Corporate Corruption and the HRM Function: Legal, Ethical, and Moral Perspectives
February 12, 2025
HR Scorecard Aligns People, Strategy, and Performance Organizations consist of people who perform the needed work for them. Also, such work is determined by the strategies that the organizations plan for the year or quarter ahead. Thus, it can be said that while the organization strategizes, the people implement the strategy. In this context, there […]
Every organization expects its employees to behave sensibly, adhere to the rules and regulations and follow the codes of conduct. There has to be some ethics at workplace, where every individual is morally responsible for his/her own behaviour. Do not attend office just to receive your monthly paycheck. Yes, money is a strong motivating factor […]
A major percentage of employees find their work boring. Ask HR managers about employee engagement and they have only one answer: it is the biggest challenge that we are facing today. Days of huge increase in wages or salaries even in highly productive organisations have gone. It is unable to retain employees within the organisation […]
In our always on and uber networked age where 24/7 modes of working and being “on call” are the norm, it is indeed the case that unless working professionals learn to actualize a healthy balance between their professional and personal lives, there would be many consequences in terms of health, quality of personal relationships, and […]
The Double Whammy of Automation and Distractions Affecting the Workforce We live in an Age of Distraction and an Age of Automation. While there are enough distractions in the form of Smartphones, Social Media, and other cutting edge technology enabled devices and gadgets, we are also witnessing rapid automation of entire industries and verticals where […]
Flexible Working or Flex Work is defined as any working arrangement that involves remote work, telecommuting, part time and freelancing, and other forms of flexible working arrangements.
As the name implies, any sort of adaptable and flexible working arrangement between the employees and the employers falls under this category. In recent years, flex work has become hugely popular across the United States and even abroad for that matter.
Recent surveys indicate that nearly 30-40% of the overall workforce in the United States has some sort of flex work arrangement.
Moreover, some surveys also highlight the fact that nearly 20% of all employees who have quit during the last year and changed employers did so because they were denied flex work arrangements.
Indeed, given the fact that at the moment, the job market is booming in the US and record numbers of people are changing jobs, these numbers highlight how flex work is growing in popularity in absolute as well as relative terms.
Further, with the advent of the Gig Economy or the Freelancing Economy, the numbers of workers and professionals who label themselves as Flex Workers is growing by the day.
So, what is it that makes Flex Work so attractive to employees and employers as well? If we leave out freelancing and gig workers for the moment, we find that the rest of the forms of Flex Work such as Remote Work, Telecommuting, and Work from Home options are forms of work where the employee has greater Agency over his or her work.
In other words, offering employees the chance to work remotely or from home or for them to telecommute induces a certain control among such employees over their work.
Moreover, with the increasing number of women in Corporate America, Flex Work gives them the needed working arrangement to balance personal and professional commitments.
For instance, some corporates in the US are offering their women employees the option of an extended Maternity Leave period through remote work and work from home options wherein such women need not go on unpaid leave after their maternity leave is over.
Further, for women who are raising children on their own or for that matter, even along with their partners, it becomes easier for them if their working arrangement is flexible so as to enable them to lead more balanced lives.
Apart from these, there is another often overlooked dimension to the growing popularity of flex work. With most American cities and for that matter, most metropolitan regions worldwide being saturated, there is a push and a nudge from the governments of countries world over to incentivize corporates to setup their offices in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.
The reasoning behind this is that by doing so, they would be lessening the burden on the creaking and groaning infrastructure of the cities.
In this context, corporates who are reluctant to move Lock, Stock, and Barrel to such rural and semi urban areas can simply make their employees work remotely to ensure a Double Benefit of sparing the cities from overcrowding and at the same time, creating job opportunities for the other regional workers.
Indeed, this is the reason why some employers in India are now lobbying the government for tax breaks and subsidies for them to setup a presence in the Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities whereby they actualize flex work and onsite work in combination.
Another key benefit of Flex Work is that it enables MNCs (Multinational Corporations) to recruit professionals from anywhere and everywhere thereby ensuring business success.
Turning to the HR Strategies to deal with newer forms of working arrangements, it is indeed the case that corporates should devise a work from home, remote work, telecommuting work policy in the interests of the employees as well as their own.
For instance, there can be an arrangement where the Employer pays for Phone and Wi-Fi and Broadband access for the employees at their homes.
In addition, with most applications hosted on the Cloud, employees can login from anywhere and everywhere and anytime and every time.
Moreover, with the growing sophistication of Skype, Google Hangouts, and other forms of Video Conferencing, there is no reason for Corporates to not use such tools to enhance their virtual meetings and do away (at least partly) with physical presence in the office.
Indeed, the leading MNC IBM in the East Coast of the United States follows 100% Flex Work for some locations wherein employees are based in semi urban and county regions and work from home entirely.
This saves them money in terms of rent and other expenses that are skyrocketing in the cities and at the same times, lessens the load on the latter as far as the number of residents are concerned.
Lastly, when the world is becoming virtual thanks to accelerating technological advances, there is no reason why corporates should not embrace newer forms of working arrangements with their employees.
Indeed, it is for this reason alone that HR Managers must formulate flex work policies which save money for the corporates, the employees, and for the economy as a whole in addition to enhancing the efficiencies in economic terms.
Moreover, governmental incentives for flex work are increasing and hence, to conclude, with its many benefits as well as futuristic outlook, we believe that Flex Work is here to stay.
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