working arrangement is closely related to part time although the difference is that the employer and the employee agree on a certain number of annual working hours which the employee has to achieve before payment for overtime hours can be prompted. This kind of working scheme is especially designed for seasonal occupations and therefore creating flexibility for meeting different variations with regard to workload and demand for services. Another feature for this work scheme is that there is a common daily time routine when the employee is expected to be present (Stredwick & Ellis, 2005). This routine will stipulate the time when the employee is supposed to report and at what time he is expected to depart from the work station. For example, if the employee is to report to work at 10.00 and leave the work station at 16.00, the employee has extra hours of between 07.00 -19.00 hours where they can choose to work and build up their overtime or leave hours accordingly. Both the employer and employee can benefit from this work scheme. The employer will be able to acquire valuable skills from the employees when the season has peaked and therefore will not need to pay extra money during low seasons while the employee will on other hand attend to his other personal engagements during such low seasons. This will in turn reduce employee turnover. Proposal for Flexible Working Arrangements at Virgin Blue Airline Work Arrangements for Flight Attendants Flight attendants at Virgin Blue Airline are part of the aircrew members. Their key work roles include ensuring passenger comfort and safety during the flight. Flight attendants of the airline provide assistance to passengers by announcing and demonstrating safety procedures such as the use of life jackets, oxygen masks and seatbelts. They also provide assistance to passenger in placing their carry-on luggage and ensuring that passengers get reading materials, adequate food and beverage supplies during their flight. Given that airlines operate around the clock every year, flight attendants work during the night, weekends and holidays. In most cases, flight attendants fly an average of 100 hours a month. In addition to this, they spend an average of 75 to 85 hours a month on the ground, writing reports, preparing for flights and waiting for plane arrivals. Due to the variations in flight schedules, working as a flight attendant can be strenuous and make it difficult for employees to realise a work-life balance (USBLS , 2003). Therefore, there is need for the management to develop flexible work arrangements for flight attendants in order to help them attain a work-life balance and avoid work stress and burnouts. Part-time work is one of the flexible work arrangements that the management can provide to flight attendants; Part-time work Schedule The airline management can develop a part-time work schedule that will enable the flight attendants to realise a work-life balance. The schedule below provides an illustration of a part-time schedule that can enable flight attendants to realise a work-life balance. In this case, flight attendants will be categorized into two groups; Group 1 will include flight attendants with children, Group 2 will include flight attendants without children. Assumptions Group 1- 50 flight attendants Group 2- 50 flight attendants Number of flights during the weekdays- 30 Number of flights during the weekends- 20 Number of flights during holidays- 15 Flight attendants Part-time schedule Time Weekdays Weekends Public Holidays Group 1 Day & Night Number of Flights 10 15 10 Day & Night Pre-flight preparations 10 15 10 Day & Night Flights Duties 10 15 10 Day & Night Reporting None Yes Yes Group 2 Day time Number of Flights 20 5 5 Day time Pre-flight preparations 20 5 5 Day time Flights Duties 20 5 5 Day time Reporting Yes None None Advantages Realisation of work-life balance Reduced Employee stress and burnout High productivity Low turnover Quality customer service Disadvantages -Developing the schedule may be time consuming on the part of the management. -Following up on the schedule may be strenuous and time consuming. - In cases of emergency it may be difficult to follow-up on the schedule. Cost-benefit Analysis -Assuming that high employee productivity and quality customer service will help Virgin Blue Airlines to realise an additional $ 10,000 and the time consumed by the management to develop and follow up on the part-time schedule will cost the airline a total of $3000, the cost benefit ratio will be calculated as; Benefit Cost Ratio = Present Value Benefits/ Present Value Cost = $ 10,000/ $3000 BCR = 10: 3 Cost benefit Ration = 3: 10 Benefit percentage = PV cost X 100 PV benefits $ 3000 X 100 $10000 Benefit Percentage = 30% Flexible work arrangements for Airline Office Workers Due to the strenuous and demanding nature of the work-roles played by office workers in airlines, it is essential for the management of the airline to provide a 30-day leave to worker. Assuming that Virgin airline requires a total of 100 office workers to operate every efficiently every month. The management should provide a total of 8 workers monthly work leaves. In order to cater to the labour deficiency brought about by the 8 employees on work-leave, the management should hire 4 additional workers on contract basis. Work leave schedule for flight attendants Jan Feb Mar Apl May Jun Jul Sep Oct Nov Dec No of employees on leave 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 NB: There is possibility that at least 2 employee may choose not to go on leave Advantages Realisation of work-life balance Reduced Employee stress and burnout High productivity Low turnover Quality customer service Disadvantage Work-leaves are costly since the organisation may have to hire additional labour to replace those on leave Cost Benefit Analysis Assuming that high employee productivity and quality customer service will help Virgin Blue Airlines to realise an additional $ 10,000 every year and the cost of hiring 4 contract employees to replace the office workers on leave will cost the airline $ 100, 000 every year , the cost benefit ratio will be calculated as; Cost Benefit Ratio = Present Value Cost / Present Value Benefits $100,000/$10,000 Cost Benefit Ratio = 10: 1 Benefit Cost Ratio: 1: 10 Flexible work arrangements for Airline call centre operators Airline call centre operations take place 24hour every day. In order to provide work-life balance for employees working in the call centre the management should incorporate a job-sharing flexible work arrangement. In this case, the management should hire six groups of employees to take shifts in the 24 hour call operations. Job sharing schedule Week-days Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Working Hours 8am to 4pm 4pm- 12am 12am -8am Week-Ends and Public Holidays Group 4 Group 5 Group 6 8am to 4pm 4pm- 12am 4pm- 12am Advantages Realisation of work-life balance Reduced Employee stress and burnout High productivity Low turnover Quality customer service Disadvantage -Lower for some employee group - It is costly to pay six different groups of employees Cost Benefit Analysis Assuming that high employee productivity and quality customer service will help Virgin Blue Airlines to realise an additional $ 10,000 every year and the cost of hiring 6 different groups of employees will cost the airline an additional $ 200, 000 every year , the cost benefit ratio will be calculated as; Cost Benefit Ratio = Present Value Cost / Present Value Benefits $200,000/ $10,000 Cost Benefit Ratio = 20: 1 Benefit Cost Ratio: 1: 20 Conclusion It is crucial for organisations to balance between providing employees with flexible working arrangements that will enable employees to attain a work-life balance and carefully managing costs in a way that promotes the organisation’s competitive success. In order to realise this organisations must come up suitable flexible working arrangement plans (Storey, 1995; Griffin & Moorhead, 2011). This report has presented a flexible work arrangement for providing Virgin Blue airline employee flexible working arrangements. The flexible working arrangements highlighted in this report touch on three worker groups at Virgin Blue Airlines namely; flight attendants, office workers and call centre operators. For flight attendants this report recommends that work arrangements should be on a part-time basis so as to help flight attendants to realise a work-life balance. Moreover, this report suggests that, office workers should be given a 30-day work leave every year. Lastly, this report suggests job sharing work arrangements should be used to provide centre operators a work life balance. References Griffin, R. W.& Moorhead, G. (2011). Organizational Behaviour: Managing People and Organizations. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning. Kirrane, D. (1994). “Wanted: Flexible work arrangements”. Association Management 46(11): 1- 7. MIT (2004). A Guide to Job Flexibility at MIT: Tools for Employees and Supervisors Considering Flexible Work Arrangements. Retrieved on October 25, 2012 from O’Hanlon, M. (2003). Job Sharing: Two heads are better than one. Crow Nest, NSW: Allen& Unwin. Peper, B., van Doorne-Huiskes, J. & Dulk, L. (2005). Flexible working and organizational change: The integration of work and personal life. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing. Poelmans, S.A. (2005). Work and Family: An International Research Perspective. New York: Routledge. Rogers, K.C. & Finks, S.W. (2009). “Job sharing for women in Pharmacists Academia”. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education 12(7); 135-140 Stredwick, J. & Ellis, S. (2005). Flexible Working: Developing Practice. London: CIPD. Storey, J. (1995). Human Resource Management: A Critical Text. New York: Routledge. US Bureau of Labour Statistics (USBLS). (2003). Occupational outlook handbook. New York: Bureau of Labour Statistics. Read More