Abstract
Balancing work and life circumstances have become a critical aspect of businesses today. This study provides the first investigation of two essential forms of flexible work arrangements, mainly the alternative work schedule and flexible workplace, and the relationship with job satisfaction. Drawing on Herzberg’s two-factor theory, spillover, and work-family enrichment theory, this study proposes that flexible work arrangements are positively related to job satisfaction. A final sample of 31,212 workers in the 28 EU Member States were utilized to test the interrelationships between alternative work schedule, flexible workplace, and job satisfaction; using data from the 6th European Working Condition Survey (2015). The research finds that the relationship between alternative work schedule and job satisfaction is positive. The relationship of a flexible workplace and job satisfaction is also positive. These findings emphasize the importance of different forms of flexible work arrangements to increase satisfaction on job-related aspects.
Keywords: flexible work arrangements, job satisfaction, alternative work schedule, flexible workplace.
Introduction
The economics of happiness has gained importance from many researchers such as economists, sociologists, psychologists and human resource managers. Job satisfaction as one of the outcomes of human resource management has been a subject of interest to human resource managers for many years (Ganzach, 1998). Today, it serves as one of the most challenging areas for managers to organize their employees in the new economy. Locke (1969) described job satisfaction as the result of a pleasing emotion from one’s job. Porter (1974) defined satisfaction as the extent to which job needs are fulfilled on the job, that the outcome provides things considered as being prominent. The importance of studying the field of economics of happiness is not far from understanding work and life circumstances. However, there has been little room for the academic literature to provide a comprehensive picture of different forms of work and life balance practices and its contributions to overall job satisfaction (Greenhaus, 2003).
Work-life balance has become a significant concern for businesses today, as there is an increasing number of women in the workplace and more dual-career families demanding flexibility in the workplace (Clark, 1997). As a consequence, diversity in the workforce drives the need for workers to balance work and non-work lives (Baral, 2010). Companies have introduced forms of innovative practices as a result of these changes, allowing employees to find a balance between work and life circumstances (Greenhaus, 2003). Clark (2000) states that work-family balance is a form of satisfaction resulting from a good cooperation between work and home. One of those important means of balancing work and other commitments is the notion of flexible work arrangements (Dex and Smith, 2002). Flexible work arrangements are the extent to which organizations give workers control over when, where, or how much is the amount they work (Kelly & Moen, 2007). Flexible work arrangements can potentially introduce considerable benefits of well-being, for both full or part-time work (Nikolova and Graham, 2014). Workplace Flexibility 2010 defines flexible work arrangement as a form of work structures that adjust to the time and place to get the work done. Three principal types of flexible work arrangements (FWA) are distinguished. These principles are flexibility in the scheduling of hours worked such as alternative work schedules (e.g., flextime and compressed workweeks) and arrangements regarding shifts and breaks; flexibility in the number of hours worked (e.g., part-time work); and flexibility in the place of work. In this research, I suggest to focus on two types of FWA: (a) alternative work schedule and (b) workplace flexibility. The latter concerns with working at home or at a satellite location, where workers can work away from the office, or known as telework. Whereas, the former describes alternative work schedules such as flextime and compressed work weeks. Flextime is the temporal measurement within the arrangements of parameters of work flexibility. A compressed work week is when the workers can set their start and finishing times, developing additional hours that they can take off later (Riedman et al., 2006).
Recently, the situation of the labor market in European Union such as Germany promotes such policy of flexible work arrangements namely flexible work hours, paid parental leave, and compressed weekly working hours (Plantenga, 2010). On the one hand, differences in the length of working time between European Member States exists, where policies and practices are not entirely the same across organizations (Eurofound, 2010). On the other hand, promoting the well-being of people in Europe is one of the principal aims of the European Union, set by the Treaty on European Union (Eurostat, 2015). Based on these facts, this research is the first to look at the different forms of flexible work arrangements and its relationship with the job satisfaction in European Union.
The research draws upon the Herzberg’s two-factor theory, spillover theory, and work-family enrichment theory (Herzberg, 2003; Edwards and Rothbard, 2000; Greenhaus and Powell, 2006), which will be discussed further in this paper. Based on these theories, this paper argues that workers who work under flexible work arrangements are positively related to job satisfaction. The research addressed the implementation of such HR policy, which can help HR managers to be aware of work conditions and reap the full benefits of job satisfaction. Data extracted from the sixth European Working Condition Survey (2015) of both employed and self-employed working class in the 28 EU member states. The data includes nations with the highest flexibility in the length of working time, least flexible, and working overtime in different workplaces. Nevertheless, there has been little evidence on the relationship of various forms flexible work arrangements on the job satisfaction in EU.
Therefore, the primary research question of this paper is, “How do flexible work arrangements relate to job satisfaction and why?”. The purpose of this study is to fill the gap on how alternative work schedule and flexible workplace relate to job satisfaction. Using the Multiple Linear Regression, the result of this study emphasizes the perceived impacts of distinct types of flexible work arrangements on job satisfaction.
THEORY AND HYPOTHESIS
Alternative Work Schedule and Job Satisfaction
In the past, typical career prospect was characterized by lifetime employment where an employee is obliged to work in a strict 40-hour per week. Mainly, regular working hours are between 8 a.m.-5 p.m. or 9 a.m.-6 p.m (Schimmack et al., 2014). Nevertheless, arrangements on employee working hours have been changing in recent years, where work time is adjusted to consider employee’s needs and being globally recognized by many organizations. Work flexibility is the type of supervision and control with employees (Plantenga, 2010). It can take many different forms. A flexibility in the scheduling of time allows an employee to work in hours that is not the same as usual companies’ start and stop time. There are two forms of flexible schedule of work, which are: 1. Alternative work schedules and 2. Arrangements regarding shifts and break. Alternative work schedules are any schedule of work which differs to the standard of work setting. Some examples of alternative work schedules are: (a) Flextime and (b) Compressed workweeks. Flextime are work plans based on worker needs within arrangements of parameters approved by a supervisor. For instance, a worker must work 40 hours for every week and be available regularly during the core hours and may for instance change their arrival and departure times as the worker wishes. Whereas in compressed work weeks, it enables employees to start early or and finish late, add up additional hours that they can take off later in the following week or month without a deduction in their salaries (Riedman et al., 2006).
One of the advantages of alternative work schedules can be the control employees have over their work routine. Employees who took an interest in the decision-making process of choosing a compressed workweek schedule revealed higher levels of satisfaction with the schedule (Latack and Foster, 1985). Furthermore, recent studies have shown that work time arrangements and approach of management to its adjustments has a significant influence on employees’ satisfaction and motivation (Mur et al., 2003).
Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene theory stated that there are factors in the work environment that cause job satisfaction and dissatisfaction. The two-factor theory or Herzberg's motivation-hygiene theory distinguished motivators and hygiene factors. Motivation factors emerge from the presence of job characteristics that leads to worker satisfaction at work. Whereas in hygiene factors, dissatisfaction at work arises from another separate set of job characteristics, such as when flexible work time arrangement is missing (Herzberg, 2003). According to this theory, the form of alternative work schedule determines hygiene factors where they make workers feel comfortable. It can also make them happy when there is a motivating influence (Mur et al., 2003). When they are missing, it causes a severe dissatisfaction. Working overtime can disturb the personal life of an employee. Whereas employees that have alternative work schedule allows them to care for children or elderly and eliminate dissatisfaction. Such family-supportive work environment helps employee to integrate work and family life (Allen, 2001). This trend of changing working hours and job may result in providing employees work satisfaction.
Baltes et al., (1999) conducted an initial meta-analysis examination of 31 studies where they investigated the effects of flexible and compressed work schedules on work-related outcomes. The results included productivity, job satisfaction, and satisfaction with the work plan. They found positive relationship regarding the flexible and compressed workweek schedules to the findings of work-related job satisfaction (Baltes et al., 1999). It is expected that employees working under alternative work schedule are more satisfied with their jobs than working under rigid time arrangement. Therefore, this research proposes that alternative work schedule is positively related to job satisfaction.
Hypothesis 1: Alternative work schedule is positively related to job satisfaction
Flexible Workplace and Job Satisfaction
A flexible work arrangement includes flexibility in the place of work, such as working at home or a satellite location. This type of work arrangement is commonly known as telework or housework, where employees arrange their working time by themselves. There are two types of flexible workplace according to Workplace flexibility (2010): (a) Telework/Home work (b) Telework/Satellite Location. For home work, workers work remotely from their own particular homes, utilizing media communications associated with the working environment. For satellite area, workers work remotely from an assigned satellite work center.
The outcome from a flexible place of work can be interpreted using Spillover Theory. Spillover is a procedure whereby experiences in a single part influences experiences in the other. The spillover approach suggests that work and non-work domains are related to each other as that the two areas can have a positive or negative (enthusiastic or behavioral) impact on the other. For example, happiness or sadness during work leads to happiness or depression at home and vice versa. Edwards and Rothbard (2000) mentioned that there are two interpretations of spillover. Those are (a) the positive relationship amongst life and job satisfaction and life and work esteem and (b) the transfer of skills and behaviors between areas, for instance, when burnout experienced from work transferred at home or when family demands hamper work demands (Zedeck, 1992). When both work and family roles conflicts, employees may encounter trouble to discover the balance between the two. A person’s fatigue in one role may have an adverse effects on his or her performance in the other role (Greenhaus, 2006). On the other hand, those who can balance the demands from these two critical areas may experience prominent levels of job satisfaction and general well-being (Greenhaus, 2006). Ferris, M., & Martinson (2003) mentioned spillover theory and stated that the conditions of spillover between work and family responsibility are favorable when workplace flexibility enables individuals to incorporate work and family responsibilities. Therefore, the need to have flexible workplace is especially critical in reducing the adverse spillover effect.
Another theory explaining the work-life balance is ‘Work-Family Enrichment’ (WFE) theory, which emphasizes an extension of the spillover theory, specifically the positive spillover effect. Greenhaus and Powell (2006) define work-family enrichment as the degree to which experiences in a single part enhance the personal satisfaction and quality of life in the other part, and confirmed that employees see that their work and life roles advance each other. Morris and Madsen (2007) refer enrichment theory to the extent to which experiences from instrumental sources namely skills, capabilities, and values; or useful sources such as mood, flexibility, and fulfillment improves the quality of the other area. Thus, the quality of life can be captured by superior performance and positive impact. Employees that are treated favorably by the organization feel obligated to respond positively, increasing their satisfaction in response to their job. Lambert (2000) stated that the existence of work practices to assist employees with managing their responsibilities at home might increase their attitude toward organizational support. Employees that can balance between work and family roles improve their life outcomes which in turn lead to good work outcomes (Zedeck and Mosier, 1990).
Analysis of literature suggests that flexible workplace has been a matter of concern which led to employee job satisfaction, happier, and more productive employees in their workplace (Grzywacz, 2000). In fact, higher positive spillover between work and family is associated with higher job satisfaction (Grzywacz, 2000). Therefore, this study proposes that flexible workplace is positively related to job satisfaction.
Hypothesis 2: Flexible Workplace is positively related to job satisfaction
To conclude the discussion, Figure 1 presents a conceptual model of this research.
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RESEARCH METHODS
Sample Selection and Data Description
This research obtained data from the sixth European Working Condition Survey (EWCS) in 2015. The questionnaire was delivered in thirty-two different languages. The EWCS is directed at a regular interval, conducted every five years among the working population in Europe. Because the questionnaire was already launched since 1990, it provides a comprehensive overview of the working conditions for both employed and self-employed working class. The information was gathered through a large number of questionnaire-based, personal meetings in the national language of the country. The fundamental purpose of the EWCS is to give a broad picture of the daily working life of workers in Europe in many sectors. Furthermore, the survey identifies the relationships between different aspects of working conditions and related business issues. In the 6th release of the EWCS, workers from 28 EU Member States, the five EU candidate countries (Norway, Switzerland, Albania, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Turkey) were interviewed between February and September of 2015 with an overall response rate of 42.5% (Eurofound, 2017).
The target population was made up of workers aged 15 or older who were in employment and worked for at least one hour in the week on a paid or profit premise at the time the surveys were provided. The essential sample can be depicted as a multi-stage, stratified and random sample of the working population in every nation. The actual sample size was around 1,000 in most nations. The aggregate sample estimate for the 6th EWCS in every one of the 35 countries are 43,850 interviews (Eurofound, 2017).
For this research of secondary data analysis, the subsample was limited to 28 EU member states. This representative nations in the EU made this wave of the EWCS the most precise data, which appears to be the critical aspect of this research. Especially with regards to the geographic coverage and the overall pattern of flexibility in the length of working time. Platenga (2010) suggested that when looking at the whole trend of the flexibility of working time, it appears that Austria, UK, and The Netherlands have the highest score in the flexibility of working time. The least flexible countries are Portugal and Hungary. Hence, the 28 EU countries selected for the most optimal sample of reference for this research. The final sample sizes were 31,212 participants from the EWCS that complies with the prerequisite of the chosen subsample.
Due to the differences in the responsibilities, gender (female=0; male=1), age, level of education, and employment status (full time=0; part time=1) were included in the analysis as the control variables. The participants consisted of 49% male and 51% female (SD = .50) with the average age of 43 (SD = 11.85; N = 31,212). The level of education of the participants varied from primary education (M = .04; SD = .186), secondary education (M = .54; SD = .498) and tertiary education (M = .42; SD = .494). The participants consisted of .20 full-time workers (SD = .398) as indicated by their employment status.
Measures
Job Satisfaction
Job satisfaction is described as a pleasurable or positive enthusiastic state because of the assessment of one’s job or employment experiences (Locke, 1969). Job satisfaction was measured with a single-item measure on a four-point scale, ranging from 1 “Not at all satisfied” to 4 “Very satisfied.” One measurement of job satisfaction is known as the physical and social working conditions (Theodossiou & Vasileiou, 2008). The single-item measuring job satisfaction is “On the whole, are you very satisfied, satisfied, not very satisfied or not at all satisfied with working conditions in your main paid job?”. It is difficult to measure the reliability of a single-item measure, due to only one item used on this scale.
Alternative Work Schedule
Alternative work schedules are forms of schedule which are different to the standard of work setting (Workplace flexibility 2010, 2006). In flextime, workers can set their start and finishing times, adapt their own work times and manage work flexibility (Riedman et al., 2006). As they have flexibility, work hours may be said to fit with their commitments outside of work (Allen, 2001).
Seven items were used to assess alternative work schedule. The sample questions are “Does your working time arrangements set by yourself?” (0 = “No” 1 = “Yes”). “Does your working hours fit in with commitments outside work?” (0 = “No” 1 = “Yes”). One re-coded item is “You found that your job prevented you from giving the time you wanted to your family?” (0 = “Yes, my job prevent my time” 1 = “No”). The internal consistency of the scale was high with Cronbach’s Alpha of .625. Griethuijsen et al. (2015) described the acceptable values of alpha is 0.70 or 0.60. It implies that the items used to measure alternative work schedule was reliable.
Flexible Workplace
Telecommuting or telework is a form of flexible work arrangement. Employees perform assignments somewhere else that are usually done in the focal working environment, utilizing electronic media to connect with others inside and outside the organization (Baruch, 2000). Flexible workplace indicates that workers can have the flexibility to manage their responsibilities at home, while also fulfilling their work duties. Therefore, workers can take a break freely when they have the flexibility to work at home.
Six items are used to assess flexible workplace. The sample items are “Does your working time arrangements set by yourself?” (0 = “No” 1 = “Yes”). “Since you started your main paid job, have you worked in your own home?” (0 = “No”, 1 = “Yes”). “During your work, can you take a break when you wish?” (0 = “No”, 1 = “Yes”). “Would you say that for you arranging to take an hour or two off during work to take care of personal matters is easy?” (0 = “No”, 1 = “Yes”). The internal consistency of the scale satisfies the threshold with Cronbach’s Alpha of .601. This indicates that the items in flexible workplace measure the same construct consistently.
Control Variables
Six control variables that are being used in this research are gender, age, employment status, primary education, secondary education, and tertiary education. First, prior research indicates that gender differences can influence job satisfaction. On the other hand, while it has been said that there are different jobs and work values that men and women do, the findings have been inconsistent as a result of changing traditional gender roles. Clark (1997) suggested that female employees have higher job satisfaction than male. Gender differences in responses to job satisfaction indicate a difference in the well-being. A dummy variable was created for gender (0 = “female”, 1 = “male”). Second, studies about job satisfaction show that age differs in their level of job satisfaction. One of the studies revealed that the positive association between career opportunities and job satisfaction was much stronger for younger employees than for the older counterparts (Boumans et al., 2012).
Third, previous research suggested that employment status can affect job satisfaction. A dichotomous variable was provided to determine employment status (0 = “full time,” 1 = “part-time”). Scholars suggested that part-timers had greater job satisfaction and lower intention to quit (Wotruba, 1990). Lastly, scholars suggested that education level might influence job satisfaction. The arrangement of education and training will trigger an increase in professionalism and thus increase job satisfaction (Wright and Davis, 2003). The scale for measuring education is ranging from primary, secondary and tertiary education (0 = “No,” 1 = “Yes”). Primary education includes early childhood education and primary education. Secondary education comprises lower secondary education and upper secondary education. Tertiary education includes post-secondary non-tertiary education, short-cycle tertiary education, bachelor or equivalent, master or equivalent and doctorate or equivalent.
Data analysis
In 2015, the sixth edition of the EWCS, nearly 44,000 participants took part in the survey in 35 countries. The data of this research was integrated into the statistical program IBM SPSS Statistics 24 (IBM Corp., 2016) to create a subsample based on the 28 EU Member States in all sectors.
First, the sample was filtered in the data. The sample was reduced to only EU 28 countries, and a subsample of 31,212 was created. Second, all chosen items were re-coded to match the measured concepts and were standardized. The result of the re-coded items, the z-scores, was created to integrate different scales of elements and which is comparable to each other. Third, the three variables were created by choosing matching items from the questionnaire survey to test their internal consistency using a reliability test based on Cronbach’s alpha. Table 1 presents the means and standard deviations that indicates the average and spread of the values of the variables.
Fourth, bivariate correlation analysis with all three variables was performed to check the correlation of each variable. Fifth, the assumptions for regression analyses were tested, specifically on multiple linear relationships. Finally, several multiple linear regression analyses were done to identify the interrelationships between the single concepts. The idea is to build models with several explanatory variables (Adams et al., 2007). Using this Multiple Regression Analysis, regressing the impact of alternative work schedule and flexible workplace on job satisfaction.
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RESULTS
Table 1 presents the descriptive statistics such as the number of observations, means, standard deviations, and correlations. In the previous section, we proposed that gender, age, level of education (primary, secondary and tertiary education) and employment status are the control variables in the analysis. However, only employment status, primary education, secondary education and tertiary education had a significant correlation with job satisfaction. The other control variables mentioned earlier were not shown in the results of the of this study.
As shown in Table 1, alternative work schedule is positively associated with job satisfaction (coef.est. = .275, p<.05). Thus, an alternative work schedule is associated with higher job satisfaction. Flexible workplace is positively associated with job satisfaction (coef.est. = .172, p<.05). Thus, a higher level of job satisfaction is associated with a flexible workplace.
Regarding the control variables, gender does not have a significant correlation with job satisfaction (coef.est. = -.005, ns). Age does not have a significant correlation with job satisfaction (coef.est. = -.004, ns). Employment status is negatively correlated with job satisfaction (coef.est. = -.011, p<.1). It means that full-time workers are less satisfied with their jobs than part-time workers. Concerning primary education, the result is found to have negative correlation with job satisfaction (coef.est. = -.045, p<.05). Workers with primary education are less satisfied with their jobs than workers whose education level is not primary education. Secondary education is negatively correlated to job satisfaction (coef.est. = -.076, p<.05). It implies that workers with secondary education are less satisfied with their jobs than workers whose education level is not secondary education. Tertiary education is positively correlated with job satisfaction (coef.est. = .094, p<.05). It implies that workers with tertiary education are more satisfied with their jobs than workers whose education level is not tertiary education.
Variance Inflation Factor (VIF) is also performed. There is no multicollinearity problem as indicated by the Variance Inflation Factor (VIF) value which was less than five, for each tested independent variables (O’Brien, 2007). Assumptions for the analyses were met. Conceptual model in this study is present in Figure 1 (See Figure 1). The results of the analysis are present in Table 2. In general, all the models had a significant F-statistic which implies all the regression models as a whole had a statistically significant predictive capability. R-squared and adjusted R-squared are also present in Table 2 to show the goodness of fit of the model. Model 3 had the highest R-squared with the value of .107. This means that alternative work schedule and flexible workplace explained 10.7% of the variation of job satisfaction.
Regression Analysis
The first regression analysis investigates the first hypothesis on the relationship between alternative work schedule and job satisfaction (Model 1). The first hypothesis is confirmed (B = .284, p<0.01). Workers who work under alternative work schedule are on average .284 points more satisfied with their jobs compared to workers who do not work under alternative work schedule, ceteris paribus.
The second regression analysis investigates the relationship between flexible workplace and job satisfaction (Model 2). The second hypothesis is confirmed since the relationship of the flexible workplace is positively related with job satisfaction (B = .170, p<0.01). It implies that workers who work in a flexible workplace are on average .170 points more satisfied with their jobs compared to workers who do not work in flexible workplace, ceteris paribus.
The third regression analysis tests the two hypotheses on the relationship between alternative work schedule, flexible workplace and job satisfaction (Model 3). The results indicate that alternative work schedule has a positive relationship with job satisfaction. (B = .271, p<0.01). Therefore, workers who work under alternative work schedule are on average .271 points more satisfied with their job compared to those who do not work under alternative work schedule, ceteris paribus. Furthermore, results indicate that flexible workplace is positively related to job satisfaction (B= .142, p<0.01). Workers who work in a flexible workplace are on average .142 points more satisfied with their jobs compared to workers who do not work in a flexible workplace, ceteris paribus.
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DISCUSSION
This research aimed to identify the relationship between alternative work schedule, flexible workplace and job satisfaction. The findings indicate that the first hypothesis is supported. Alternative work schedule does have a positive relationship with job satisfaction. This finding is in line with recent studies indicating that alternative work schedule has a positive relationship with job satisfaction based on Herzberg’s two-factor theory. Furthermore, the second hypothesis is also confirmed. Flexible workplace is positively related to job satisfaction. This finding is supported by theories such as the spillover theory and work-family enrichment theory (Edwards and Rothbard, 2000; Greenhaus and Powell, 2006).
Theoretical Contribution
Past research identified that alternative work schedule relates to job satisfaction (Baltes et al., 1999). Alternative work schedules such as flextime and compressed work weeks have become increasingly popular. Flextime and compressed workweeks offer many potential benefits to the organization. The Herzberg Two factor theory stated that the flexible time arrangement determines hygiene factor. This study took a step forward, and contributes to the literature by explaining that workers can have a motivating influence when they are facilitated with flexibility in the scheduling of work. Thus, motivation factors increased workers job satisfaction.
Our research contributes to the literature, by showing that not only one type of flexible work arrangements that increase job satisfaction but also other forms of FWA. According to the spillover theory, work and non-work aspects are associated with each other. Edwards and Rothbard (2000) described that flexible workplace allows individuals to balance work and outside commitments and achieve a positive spillover effect, which then leads to higher job satisfaction. It is also consistent with the research of Greenhaus and Powell (2006) stated that work-family enrichment theory indicates work and life roles enhance each other. When workers can work remotely from their homes or by utilizing media electronic to do the work, they can take care of personal or family matters. Workers can improve their work outcomes, increasing their satisfaction with their jobs. Based on the result, this study managed to show that flexible workplace is also an indicator that increases job satisfaction.
Regarding the level of education, the result of the study suggests that a higher level of education increases the professionalism, and hence increasing job satisfaction (Wright and Davis, 2003). Therefore, this study showed that lower level of education has an adverse impact on job satisfaction. Moreover, employment status has demonstrated that part-time workers have higher job satisfaction compared to full-time workers. Also, this provides evidence to the previous study which stated that part-time workers had a higher level of job satisfaction because they can adapt to work flexibility (Wotruba, 1990).
Managerial Implication
Managers must consider some issues when deciding on the work schedule and flexible place of work. The use of flexible work arrangements is related to a decrease in turnover, absenteeism, commuting costs, and employee stress for the employee and is positively related to job satisfaction (Ko et al., 2013). The benefits of alternative work schedules include the control that employees have on their schedule of work.
Hence, this study found that there is a positive impact on different forms of flexible work arrangements on the job satisfaction. Alternative work schedules such as flextime and compressed workweek found to have a stronger indication of higher job satisfaction. Whereas another form of flexible work arrangement, flexible workplace, found to be a positive indicator of job satisfaction, but the result was weaker than alternative work schedule. A possible explanation is that, despite the potential benefits of a flexible workplace, adverse consequences may appear. Such as worker exhaustion and interrupted sleep (Havlovic, 2002). Hawthorne effects can clarify this mixed outcome. Subsequently, according to previous research, outcome improvement was found during the first years of the introduction of work flexibility but was not seen in the following years (Kauffeld, 2004).
Therefore, depending on the issues addressed within the company, managers can decide on which forms of flexible work arrangements that are of great importance to increase workers’ job satisfaction. As an example, such practical implications can be in the public sector, where workers can decide on their work arrangements. By carefully discussing these issues, managers may be much more successful in selecting a work schedule for their company that emphasizes on balancing work and life circumstances.
Limitations
This research indicated that distinct forms of flexible work arrangement have a positive impact on the job satisfaction. In addition, this study of the types of FWA was limited in the previous researchers. However, there are several limitations of this study that could be further improved in the future research. Several limitations of the survey and the data collected thus need to be taken into consideration.
First, regarding the data, answers by the participants cannot be validated. As the questionnaire involved some complexity of conditions such as different interpretations of the data based on the countries according to the EWCS survey (Eurofound, 2010). Second, the study includes only 28 EU member states which utilized as the representatives of the sample in this research. It may cause difficulties in determining whether the sample genuinely represent the effects of the variables studied in this research.
Third, the questions in the EWCS regarding alternative work schedule and flexible workplace were somewhat limited. Hence, additions to questions regarding FWA could be added in the next wave of the EWCS. Fourth, FWA is not limited to alternative work schedule and workplace flexibility. There are several other forms of FWA mentioned in many studies, but this research focused on only the two essential kinds of FWA.
Future Research
Regarding future research, the EWCS data could provide additional questionnaires on flexible work arrangements. The validated questionnaires of EWCS could be used to measure the accurate internal consistency of the items used for the intended variables. It could results in more specific research for the future study. It could also be a subject of interest to study the other forms of flexible work arrangements.
This study addresses the importance of FWA and discusses specific theories in general. On the other hand, it could be a subject of interest to investigate particular targets such as working mothers or working parents. In the sense that their demands of flexible work practices might be different to the younger workers.
Conclusion
Today’s business environment has demanded a greater need for flexible work. The ever-increasing need for work flexibility as a result of workforce diversity and dual-career families has been a subject of concern for many organizations. Balancing work and life circumstances give contributions to job satisfaction, such as when allowing individuals to take care of their duties outside work and achieve greater productivity. This research covered two types of flexible work arrangements in the European Union context. The study suggests that when different types of flexible work arrangements are present at work, workers are more satisfied with their jobs compared to those without work flexibility. The result of this study indicates that alternative work schedule has a positive relationship with job satisfaction. Workers working in a flexible workplace is also positively related to job satisfaction. Given previous research that flexible work arrangements are related to job satisfaction, the result of this research has given a further explanation that different forms of flexible work arrangements have a positive impact on the job satisfaction.