Today's Changing Workforce

Today's Changing Work force:

Alternative Work Arrangements

Tonya L. Argo

11/16/2010

Contents

Introduction 3

Job – Sharing 3

Flextime 5

Compressed Workweek 6

Teleworking (Telecommuting) 8

CONCLUSION 10

WORKS CITED 12

Introduction

The onslaught of technological advances in the U.S. job market and an influx of workers with families and working mothers into the workforce brought a need for changes in jobs and how they are performed. Managers were faced with absenteeism, turnovers and a dire need for flexibility within their organizations.

For many the solution to their problems and maintaining women in the workforce are Alternative Work Arrangements or AWAs. Alternative work arrangements offer benefits to both the organization and workers – allowing them to adopt flexible work options suited to their organization, and a balance of work/family life.

While these types of arrangements can be helpful, they can also be disastrous if not implemented correctly to fit in with both the company and employee needs. There are many alternatives to the standard 9 to 5; 5 day work week and I will explore some of the more commonly used alternatives: job-sharing, flextime, a compressed work week and teleworking.

Job – Sharing

The first AWA I will discuss is Job – Sharing. Job-sharing is by no means a new work alternative as some jobs gave this work arrangement a trial run as far back as 1970. While to some it may appear to be a relatively new concept the University of Toronto conducted a study on job-sharing and flextime schedules and their impact on U.S. workers between 1970 and 1975 (Luscombe).

Job-Sharing entails two employees sharing the same position and each working a part of the week or particular hours of the day. Employees who wish to enter this type of arrangement are those with families who wish to reduce the amount of time spent on the job and have more time for family and leisure activities.

This type of arrangement is also becoming more popular with the baby boomer generation, who often wish to take care of aging or sick parents or spouses. In the case of baby boomers their own health/aging issues may also force them to seek a reduction of work time-for those in this situation job-sharing could literally save their lives.

However there are some critical factors that must be considered before entering into job-sharing: will the needs of your business be met as well as the needs of your employees? For job-sharing to be successful it must be beneficial to your business and not just the happiness of your employees. Your company needs must still be met, and the people involved must sufficiently cover the position.

The employees involved must work together and put forth a supreme effort to ensure the success of not only this arrangement but so that the company does not suffer a loss of business or a lack of work completed.

One major drawback of job-sharing is the ‘who's the boss syndrome?'(Luscombe). To avoid this, organizations should implement a clear, coordination of work and duties so that neither employee knows who is responsible for individual parts of the job or tasks, (so one does not feel superior to the other). There should also be a direct line of communication between the employees sharing the job. They should be well informed of the tasks that need to be completed and any urgent work that has to be addressed that day. If there is not an open and precise line of communication there will be a loss of work and misinformation surrounding their job.

Not only should there be open communication between the job-sharers, but, also among other managers and employees, who should be aware when each member of the job-sharing team will be working and when they can be in contact with each team member. One way to make this work is to distribute a schedule of who is working at what time; this will keep communication and work flowing smoothly. By knowing who is working there is no loss of work due to a misdirected email to someone who is not at work.

Flextime

Another alternative to a standard work day or week is flextime. Flextime is an option that is typically used by working parents and