The Changing Nature Of Work And The Workplace

The combined effects of globalisation and economic uncertainty have put businesses under increasing pressure to manage their operating costs. This has led many businesses to review their core processes and capabilities to identify ways in which they can speed up product development and service delivery, and of course manage their costs. Going back to basics has been one of the strategies adopted. To achieve this, organisations have chosen to outsource non-core business activities.

Today’s workplace is distinctly different to how it was twenty years ago. Many organisations have introduced flexible production models, including flexible employment options. The number of individuals employed on flexible work contacts increased by one and a quarter million between 1986 and 1993^[2]. Part-time working is still the most common form of flexible work option with around 26% of the workforce working part-time (Labour Market Statistics, December 2002).

However, there are structural differences within this overall figure. One is that the largest proportion of part-time working occurs within the Distribution, Business & Miscellaneous Services, as well as Public Services sectors. A second is that the majority of those who work part-time are women, particularly women aged 25 to 39, with dependent children^[3]. But, part-time employment among men, particularly younger men (aged below 25) and older men (aged 50 and over), has been increasing too. The rise in the number of younger men working part-time may be associated with changes in the availability of grants for higher education, leading young people to seek alternative sources of funding for their university education. The rise in number of older men working part-time could be the result of the changing organisational practice of encouraging early retirement, from age 50 onwards. Or it could be that the increasing pressures in the workplace, as a result of continuous change, are leading some individuals to rethink what they want from a career. Work–life balance became a hot topic in the late 1990s, particularly for individuals (Filipczak, 1994; Glynn, 2000). There are signs that organisations, as well as the Government are beginning to take this issue more seriously.

The establishment of the ‘Employers for Work–Life Balance’ forum is one indication that employers are beginning to pay attention to individuals’ concerns about work–life balance. The forum, founded and chaired by Lloyds TSB Group plc, provides a forum where employers can share policies and practices relating to work– life balance (so itself knowledge-building). There are currently twenty-two member organisations. Work–life balance has also become part of the political agenda. In March 2000, the Minister for Employment and Equal Opportunities launched its Work–Life Balance Challenge Fund. This scheme is intended to provide support to private, public and voluntary sector employers who are committed to initiating work–life balance policies and practices.

The introduction of flexible working practices has organisational benefits too. These include: the ability to provide a more responsive service to customers; the ability to attract employees from diverse backgrounds, who otherwise might be excluded from traditional employment models; attracting and retaining skilled professionals; and retaining employees looking to have a balance between their work and home lives.

However, when considering structural change, such as the introduction of flexible working practices, organisations also need to consider and plan for the impact that this might have on their ability to manage their knowledge (Evans, 2002). While having more mobile and flexible workers may make it easier to deliver a more responsive service to customers, unless properly managed, this could have an adverse affect on an organisation’s knowledge capabilities. In addition, organisations will need to plan for the fact they may have less time to capitalize on their employees’ ‘know how’.

The combined effects of structural change i.e. the shift from manufacturing to service-based businesses (which are more information and knowledge dependent) and technology is having an effect on the skills needed within the workplace. To-day’s businesses are more knowledge intensive. Statistics provided by the OECD indicate that the percentage of GNP that comes from knowledge-based business is now around 50% (OECD, 1999). This is leading to an increased demand for cognitive skills (i.e. problem-solving, communication, and interpreting information), which have become more important and in demand than manual skills (DfEE National Skills Task Force, 2000). Where these skills are in short supply, organisations are finding that they are struggling to recruit and retain employees (Gubman, 1998).

Equally the percentage of the workforce employed in managerial, professional and technical roles, working in ‘information occupation’ is increasing (Allen, 1992; DfEE Labour Market & Skills Trends, 2000). Employees who fall into the category of professional and technical workers are among those listed in the statistics on ‘hard-to-fill vacancies’ (DfEE Labour Market & Skills Trends, 2000).

These combined changes have important implications for employees. There is a danger that it could lead to polarisations in the workforce, with knowledge workers becoming an elitist group within organisations and within society more generally (Castells, 1989). Ian Angell, Professor of Information Systems at the London School of Economics, suggests that in the Information Age it is not simply a question of replacing ‘old jobs’ with ‘new ones’, it is about building ‘intellectual muscle’, in the form of intelligent knowledge workers, as this will be the source of growth.

The pace of change in the modern business world means that the life-span of certain knowledge is getting shorter and shorter. Individuals in all employment sectors, not just those working in knowledge-intensive businesses, need constantly to update their skills and knowledge in order to maintain their employability. In the modern workplace continuous learning is becoming the norm. But there is an issue here with regard to who should pay for this learning – should it be businesses, individuals themselves, or should the Government be expected to contribute some funding too?

Raman Roy, the Chief Executive of Spectramind, a call centre based in India, sums up the changes that have occurred in the nature of work in the late 20th century:

Geography is history. Distance is irrelevant. Where you are located is unimportant. I can log on anywhere in the world.

With work today being like the Martini advert – anytime, anyplace, anywhere – this has created new challenges for organisations. Many large organisations are adopting the mobile office principle whereby staff may spend some of their time working in a central office, some working at a client site, some working at a satellite office, or some of their time working at home. These changes have implications for the organisation’s knowledge management and human resource systems.

In order to be able to work anyplace, anytime, anywhere individuals need to be provided with the right technological infrastructure (laptop, mobile phone) and they also need to have access to up-to-date centralised information systems that can be accessed from any location. One of the difficulties, however, of having a global and mobile workforce is that it can be difficult to ensure certain types of knowledge sharing. Creating a sense of community can be difficult in organisations in which the majority of employees are mobile, leaving them feeling isolated and lacking a sense of belonging.

^[2]See Watson, G., in Neathey and J. Hurstfield (1995), Flexibility in Practice: Women’s Employment and Pay in Retail and Finance. Equal Opportunities Commission.

^[3]Dex, S. and McCulloch, A. (1995), Flexible Employment in Britain: A Statistical Analysis. Research Discussion Series No. 15. Equal Opportunities Commission.