This article is concerned with examining the relationship between flexible working practices and employee perceptions of job quality. In recent years a growing number of employers in the UK has introduced flexible working options for employees in response to increasing concerns over work–life balance and the desire to be seen as an ‘employer of choice’. At the same time there has been considerable policy debate among European Union (EU) members over job quality and the need to create not only more but better jobs. It might be expected that since flexible working affords a degree of choice to employees, it would impact positively on their perceptions of job quality. However, to date few studies have explicitly examined how flexible working can contribute to job quality. Where studies have examined outcomes relevant to aspects of job quality, the evidence is somewhat inconclusive. The research reported in this article was designed to explore how experiences of flexible working have influenced employees' per...

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For Better or for Worse? An Analysis of how Flexible Working Practices Influence Employees' Perceptions of Job Quality

In this Counterpoint, we build on Paauwe's suggestions to take the field of HRM and Performance further. Rather than aiming for a synthesis or proposing a radical alternative, we argue that R(econstructive)-reflexivity is needed for theorizing HRM. In particular, we bring in insights from critical studies on the notion of HRM, on the notion of performance, and on the theoretical relation-ship between them as a way to open up new research avenues and lines of interpretation. For each of these three aspects, we indicate how studying the employment relationship can be reframed. In particular, we emphasize practice-oriented research as one possible research path for the field of HRM as it allows for an examination of HRM as a set of practices, embedded in a global economical, political and socio-cultural context. We end our counterpoint by reflecting on reflexivity, proposing three practices that can guide HRM scholars in becoming reflexive in the ways they study HRM.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1467-6486.2008.00812.x

HRM and Performance: A Plea for Reflexivity in HRM Studies

This NIHR-SSCR funded scoping review provides a comprehensive mapping of what is known about carers and caring, and aims to help inform policy, practice and research in relation to carers. The review was undertaken by searching 10 electronic bibliographic databases, supplemented by additional web searches to identify academic research, grey literature and wider knowledge. The analysis adopts a selective thematic approach covering: carer variables - the characteristics of different types of carer and different caring situations; types of care - the nature of needs of the cared for person and the features of the care situation; the impact of caring – resilience and coping, employment and health; and carer support and needs assessment. The final section highlights key messages identified from the review. It found that caring involves all sections and age groups of the population, with people are likely to experience one or more periods of caregiving over their lifetime. The uniqueness of each caring relationship is also highlighted. In relation to types of carers, knowledge about ‘hard to reach’ groups, such as BAME and LGBT carers, remains sparse. Older carers are also relatively invisible in policy and research terms. It found that much of the knowledge about carers identified in the review relates to their characteristics, their lived experience and the nature of their caregiving, with relatively less being known about the effectiveness of interventions to support them. The report concludes by offering suggestions for policy and practice. An appendix provides a bibliography of the 3,434 items identified in review, classified into 17 types of reference.

Seeing the wood for the trees. Carer related research and knowledge: A scoping review

Despite a wealth of research and policy initiatives on “work‐family”, “work‐life balance” or what we prefer to call work‐personal life integration, societies seem stuck about how to make equitable, satisfactory and sustainable changes in the ways in which paid work can be combined with the rest of life. So what is holding back satisfactory change? And how can people move beyond this apparent deadlock in workplaces and other institutions and really go forward? This paper looks at some of the reasons why issues about work‐personal life integration have become so pressing and then reflects on implications for working towards more fundamental changes at many different levels. It highlights sticking points holding back change and argues that these could be developed into new levers for change by emphasising the need to rethink and question many deeply held – but outdated – assumptions about working practices, families, culture and personal lives.

Reflections on the integration of paid work and the rest of life

Purpose – This mixed-method study aims to determine the extent to which the career paths of senior managers conform with the traditional versus protean elements described in the careers literature and whether these paths vary by gender. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 15 senior managers (seven women and eight men) in a large public sector agency in Australia were interviewed about their career trajectories to date. Data were coded according to four major areas which characterise and distinguish between traditional and protean careers: development, orientation of the employee, definition of success, and organisational environment. A total of 81 managers (34 women and 47 men) from the same organisation were also surveyed. Variables of interest were those that could be triangulated with qualitative data such as the availability of career opportunities. Findings – Results suggest that, contrary to much existing literature which proposes that all careers have been fundamentally altered, the traditional career which relies on length of service, geographic mobility and a steady climb up the corporate ladder, is still the dominant model in some organisations. However, the trend towards protean careers is evident and is more pronounced for women than for men. Research limitations/implications – The specific nature of the organisation (large, male-dominated, public sector) may limit the generalisability of results. Practical implications – The framework used to explore career paths according to traditional/ protean elements in this study may assist human resource practitioners to develop appropriate strategies which maximise the professional development of employees. Originality/value – The results of this research challenge the universality of change in the nature of careers, particularly in public sector environments.

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Have Traditional Career Paths Given Way to Protean Ones? Evidence from Senior Managers in the Australian Public Sector

With the Government promoting ﬂexible and ‘family-friendly’ policies within the NHS, an increase in the number of part-time nurses is imminent, particularly in view of current pro-active recruitment drives in this area. Research, however, indicates that it is mainly female employees who continue to utilise such policies with few male nurses employed on a part-time or ﬂexible basis. Working part-time and taking career breaks, usually because of caring commitments, results in female nurses falling behind male colleagues in terms of career development and promotion prospects, with managers selecting males over females (particularly those who work part-time) regarding functional role allocation in the hospital setting. Based on a recent study of full-time and part-time nurses and their managers in three Outer London NHS Trusts, this paper argues that so-called ‘family-friendly’ policies must target both sexes and that the underlying attitudes of men to childcare and the domestic division of labour must change before the sexes can compete on equal terms in the workplace. Until this happens men will continue to advance the development of their nursing careers more rapidly than women. Already, in a female-dominated area of employment, male nurses form a disproportionate percentage of those in higher grades and management posts.

'The tender trap': gender, part-time nursing and the effects of 'family-friendly' policies on career advancement

Managing part-timers in the police service: a study of inflexibility

Part‐time working has been traditionally associated with poor quality, low skill jobs in the secondary labour market. Explores the expansion of part‐time work into skilled occupations using case studies in nursing and the police. Employees in both services have pay and conditions wholly pro‐rated with full‐time colleagues. However, despite a potentially strong bargaining position in relation to the employer, these part‐timers had not achieved complete equality with full time counterparts. Demonstrates a breaking of the mould of poor quality part‐time jobs showing that better jobs can be worked on a part‐time basis. Concludes, however, that full equality is unlikely to be achieved without strategic intervention at the workplace level.

Olive Robinson

Papers

'The tender trap': gender, part-time nursing and the effects of 'family-friendly' policies on career advancement

Managing part-timers in the police service: a study of inflexibility

“Better” part‐time jobs? A study of part‐time working in nursing and the police

Lost opportunities? Organisational restructuring and women managers

Part-time working in the nursing profession