ABSTRACT

This study has as main objectives to assess the effect of flexible work arrangements on employee productivity in small and medium size enterprises in the Yde II. The research design adopted for this study is the cross sectional survey design which was employed to examine the effect of one variable on the other to realize its objectives.  Primary data was use and 150 questionnaires were administered using the convenient sampling technique. Cronbach’s alpha was used to measure the internal consistency reliability of the variables, which shows how closely or related a set of items are as a group and data collected was presented on tables using frequencies, percentages and SPSS. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics with the aid of statistical package of social sciences (SPSS). The finding indicated that flexi working strategies was significant to productivity of employees in an enterprise. It was noted that  flexible time and schedule will lead to an increase in credit accessibility by 0.139(13.9%) while other factors which were not measured was 86%. Telework and job sharing were positive significant predictors while flexi time was positive but not to an extend significant to productivity of employees.

Key Words: Flexible work arrangements, employee Productivity.

Chapter one

Introduction

This chapter shows an overview of the research background. It includes the problem statement and existing gap, research objectives, research questions, hypothesis of study and significance of study of this topic, which is related to Flexible work arrangements on employee productivity.

1.1 Background of the study

Employees needs a comfortable environment for high performance. Flexi working arrangements are tailored according to the type, line and structure of the organization. The flexibility of work enable employees be satisfied and hence low job turnover.

Flexible working arrangements are actually emerging issues in human resource management field. The world is becoming a global village; hence as an employee in any organization the balance between personal life and work responsibilities should not be ignored, if the employee performance is to be achieved. Employee performance is defined as work related task that is expected on employees and how well the task was done. The performance can be measured monthly, quarterly, semi-annually or annually to be able to provide improvement of identified segment in the business (Dessler, 2008). Armstrong (2009) added that it is an element of both motivation and abilities of employee. The author addresses that it can be improved through careful placing and training programs with right incentive both monetary and non-monetary to improve the overall performance of the organization.

Flexible working relates, to an organizations working arrangement in terms of working time, working location and pattern of working (chartered institute of personnel and development). Flexible working arrangements like flexible part time, shift work, compressed work hours and job sharing are often used to help employees in balancing their family and work life (Lim & Teno, 2000) during ‘core hours’ which is usually fixed or a period between the latest permissible starting time and earliest permissible finishing time.

Shift work is a set of periods of working, often designed to provide 24-hour cover as a three-shift systems or sometimes operating as a two-shift system or a ‘twilight shift’ which lasts from say, 5 pm to 9 pm. Part-time work is where an employee’s contracted hours are less than the standard full-time hours which can involve working only number of hours over any number of days. A temporary contract is employing extra staff on short-term contracts of varying length (weekly, monthly, and 6-monthly) (Cole, 2002). Flexi time is whereby a full time employee schedules his/her time so that at

the end of the day he/she should have covered the number of our required of him to cover.

Flexible Working Arrangements (FWA) are alternate arrangements or schedules from the traditional working day and week to an arrangement where employees can select a different work schedule that meets personal or family needs. The employer can come up with a different schedule so as to meet the customer needs (Armstrong, 2012). Some of the ways that the human resource management is addressing the current concerns is by embracing the flexible working arrangements. Due to the emerging issues in business world and technological advancement which has affected the performance of various small and medium size enterprises, employees are expected to balance between personal life and work responsibilities that is if the employee productivity is to be achieved. Employee performance is important in this global age as it boosts productivity.(UNICEF, 2019).There are various types of flexible working environment, which are flexi time, job sharing, telecommuting/remote working, compressed workweeks/schedules, annualized hours/banking of hours, gradual retirement, leaves and sabbaticals and reduced hours/part-time schedules. Universities can decide to use methods that suits them well (Bhusan & Sar, 2020). The organization flexibility is considered a key element in organizational behavior in terms of retaining employees’ productivity as well as organizational performance. Organization flexibility is of important in improving organizational performance by increasing job satisfaction among the workers (Saunders & Townsend, 2018).The Cambridge dictionary defines HR work place use to describe arrangements in which employees work in their own homes rather than in an office.

Competitive marketplaces, like as the current nature of the business world , need flexibility in the workplace. Human Resources Management (HRM) methods that encourage more flexible work schedules are used by firms in order to better adapt to the unpredictable environment (Stavrou, 2005). practices that might increase productivity by using flexible work schedules are referred to as flexible working practices (de Menezes and Kelliher, 2011). Human resources may be more effectively used if the workplace is flexible enough to allow workers and their time to be allocated in accordance with the nature of the task (Berkery, et al., 2017).

Workplace flexibility was first studied in earnest in the 1970s, with an emphasis on the influence on individual productivity (de Menezes and Kelliher, 2011). In recent years, research on workplace flexibility’s influence on productivity has broadened to include work-life difficulties, health outcomes, and job engagement (Rudolph and Baltes, 2017). The influence of specialized workplace flexibility on company productivity, profitability, turnover, absenteeism, and other factors has lately been studied (Berkery at al., 2017). Employer-driven flexible working arrangements aimed at reducing costs are an important aspect of workplace flexibility. Also, flexible working arrangements aimed at lessening the friction between work and personal life are welcome (employee-driven). As the corporate world becomes more global and technological advances become more prevalent, the demand for new working techniques has become more urgent. Since the 1970s, people-oriented techniques have been a part of corporate life as a result of these developments, known as the “flexibility concept/’. Businesses have devised new ways of working to keep up with the rapid pace of change, while also increasing the output of their employees. Increasingly, companies are required to treat their workers in such a way that they are content with their job and their employer. Businesses want to maintain their best employees while while adapting to new business trends. Competitive advantage: Businesses that focus on employee happiness have loyal staff. As a result, workers are more motivated and productive, and firms are able to compete with one another for the best staff (Altindag and Sillor, 2014).

Job creation and unemployment management, on the other hand, are critical issues nowadays. It is the primary goal of developing new work models and employment options to create jobs and reduce unemployment. Employees’ personal well-being is also becoming more and more of a consideration. Employees who previously had to deal with traffic in their daily commute, particularly in large cities, might benefit from flexible working arrangements. With greater control over their personal lives outside of the workplace, workers are able to increase their level of job satisfaction. Employees who arrive on time, who are not weary, who are focused on their task, and who are devoted to their work all contribute to a company’s ability to function efficiently (Altindag & Sillor, 2014). The goal of this research is to fill a need in the existing body of knowledge on the relationship between workplace flexibility and productivity.

Flexible working management have been seen to enhance employee performance and productivity. Therefore, enterprises have embraced the flexible working arrangements for the workers, and also encouraging a blended method of learning to ensure employees complete their work as scheduled. However, despite the adoption of flexible working management, most small and medium size enterprises have continued to record declining employee Productivity.

The literature reviewed has revealed the importance of FWA of employees in enterprises (Jane, Simon & Amos, 2015) and commercial banks in Kenya (Waiganjo, Kihoro & Mungania, 2016). From reviewed literature limited studies have been carried out to determine the effect of FWA and organization performance and productivity in small and medium size enterprises in Yaounde ll municipality (Cameroon). Limited research has been carried on flexible work arrangements as a way of improving productivity among enterprises and organizations (Kamau, Tuwai & Kuria, 2015). Hence there exists a knowledge gap investigation of the effect of flexible work arrangement employee productivity of enterprises in Yaounde Cameroon.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Globally, every human being struggles to survive in the wake of competing challenges due to innumerable wants but limited resources. As organizations struggle to meet stakeholders demand of capital appreciation, increasing market share, survival in the industry and successful retention of valuable workers among others, workers too are in a stiff competition to utilize their time among competing needs such as attending to family affairs, social and political events as well as other personal activities which sometimes conflict with organizational goals. Employees working in small and medium size enterprises are more involved in their jobs and longer working hours more than 48 hours therefore making it difficult for employees to keep a balance between job, family and other personal issues (Muhammadi et al., 2009). This has resulted in work life conflicts which has been found to be associated with mental health issues like stress and depression (Beck & Davis, 2004) which in the long run affects employee and organization  productivity. Employees today both male and female lives are becoming more consumed with a host of family and other personal responsibilities and interests in addition to demands of the workplace (Grantol-Vallore & Donaldson, 2001).There is therefore a perceived imbalance between the demands of current lives and people’s abilities to adequately cope with them and this may lead to an experience of stress (World of Work Report, 2011).

 The German Socio-economic Model was employed. They used an approximation of the moral-hazard model and discovered that workers who had control over their working hours performed better than those who did not. This was discovered to be due to a strong inner motivation. The researchers looked at things like the difference between contractual and actual hours worked, absenteeism, andhourly earnings as well as other labor productivity indicators. However, the survey does not look at the actual work that the employees do for the organization 

According to a study by Kwon, Cho, and Song, (2019) companies should be aware of their corporate culture and support. Supervisory assistance will lead to flexible work arrangements. An organization’s hierarchical culture, on the other hand, can stifle employee participation in flexible working arrangements. Furthermore, there was no link found between flexible working arrangements and employee work-related outcomes such as plans to leave, according to the study. Another fascinating finding by Masuda et al., (2012) was that flexible work arrangements were not often observed or valued in countries with collective cultures. According to Nikbakhsh et al., (2020) workplace, cultural norms are also vital for successfully implementing flexible work arrangements. As a result, the outcomes of implementing flexible working arrangements are being investigated further  taking on the perspective of an employee concerning their company is a typical method to conceptualize flexible work arrangements. Individual agency is emphasized in the context of organizational culture and structure when flexible work arrangements are conceptualized from the worker’s perspective.

In a society loaded up with clashing obligations and duties, and adaptable work course of action has become a transcendent issue in the working environment. Three central points add to the enthusiasm for and significance of genuine thought of flexible work arrangement: worldwide rivalry, recharged enthusiasm for individual lives, family esteems, and a maturing workforce. Concerns have consistently been raised concerning strategy and discussions on flexible work arrangement of action from viewpoints of the nature of working life when weighed against the more extensive family matters. Nonetheless, the challenge has been the way employees would embrace great flexible work arrangement rehearses and how associations would receive arrangements to handle clashes that result from the interface of family or social weights and work pressure (Mungania et al., 2016).

The ongoing COVID-19 outbreak has shown how quickly industries need to react to quickly advancing HR-related matters (McCulloch, 2020; Sylvers & Foldy, 2020; Wei & Wong, 2020). For instance, workers in the financial division in Kenya are progressively associated with their works, working longer hours over 48 hours (Ioan et al., 2010), therefore, making it hard for workers to keep a harmony between work, family and other individual matters (Muhammadi & Qaisar, 2009). This has brought about work-life clashes, which has been revealed to be related to mental health problems like pressure and despair, which over the long haul influences performance of the organization (Mungania et al., 2016).

Furthermore, the extent to which flexible work arrangements relates to employee productivity, innovation, employee satisfaction and turnover of organizational personnelsl and thus performance remain unclear in enterprises and organizations (Wang & Walumbwa, 2007). Therefore the study investigates the effect of  flexible working arrangements on employee productivity in small and medium size enterprises in Cameroon specifically Yaounde ll of the center region.

1.3 Research Question

To ease this research, the researcher has to formulate the following research questions which are of two types; the main and specific research questions. Below is the main research question.

1.3.1 Main Research Question

What is the effect of flexible work arrangements on employee productivity in small and medium size enterprises?

1.3.2 Specific Research Questions

• To what degree does flexible time and schedule influence employees productivity in small and medium size enterprises?
• To what extent does telework affect employee productivity in small and medium size enterprises?
• What is the effect of job sharing on employee productivity in small and medium size enterprises?

1.4 Research objectives

In order to know the effects of flexible work arrangements on employee productivity in small and medium size enterprise, it is important to set research objectives which will give the researcher a focus and direction in the research. . Below is the main research objective for this study.

1.4.1 Main Research Objective

The main research objective of this study is to assess the effects of flexible work arrangements on employee productivity in small and medium size enterprises.

1.4.2 Specific Research Objectives

Specific objectives on the topic effects of flexible work arrangements  on employee productivity in an small and medium size enterprise include;

• To assess the influence of flexible time and schedule on employee productivity in small and medium size enterprises.

• To examine the effect of telework on the productivity of employees in  small and medium size enterprises.

• To investigate the influence job sharing  on employee productivity in  small and medium size enterprises.