Research report 2011 flexible working job satisfaction & turnover intention

Flexible Working, Job Satisfaction & Turnover Intentions in Venezuela Yker E. Valerio Pinto Consultant in Organizational Development & Well-being. BSc. Psychology Dip. Social Psychology Universidad Central de Venezuela MSc. Work & Organizational Psychology Universidad de Nottingham Contacts E-mail yker.valerio@gmail.com Twitter @ykervalerio Linkedin 1 ykervalerio

Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported 2011.Report based in the Executive Summary of the Dissertation presented for the MSc. Work &Organizational Psychology, from the same autor, at the Institute of Work, Health & Organizations,University of Nottingham.The research made was supervised by Dr. Jonathan Houdmont and was part of the formal curricula forthe postgraduate course.A short presentation about the results and methodology of the study can be found here.Cover Image was created by Josep Novellas Montaner and used for this report under the terms ofCreative Commons Attributions-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic license. 2

BackgroundThe strategic role of Human Resource Management for organizations has been increasingly acknowledged worldwide. InVenezuela, many local companies acknowledge the importance of Human Resource Management and have made notableadvancements toward the development of better and safer workplaces for their employees. However, some of the mostinnovative HR policies are being implemented only by large multinationals as part of their corporate guidelines.In perspective, an increasing concern in Europe and the United States regarding work-life balance has been leading anintense debate about how to improve it. This debate has led to innovative developments in human resource policiesaddressing the improvement of work-life balance in order to improve the quality of employees’ lives. In context, theEuropean countries have been encouraging an active effort from organizations with stronger health and safety regulations,while in the United States flexible working arrangements has become one of the best ways to legitimise companies’ role asCorporate Citizens.In this regard, flexible working arrangements are one of the less used by local companies, even the largest ones. However,the lack of evidence produced in the Venezuelan context about the effectiveness of these programs might lead to cautionsince this kind of arrangements transfer an important range of control from the employer to the employees. However,studies realised around the world in other Latin American countries, Europe, Asia and the United States suggest that flexibleworking arrangements can improve organizational well-being leading to higher job satisfaction, lower turnover and 3

absenteeism. Moreover, in Venezuela, employees that enjoy the benefit of flexible working arrangements might consider it aprivilege, giving more ground to a higher satisfaction with their jobs and intention to stay with their companies.In the United Kingdom, Europe and the United States, the role of flexible working arrangements to retain highly skilled andexperienced employees has been recognised as the main reason to implement these policies. However, as the initiativesaddressed to improve the quality of life of employees can be considered part of the Corporate Internal Social Responsibilityefforts, the inclusion of employees that have a considerable need of the use of flexible working arrangements should beconsidered as well.Thus, although the impact of flexible working arrangements is promising we consider that Human Resource Managementshould take informed decisions based on evidence rather than simply trying to copy practices from another companies.Questions1. Are flexible working arrangements linked with higher levels of job satisfaction and lower levels of turnover intention?2. Are higher levels of job satisfaction associated with lower levels of turnover intention?Method 4

For this study we surveyed 54 full-time employees with permanent contracts in local and multinational companies. We usedtwo different questionnaires to measure job satisfaction and turnover intention. Additionally, we used two questionnaires tomap demographic information as gender, age and caring responsibilities as well as the availability and use of flexible workingarrangements. All data was collected using an online survey platform and all answers were anonymous, voluntary andconfidential.The sample was characterised by a majority of female employees, an average age around 30 years, with participants withages ranging from 22 to 53 years old. Additionally, more than a quarter of the participants were responsible of child care andmore than a tenth of taking care of an adult.ResultsThe data analysis shows that the availability and use of flexible working arrangements are related to higher levels of jobsatisfaction. Additionally, higher levels of job satisfaction are related to lower levels of turnover intention. However, theavailability and the use of flexible working arrangements are not related to lower levels of turnover intention.In terms of the sample, most participants showed high levels of job satisfaction, as well as relatively low levels of turnoverintention. Regarding the use of flexible working arrangements, the most used were flexi-time, zero hours contracts and timeoff in lieu. On the other hand, participants did not report any use of job sharing, annual hours and term-time. Interestingly, 5

we found that gender and caring responsibilities were not linked with the use of flexible working arrangements. However,age showed a relationship with the use of flexible working arrangements, with older employees reporting more frequently theuse of flexible working arrangements.ImplicationsThe results of the study suggest that the implementation of flexible working arrangements can improve the levels of jobsatisfaction of employees. This improvement might be associated with an improvement in the quality of life of employees,the increase of control over their jobs and their personal lives and the enjoyment of being part of an exceptional companywith an especial package of Human Resource benefits. However, flexible working arrangements are not a magical solution toprevent turnover. Our results suggest that although flexible working arrangements can improve job satisfaction, they are notpowerful enough to make dissatisfied employees to stay with their companies.RecommendationsThe importance of job satisfaction for organizations has been extensively studied. Our results show that the existenceevidence can be relevant for Venezuelan companies as well. In this regard, we suggest to monitor job satisfaction actively inorganizations in order to prevent turnover, as well as be benefited by other positive outcomes related with high levels of jobsatisfaction, as lower rates of absenteeism and healthier employees. 6

Moreover, the implementation of flexible working arrangements in an organisation requires the full support of managers. Inthis regard, if employees feel that they are putting their careers in risk they would not use flexible working arrangements,leading to a rather negative situation for the organisation or, more precisely, the worsening of a precarious relationshipbetween management and employees.Finally, the implementation of flexible working arrangements should not be led by business interests only. The increasinginterest in becoming legitimate Corporate Citizens should encourage the implementation of policies that can improve thequality of life of all employees, especially those that needed the most. In this regard, the beneficial outcomes of retaininghighly skilled and experienced talent within the organisation can be balanced by offering support to the most vulnerableemployees. 7

Research report 2011 flexible working job satisfaction & turnover intention

by Yker Valerio

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