Bon Secours Health Care Health care has used flexible work arrangements for year
ID: 461171 • Letter: B
Question
Bon Secours Health Care Health care has used flexible work arrangements for years as managers try to provide round the clock care for patients. Recently it has become even more difficult as shortages in the health care work-force have required creativity to attract and keep people. Bon Secours Richmond Health Systems uses a variety of flexible scheduling innovations for hard-to-fill evening and weekend shifts at its hospitals. Employees can choose from compressed workweeks (four 10 hour shifts or three 12 hour shifts),weekends only with extra pay, four- or eight-hour shifts, and seven days on followed by seven days off. Women make up 85% of the workforce, and flexible schedules work well for them. Depending on life stage, employees may make different choices. A new employee just out of college may prefer working full time with a rotating schedule, but workers with children may need a fixed schedule that does ’ t rotate. Some employees with several children may want to work part time. Part time is made attractive by providing full benefits and employer-assisted housing for those scheduled for as little as 16 hours per week. On Secours’ flexible work arrangements are credited with lowering first year employee turnover rates from 50% to 10% in four years. The national benchmark average is 28%. Employee engagement scores have risen from 3.6 to 4.55 on a 5-pointscale, and employees can read success stories in the employee newsletter that may provide solutions to any dilemmas they may have with regard to scheduling. In small lunches with the CEO, employ-eyes have confirmed that they value having more control over their time. Eight-five percent of Bon Secours employees use a flexible schedule either formally or informally. Forty-five percent use a compressed work week and10% job share. Twenty-five percent work a tempo-ray or part-time work schedule, and 3% do telework. 1. How well could this level of flexible scheduling work in another industry? For example, con-sider scheduling in a steel mill. 2. Identify other potential flexible work ideas that on Secours might use. 3. Flexible scheduling is common in health care. What would be the likely result without it?Explanation / Answer
1. In Steel mill, this level of flexibility cannot work because of the nature of work and skill required for each sets of work. In Steel mill, which runs 24 x7 for continuous production may have the flexibility to the employee to choose his day when he wants to take off but distribution of different employee in different shift may become a problematic situation .In this industry it will be better that young workforce can be given option of rotating schedule and workers with children were offered a fixed schedule. Some rules regarding the use of different schedule should be laid down so as to maintain proper distribution of workforce to manage the productivity. The option of part time cannot be open for all employees but for those who are involved in administrative task or research task in a company or female workforce involved in light work. Moreover, Steel industry is mail dominated place which don’t have restriction about caring of children etc. exclusively thus offering this sort of flexibility is not required.
2. Other potential flexible work ideas that on Secours might use are :
i) Offering extra pay for night shift which is for 5 days and then 3 days off.
ii) Offer 2 day morning,2 day afternoon,2 day night 2 day
3. Health care is a sector where there is lot of pressure on the employees and they have to deal with patients who are in pain and more them care and medical services. This sort of work become draining both physically and mentally. Therefore an employee should be given chance so that they feel comfortable and relaxed during work. Moreover, this sector is dominated by women who have extra responsibility of maintaining their home and family thus offering them flexible schedule can give them opportunity to handle their responsibility properly. It offers work life balance which is very much required for this kind of job.