Inflexible Working Hours For Men: A Detrimental Issue For Women's Career

You are to write a business report

1. Providing a brief summary of the news story;

2. Identifying the key human resource issues raised and discussing them in relation to relevant concepts, frameworks and theories from the Unit; and

3. Making recommendations for the future.

The Importance of Human Resource Management

The human resource management of the organization looks after different aspects related to the employees in the organization. The primary objective of human resource management look after the well-being of the employees working in the organization. Apart from this, there are many roles and responsibilities that are played by the human resource management of different organizations and they are recruitment and selection, solving the grievances among the employees, improving communication in between the employees and drafting employee friendly and employee effective norms and principles in the organization. In this report, one of the major issues related to human resource management will be discussed. Through some reports and research it has been found out that, inflexible working hours for males is detrimental to a women’s career. All through the report various case studies and discussed will be done on the topic mentioned. In addition to this, some recommendations and suggestions will be provided to encounter the prevailing situation. 

Inflexible working hours for men is an alarming issue for a women’s career. Often the problem of inflexible working hours for men creates a barrier for the women to climb up the corporate ladder and become successful in the professional domain (Colbert, 2014). Most of the organizations in Australia and other parts of the world do not practice flexible working hours for the male employees. They are asked to work in strict hours. This possess a great problem for the women. In case of when the women bears a child, she has to remain indoors to the maternal care (ABC News, 2018). Often she quits works as the husband do not get parental leaves and flexible working hours to look after the child. In the present scenario, more organizations are coming up and are supporting the issue of flexible working hours for men as well. Niki Vincent who is the Commissioner for Equal Opportunity in South Australia, said that just because women has to bear the lion portion of child care they are unable to return to work. According to her, the need of the hour is to have flexible working hours for men as well. However, most of the organizations do not practice it. In South Australia and in other parts of the country too, there are provisions for flexible working hour practices for the female employees. But, there are no such provisions for male employees in the organization. Men working in flexible hours still have a stigma attached to it (Armstrong & Taylor, 2014).

The Negative Impact of Inflexibility on Women

In Australia, the National Equal Pay Day falls on 31 August and this day has escalated this issue on the fore front. In Australia, before the ending of the financial year, the women employees have to work for 2 months extra in order to achieve equal pay as their male counterpart. On an average in a week men earn $244 more than the female employees and this highlighted the national pay gap in the country. The national pay gap in the country is 14.6%.  According to Dr Vincent, if men are provided with flexible working hours, it will have a positive effect on the pay gap among the men and the women. Women has potential equal to that of men. When equal opportunities are given to them, they can be positioned at leadership roles and managerial roles in various organization (Collings, Wood & Szamosi, 2018).

The problem of inflexibility in the working hours for men, is a serious threat for a women’s career. In addition to this, pay gap increases and there is inequality in the professional workplace. Paternal care is as important as maternal care and it is high time that the organizations and the human resource management to consider this fact. Paternal care helps strengthen the bond between the child and the father. According to some researchers it has been found out that flexible working hours for men will boost up the women’s career (Brewster & Hegewisch, 2017). Deloitte is an organization that grants parental leave on special request. This trend should be followed in the other companies as well.

According to the reports discussed above, two key issues have been identified in this assignment. One is the pay gap between the men and the women in the working sector and inflexible working hours for men in the different organization (Brewster, Chung & Sparrow, 2016). Both the issues needs to be handled by the human resource department of the organization. Unequal pay among the men and the women in the organization is detrimental to the motivation with which women employees work in the organization. It makes the women employees think that they are not getting the worth of the activities they are performing. In addition to this, inflexible working hours for the men often makes women quit their job in order to take care of the little ones. It has been noticed that, due to inflexibility among the working hours for the men, the women has to bear all the burden of family responsibilities (Reiche et al., 2016). This issue should be carefully judged by the human resource department of the organization and some rules needs to be drafted regarding it. Apart f)rom this, it has been noticed that, women employees are not given promotions equally when compared to the men in the workplace. The human resource manager have to understand the fact that flexible working hours for the men will help women give greater concentration in their professional life (Wiley Direct, 2018).

The Need for Flexible Working Hours for Men

Some human resource managers draft employee friendly policies on their own by evaluating the prevailing situations in the organization. Other managers in the human resource management take ideas from relevant frameworks and theories (Reiche, Harzing & Tenzer, 2018). One of the most potential theories of the human resource management is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. This model or theory is an effective one to increase the motivation of the employees in the workplace. The model is divided into five parts and each part talks about fulfilling the needs and demands of the employees in the organization. It is very important to understand that meeting the demands of the employees is require in the organization. There are five kinds of needs of the employees in the organization (Tichy, 2018). The needs of the employees are physiological needs, safety needs, love and belonging, esteem and self-actualization. The issue that has been talked about in this report belongs to the tier of love and belonging. This is an important fact for employee motivation and retention in the organization. The implementation of flexible working hours for the employees in the organization will increase love and belonging in them towards their family members as well as their organization. It is important for the human resource managers to understand the fact that motivated employees cater to the objectives of the organization in a better way (Noe et al., 2011). Therefore, when organizations will draft employee-friendly policies it will help in the growth of the employees as well as the organization.

In this matter other relevant theories will also help in curbing the situation that has been mentioned above. The human resource managers needs to be very efficient in solving the grievances of the employees in the organization (Armstrong & Lorentzen, 2016). Providing flexible working hours to the male employees in the organization will help them in gaining motivation. The male employees will also think that the organization thinks about them and their family life as well. Therefore, it is high time for the managers to understand the positive outcomes of flexible working hours.

The human resource management should take up the concept of flexible working hours for men very seriously. All the employees in the organization should equally treated. When there is pay gap in the organizations, it impacts the productivity of the employees in the organization. Organizations all over Australia, should develop flexible working practices for the male employees. The correct steps need to be designed and implemented by the human resource management of the organization (Schuler & Jackson, 2015). In order to design policies, the human resource management has to understand the importance of paternal care in care giving among the children. Flexible working policies can help solve this problem. Some recommendations for the problem discussed above are as follows:

The Role of Human Resource Managers in Designing Employee-Friendly Policies

The human resource department should enable flexible working hours for both men and women in the organization. This will help the women employees have a better career without compromising of the care provided to the children. These flexible policies should equal for men as well as the women employees in the organization. After childbirth, and till one year men should be provided with flexible working hours. This will make them provide primary care to their children. Giving out primary care often strengthens the bond between the father and the children. It is equally important for the human resource management monitor the fact that the routine of flexible hours should not be misused by the male employees working in the organization (Wright & Snell, 2013). Flexible working hours will make parents share their duties regarding their child. When this step is implemented, it will be of a great boost to the career of the women. It is important for the human resource managers to understand the fact that women are as potential as men are in the workplace. Therefore, not giving women equal opportunities in the workplace will hamper the economic growth of the country (Delery & Doty, 2016).

Equal promotions should be granted to men and women in the organization. This will help women to stay motivated in the organization and be more productive in their professional life.

Conclusion

In this assignment, many roles and responsibilities of the human resource department have been highlighted. In addition to this, a grave issue like inflexible working hours for men and its impact on the women’s career have also been highlighted. It is high time for the human resource managers to understand the importance of flexible working hours of men regarding parental care and responsibility sharing. It is important for the human resource managers to implement some theories and models in the organization so that policies can be drafted easily for the benefit of the organization. Flexible working hours for men will help women to excel in the professional life without compromising on the care for the children. The human resource department for various organizations should follow flexible working hours and practices for men and initiate equal pay and recognition to the male and the female employees.

References

ABC News. (2018)Could men's inflexible working arrangements be damaging the career prospect of their wives?.Retrieved 30 September 2018, from https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-31/calls-for-better-working-hours-for-men/10184968?section=business

Armstrong, M., & Lorentzen, J. F. (2016). A handbook of personnel management practice.

Armstrong, M., & Taylor, S. (2014). Armstrong's handbook of human resource management practice. Kogan Page Publishers.

Brewster, C., & Hegewisch, A. (Eds.). (2017). Policy and practice in European human resource management: The Price Waterhouse Cranfield survey. Taylor & Francis.

Brewster, C., Chung, C., & Sparrow, P. (2016). Globalizing human resource management. Routledge.

Colbert, B. A. (2014). The complex resource-based view: Implications for theory and practice in strategic human resource management. Academy of management review, 29(3), 341-358.

Collings, D. G., Wood, G. T., & Szamosi, L. T. (2018). Human resource management: A critical approach. In Human Resource Management (pp. 1-23). Routledge.

Delery, J. E., & Doty, D. H. (2016). Modes of theorizing in strategic human resource management: Tests of universalistic, contingency, and configurational performance predictions. Academy of management Journal, 39(4), 802-835.

Noe, R., Hollenbeck, J., Gerhart, B., & Wright, P. (2011). Human Resources Management: Gaining a Competitive Advantage, Tenth Global Edition. McGraw-Hill Education.

Reiche, B. S., Harzing, A. W., & Tenzer, H. (Eds.). (2018). International human resource management. SAGE Publications Limited.

Reiche, B. S., Stahl, G. K., Mendenhall, M. E., & Oddou, G. R. (Eds.). (2016). Readings and cases in international human resource management. Taylor & Francis.

Schuler, R. S., & Jackson, S. E. (2015). Strategic human resource management. Wiley-Blackwell.

Tichy, N. M. (2018). Strategic human resource management.

Wiley Direct. (2018). Human Resource Management, 9th Edition | $65 | Wiley Direct. Retrieved from https://www.wileydirect.com.au/buy/human-resource-management-9th-edition/

Wright, P. M., & Snell, S. A. (2013). Toward an integrative view of strategic human resource management. Human resource management review, 1(3), 203-225.