LoginPage 1: Introduction
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Today's working world is dramatically different from that of the past. Charles Handy in his book, The Future of Work (1984), warned that the old patterns of work were breaking down and that new ways of working were on their way. He was right. Handy believed that modern organisations need to be flexible so that they can adapt quickly to the changing pressures that they face.
Advances in...
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Page 2: Business activity
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Those who work for an organisation need to know where they are going. This is often expressed in a mission statement.
The mission of the Audit Commission is 'to be a driving force in the improvement of public services. We promote good practice and help those responsible for public services to achieve better outcomes for citizens, with a focus on those people who need public services...
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Page 3: Types of employment
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The Audit Commission is regularly faced with changing employment needs. A number of different patterns of employment have been developed to meet these needs. These include:
full-time employees
part-time employees
job-sharing arrangements
permanent and fixed term posts
the use of temps or contractors from agencies.
These different contracts help the Audit Commission to cope with all of...
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Page 4: The benefits of managing a flexible workforce
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For regular homeworking to take place, it has to be appropriate to the working needs of the Audit Commission. An employee wanting to work from home has to apply to do so. He or she must show managers how their work from home would affect customers, colleagues and the people they manage or work with.
After the homeworking arrangement is set up, it is regularly reviewed. This monitors its...
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Page 5: Problems with homeworking
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Homeworking clearly involves an element of trust. The challenge is to keep everybody informed about what is happening within the business. The intranet has a key role in doing this.
There are several problems associated with homeworking but the Audit Commission has worked hard at minimising the effects of these on its staff. The main ones are:
Not mixing with colleagues. Individuals may lose...
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Page 6: Conclusion
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In a competitive environmentchange is considered normal.
Organisations have to be flexible.This flexibility involves looking at the workforce and workforce practices to identify new and better ways of responding to these different needs.
Sometimes flexibility involves employing individuals with different sorts of contracts. Flexibility also involves staff developing a wider variety of skills...
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