Flexible Work Initiatives, Employee Workplace Well-Being, and Organizational Performance

Abstract

This chapter presents a review of intervention studies that examine the simultaneous impact of flexible work initiatives on both employee workplace well-being and organizational performance. We specifically focus on flexible work initiatives that change where (physical boundaries) and/or when (temporal boundaries) employees work (Thompson RJ et al, J Occup Organ Psychol 88:726–749, 2015). Examples include teleworking (spatial flexibility), compressed workweeks (temporal flexibility), and flexible work elements of new ways of working (time-spatial flexibility). We exclude initiatives that focus on contractual flexibility such as contract type and part-time work (cf. Joyce K et al, Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2:CD008009, 2010). As flexible work practices are often part of a more comprehensive set of human resource management (HRM) practices, we make use of the broader HRM literature to better understand the effects of flexible work practices on well-being and performance. In particular, we draw from three competing perspectives – the optimistic, pessimistic, and skeptical perspective (Peccei R, Human resource management and the search for the happy workplace. Inaugural address. Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), Rotterdam, 2004) – which consider whether human resource practices result in mutual gains for the organization and the employee or whether conflicting outcomes occur (Guest D, Hum Resour Manag J 27:22–38, 2017; Peccei R, Human resource management and the search for the happy workplace. Inaugural address. Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), Rotterdam, 2004; Van De Voorde K et al, Int J Manag Rev 14:391–407, 2012). Inspired by these approaches, our central review question is: “What type of organizational and employee gains, if any, are attained and what type of organizational and employee losses, if any, are incurred through the implementation of flexible work initiatives?” We discuss the key benefits and problems associated with flexible work initiatives in relation to organizational performance and well-being at work and the role the nature of flexible work initiatives plays in this relationship.