Bsbmkg520 Flexible Working Arrangement Assignment Answers

• Internal Code :
• Subject Code : BSBMKG520
• University : Victoria University
• Subject Name : Management

Plan and Manage the Flexible Workforce - Part A

Executive Summary of Flexible Working Arrangement

Flexible work arrangement refers to flexible time and work environment which is far different from a traditional work environment. It gives people the flexibility to sync the work hours as per the availability of the person. This report aims to find out benefits and challenges in the flexible working environment. It also contains about the workforce requirements that the organization might need in future like personal trainers, instructors, IT professionals and so on. The flexible working environment is the need of the hour. Many organizations are changing and adopting flexible working environment as it is found that this form of work will increase productivity in the organization.

Overview of Flexible Work Arrangements

Flexible work arrangements are a process by which employees can work as per their suitability.

• Part-time employees

This kind of employees works fewer hours in comparison to the person hired for a full-time job. These employees work in shifts provided by the organization.

• Casual staff and contractors

Casual staff members are those who do not have any contract signed with the employer. They work only when there is a need and there is no guarantee that there will be work in future (Chung, & Van der Lippe, 2018).

• Offsite employees (telecommuters)

Telecommuters are the one who works from home or any other place remotely on commuters to provide a solution to the employer.

• Volunteers

They are the people who willingly want to be a part of the organization or the one who wants to accomplish a particular task.

Labour Market Trend in Flexible Workforce

It gives the organization flexibility to change the workforce according to the market condition that is the supply and demand issue.

Potential Benefits

Three Benefits of Flexible Work Arrangements

• Increased productivity

Flexible work arrangements will increase the productivity of the employees working in Bounce fitness.

• Reduce cost

It will help the bounce fitness to increase the headcount without increasing the space of the gym (De Menezes & Kelliher, 2017).

• Staff retention

Employees take flexible work arrangement as deal-breaker and thus the Bounce fitness will be able to retain more staff in comparison to other fitness centres.

Future Workforce Requirements

The organization would require trainers, instructors, managers, IT professionals and other staff members to accomplish the goals of the organization. The sales manager of the organization will bring people to the gym to increase the revenue target (Groen, van Triest, Coers & Wtenweerde, 2018). Certified personal trainers will help in training the consumers whereas instructors of the organization will see and instruct the people if they perform something wrong while doing exercise. IT professionals will help the organization by developing fitness apps for consumers.

Management and Staff Capability Requirements

Managers must have the skills to identify the need of the workforce and must keep programs relevant to them. They must communicate broadly to the employees to achieve the goals of the organization. On the other hand, the staff must support the managers and work efficiently to increase the productivity of the organization.

Possible Issues

Three Issues of Flexible Work Arrangements

• Mobile burnout

Employers reach at any point of time and expect the work to be done which is not always possible. A proper shift must be assigned so that employees do not have to suffer from mobile burnout.

• Lack of coordination

It becomes very difficult for the employees to manage the work as when a person is available to explain the task the other one may not be available and this makes it difficult to coordinate in teams (Hörning, Gerhard & Michailow, 2018).

• Flexible working hours are arranged on an informal basis

The working hours are arranged between an employee and his inline manager. It decreases the productivity of the organisation because many of the employees arrive late for the work, work twice a week and so on.

Plan and Manage the Flexible Workforce - Part B

7) Individual Flexibility Arrangement

8) Workplace Policy

Plan and Manage the Flexible Workforce - Part C

9) a) Under the following circumstances a trainer can make a request:

A trainer can make a request only if he has been working with the company for more than 12 months and has the following responsibility. These include the responsibility of a child, have a career ahead, have a disability, is 55 years or older, is experiencing domestic violence, need to assist a family member at home immediately and so on (Kristjánsson, Thornton & Kristjánsson, 2018).

b) Three options for dealing with the request include acceptance of the request, rejection of request and compensation of the working hours from home.

c) Dear Jim,

This is to inform you that you are a full-time permanent employee and need to complete your duties but since you have responsibilities this is why we are making your working hours flexible by making your one-day duty to be conducted remotely. In that way, you will not have to be physically present in the fitness centre but can perform other duties from home which will get assigned to you. We hope that you will keep up with your words and perform the duty as you do in the fitness centre.

Thanks & Regards

10) Dear Sir, 

This is in response to the new arrangements in Brisbane centre. I am happy to accept your request and is looking forward to work according to the new child care arrangements. The only issue is that I have a meeting on Friday. As the arrangements have been changed I urge the authority member to change my meeting day so that I do not have to come on Fridays just for the meeting. The cost of travelling is high and I cannot afford for a single meeting. I urge you to please change the meeting day as well so that I can work happily on the assigned days.

Thanks & Regards

11) Jan will require Zoom, Google hangout or another similar app by which he can conduct the face to face meetings as well as can assess the activity and exercise taken by the client. He can immediately stop the client from taking the wrong exercise and can show how he or she needs to do. Apart from this, if there are no training sessions then Jan can make use of other social media apps to remain connected with the fitness centre through mails, social media and so on.

12) The manager must set some KPI's to monitor and review the flexible working arrangements. These KPI's must include engagement and productivity, number of applicants, retention rate and so on (Langner, 2018). These things will help the manager to identify whether flexible working hour must be taken forward or it must be stopped with an immediate effect. Apart from this, the manager must also measure the output of the work instead of calculating the number of hours worked that calculates the value each employee brings to the organization. 

13) a) Three ways by which the Bounce Fitness organization can create a flexible workforce are-

• Build an environment of mutual trust

Bounce fitness must trust its employees that they will manage their work and will not leave the customer waiting for them. The employees, on the other hand, must try to be productive in the flexible hours.

• Limit meetings of the organization

It is observed that many times employees are found attending meetings which are of no use and this is why they are unable to complete their daily task. Bounce fitness must thus limit the meetings.

• Set clear objectives

Bounce fitness must set clear objectives for their employees to accomplish so that they start working according to their short and long term goals.

b) Three ways to make causal or part-time employees feel that they are a part of the team are

• Involve them in the meetings

The best way to make them feel part of the organization is by involving them in the meetings so that they can also put their part ideas in front of the others (Rudolph & Baltes, 2017).

• Keep them informed

Bounce Fitness centre must keep the casual workers updated on the new policies and procedures so that they can also work and maintain the same things as expected from the other workers.

• Communicate with them properly

Communication plays a very important role. Communication regularly with the casual employee or part term worker will make them feel as if they are an employee of the organization.

c) Three ways by which discrimination can be prevented in the Bounce Fitness centre are-

• Draw up a policy

The best way to avoid discrimination is to draw up a flexible working policy and make the employee follow them. It will decrease the chances of discrimination (Stirpe & Zárraga-Oberty, 2017).

• Make the points of the policy clear

The Bounce fitness must clear all the points of the policy so that there remain no chances of conflict which can initiate discrimination.

• Statuary flexible working

The workers who have been working continuously for the centre for 26 weeks can avail for flexible working. They have the right to deal with the request considered.

14) a) Bounce fitness centre must have a confidentiality clause which states that the trainers or the causal employees cannot disclose the identity of the consumers to anyone rather must keep their information protected from getting breached. In case any person’s identity gets leaked and there is an evidence of the person who was involved shall be detained form the organization.

b) Intellectual property clause states that the organization's inventions of the app of bounce fitness need to be protected from the people by getting a patent for it. The trademark will help in protecting the brand to get consumer goodwill. The organization even have the copyright of the protective media expressions so that none other fitness organization can copy it for their means.

15) Here are some questions that the manager must ask for the staff members who have taken a flexible working environment (Beigi, Shirmohammadi & Stewart, 2018).

• Do you feel that you are not part of the team?
• How often you communicate with the team members?
• Do you face any kind of issue?
• Is there any improvement in the performance according to you?
• Do you have access to all the required tools?
• Do you get support from the organization?
• Have you gained any benefits form the organization?
• What drives you to take flexible working hours?
• Do you keep a track and report on all the daily activities?

References for Plan and Manage the Flexible Workforce

Beigi, M., Shirmohammadi, M., & Stewart, J. (2018). Flexible work arrangements and work-family conflict: A metasynthesis of qualitative studies among academics. Human Resource Development Review, 17(3), 314-336.

Chung, H., & Van der Lippe, T. (2018). Flexible working, work–life balance, and gender equality: Introduction. Social Indicators Research, 1-17.

De Menezes, L. M., & Kelliher, C. (2017). Flexible working, individual performance, and employee attitudes: Comparing formal and informal arrangements. Human Resource Management, 56(6), 1051-1070.

Groen, B. A., van Triest, S. P., Coers, M., & Wtenweerde, N. (2018). Managing flexible work arrangements: Teleworking and output controls. European Management Journal, 36(6), 727-735.

Hörning, K. H., Gerhard, A., & Michailow, M. (2018). Time pioneers: Flexible working time and new lifestyles. John Wiley & Sons.

Kelliher, C., & de Menezes, L. M. (2019). Flexible Working in Organisations: A Research Overview. Routledge.

Kristjánsson, T., Thornton, I. M., & Kristjánsson, Á. (2018). Time limits during visual foraging reveal flexible working memory templates. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 44(6), 827.

Langner, L. A. (2018). Flexible men and successful women: The effects of flexible working hours on German couples’ wages. Work, employment and society, 32(4), 687-706.

Rudolph, C. W., & Baltes, B. B. (2017). Age and health jointly moderate the influence of flexible work arrangements on work engagement: Evidence from two empirical studies. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 22(1), 40.

Stirpe, L., & Zárraga-Oberty, C. (2017). Are High-Performance Work Systems always a valuable retention tool? The roles of workforce feminization and flexible work arrangements. European Management Journal, 35(1), 128-136.

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