CHAPTER 3 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK OF CAREER STRENGTH INDICATORS AND CAREER ENABLERS FOR FLEXIBLE WORKING

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1 51 CHAPTER 3 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK OF CAREER STRENGTH INDICATORS AND CAREER ENABLERS FOR FLEXIBLE WORKING 3.1 INTRODUCTION In previous chapter, the review of literature on factors influencing career choice, work force participation, flexible working arrangements and career strength indicators are presented. In this chapter, the conceptual framework of flexible working, career strength indicators, career enablers and relationship between career strength indicators and career enablers are presented. 3.2 FLEXIBLE WORKING The term flexible working has been used in a broad sense to cover a range of working patterns, including reduced hours, non-standard hours, various forms of remote working and compressed working time. The central feature of these work arrangements is that it is the employee, not the employer, who chooses the working arrangement, so-called flexibility for employees (Alis, et al., 2007) [112]. Growing interest in the use of flexible working practices have examined the various forms of flexible working practices and that have contributed to understanding of the outcomes for both individuals and organisations (Lee, et. al., 2002; Tietze and Musson, 2003)[ ] First, where employees are able to exercise choice over their working patterns, there is evidence to show a positive impact on job satisfaction (Hyman and Summers, 2004) [115]. Some studies have found higher levels of job satisfaction

2 52 (Baruch, 2000) [116] and increased autonomy (Kelliher and Anderson, 2008) [117] while others have found feelings of isolation impacting negatively on job satisfaction (Cooper and Kurland, 2002) [118]. Second, generally flexible workers report lower levels of strain and stress (Almer and Kaplan, 2002) [119]. Raghuram and Wiesenfeld (2004) report lower levels of stress for those who spend time working remotely [120], whereas others have identified new sources of stress and greater evidence of mental ill health than for those based at the workplace (Mann and Holdsworth, 2003) [121]. Third, studies that examine the relationship between work roles and non-work roles have found evidence of both conflict (Hammer, et. al., 2005) [122] and more positive effects, such as positive spillover and work family enrichment (Greenhaus and Powell, 2006)[123]. From an organisational perspective, there is also evidence of benefits brought about by the introduction of flexible working. These include increased productivity (Eaton, 2003)[124] above average financial performance and improvements in quality (Dex, et. al., 2001) [125] the ability to attract and retain valued employees (Rau and Hyland, 2002) [126], reduced absenteeism and greater employee loyalty and commitment. It is important to recognise, however, that while flexible working policies may ostensibly be about allowing employees some choice, in order to achieve a better work life balance, in practice this is not always the outcome. Critics of the work life discourse argue that the emphasis on choice and achieving balance implies control over life decisions and that these need to be seen in the context of the constraints of gender, workplace culture and norms (Lewis, et. al., 2007)[127]. There has also been criticism of the largely two-dimensional approach - that of work and home and it is argued that when other domains are taken into account, rather than having the best of both worlds, flexible workers may struggle to achieve a balance.

3 53 From a direct perspective, Golden (2001) observes that, in return for the opportunity to adopt flexible time schedules, workers are sometimes prepared to make sacrifices, such as changes to the timing or number of hours worked, even though they may entail costs to their leisure, compensation or predictability in the work week [128]. It may be that other flexible workers would also be prepared to make sacrifices in return for their flexible working arrangements, in the form of increased effort. To discharge this obligation they in turn must furnish some form of benefit to the supplier of the original benefit. It could be argued that for an employee, taking advantage of a flexible work option, a feeling of obligation towards the employer is generated. This might be in the form of a negotiated or reciprocal exchange (Molm, et. al., 1999) [129]. Reciprocal exchange occurs when actors provide benefits for others without any agreement, but an expectation of future benefits being available to them. Reciprocal exchange tends to be established over time in longer term relationships. Furthermore, a sense of obligation requiring the exercise of additional effort may extend to co-workers. Reduced hours or remote workers may find themselves working more intently in order to meet the expectations of their co-workers. There is evidence of co-worker satisfaction being negatively associated with the prevalence of teleworkers. Flexible workers, aware of a negative effect on co-workers, may feel the need to increase their effort in an attempt to ameliorate such reactions. Other evidence suggests that when workers who have reduced face time are proactively available to their work colleagues, this assists group performance and the success of reduced hours working. 3.3 CAREER STRENGTH INDICATORS The career strength indicators are the indicators to measure the performance and manage the various aspects of the careers of the professionals in the organisations. Each career strength indicator is impacted by one or several career

4 54 enablers who act as a means to deliver a positive impact on a woman s career (Corwin, et. al., 2001) [130]. The four key career strength indicators for women professionals are: Work-Life Balance Employee Engagement Growth Longevity Work-Life Balance Work life balance is a concept including proper prioritising between "work" (career and ambition) and "lifestyle" (health, pleasure, leisure, family and spiritual development/meditation). Related, though broader, terms include "lifestyle calm balance" and "life style choices" Employee Engagement Employee Engagement is a measurable degree of an employee's positive or negative emotional attachment to their job, colleagues and organization that profoundly influences their willingness to learn and perform at work. Thus engagement is distinctively different from employee satisfaction, motivation and organisational culture Growth Career growth" or "Job advancement" usually means a change from an entry level position to a job which has more duties and that receives more compensation. For example, a company which is large enough to allow a sequence of jobs: base worker to team leader to supervisor to vice president is a company which allows "career growth."

5 Longevity Longevity carries a clue to its definition because it contains the word "long." Longevity refers to a length of time and often, specifically, a long length of time. Career longevity means individual s long duration of life or length of service or tenure or amount of time spent in a given career in the organisatsion. 3.4 CAREER ENABLERS A career enabler is defined as a factor that provides support to an employee in the workplace and contributes to her professional development (Saundarya Rajesh and Karthik Ekambaram, 2012) [131]. The career enablers for women professionals are presented as below Self-Initiated Enablers Negotiating for flexible working at the workplace Re-skilling programs Appointing a non-family care giver at home Presence of family-member care giver at home Usage of day care services Organisation-Initiated Enablers Mentoring Skill-building programmes Flexi-working options Organisation provided crèche Inspiring/Supportive peer group

6 CAREER STRENGTH INDICATORS AND CAREER ENABLERS The workforce participation rate of women is influenced by the presence of the career strength indicators, which are in turn affected by the usage of career enablers. These career enablers work as catalysts of the career strength indicators and lead to the woman continuing her presence in the workforce. The relationship between career strength indicators and career enablers are presented in Table 3.1. Table 3.1 Career Strength Indicators And Career Enablers Career Strength Indicators Self-Initiated Enablers Organisation-Initiated Enablers Work-Life Balance Day Care Services, Flexible Working, Non Family Care Giver, Family Member Care Giver Flexi Working Policies, Supportive Peer Group, Organisation Sponsored Crèche Employee Engagement Flexible Working Mentoring, Supportive Peer Group, Flexi Working Policies Growth Skill Development Programmes, Family Member Care Giver, Flexibility Longevity Day Care Services, Flexible Working, Non Family Care Giver, Family Member Care Giver Mentoring, Skill Building Programmes Flexi-Working Policies, Organisation Sponsored Creche, Skill Building Programmes, Mentoring, Supportive Peer Group

7 OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS OF IMPORTANT CONCEPTS USED IN THE STUDY Career Strength Indicator (CSI) A set of 4 conditions that a woman professional seeks in her career which denotes that her career is work-life integrated with potential for growth and leadership and one that has probability of longevity. This will result in the woman displaying high employee engagement with her organisation Career Enabler(CE) A set of attributes which impact the career strength and enable a woman professional in navigating through her career successfully Flexible Working Arrangements (FWA) Flexible working arrangements refer to any means whereby an individual works flexibly Indian Women Professional (IWP) Indian Women Professional Refers to the Indian woman professional who works in white collar jobs in the Indian workplace Full-Time This refers to an individual working the full complement of 8 hours or 9 hours as applicable from the office premises Flexi-Time This refers to an arrangement whereby the individual works flexibly for the same number of hours, but has the option of varying the start/end time as also the

8 58 location of work (for eg, from home, from a remote location or from a designated third-party office) Part-Time This refers to an arrangement whereby an individual works either from home or within office premises, but works for a reduced number of hours. This could be 50 per cent or 60 per cent of the full-time working hours Flexi-Careers Careers which demonstrate one of three types of Flexibility: 1) Temporal or Time-led Flexibility, 2) Location or Place-led Flexibility and 3) Career or Skill-Led Flexibility Home based Non Family Care Giver A domestic help/maid who looks after the child/elder at home and also helps with domestic responsibilities of the woman Home based Family Member Care Giver A family member such as the parents or the parents-in-law of the employee who provides child care at home as well as helps with domestic responsibilities Day Care Services A facility in the care of which the employee can leave her child/children. This is arranged by the woman herself and is contrasted with a similar service provided by the organisation.

9 Organisation Provided Crèche A day-care/child-care center provided by the organisation either within the premises or outside the premises of the office Self -Initiated Skill Building Programmes Training/Developmental programmes initiated and paid for by the individual herself Women s Workforce Participation The workforce participation rate of women is the number of women in the workforce as a percentage of the resident civilian population aged 15 years and above. Individual participation choices can be influenced by a range of social and economic factors, including education and training, availability of childcare, workplace culture, workplace policies and procedures and employer attitudes. 3.7 CONCLUSION The conceptual frameworks of flexible working and its importance, career strength indicators, career enablers, relationship between career strength indicators and career enablers and operational definitions of important concepts used in the study have been briefly discussed.