HRM Case Study Motorola Job Sharing System Free Solution

Questions: 1. How does Motorolas job sharing system fit with their business needs? 2. What particular needs do female employees face in work-life balance arrangements such as job sharing? 3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of job sharing to job sharers and their managers? 4. What cultural factors come into play in introducing job sharing into other organisations in an Australian context? Answer: 1. A Motorola is a world famous company that was founded in 1928 in the United States. The company has a large pool of competitive workface that helps the company in surviving in a tough global competitive environment. The company operates its plant at all times of the day and week i.e. 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In such working conditions, it is obvious that the employees would require some benefits or leaves that would allow them to maintain a proper balance between their work life and personal life. The company introduced job sharing in the organisation which greatly helped the employees in maintaining their work life balance. The system of job sharing allowed the employees to share their job responsibilities with a partner while they only had to spend half the time at work i.e. either during the day or during the night. The system helped the business needs of the company by allowing them to retain larger pool of talent (especially females), provide better work life balanc e to the employees and still maintain their 24 hour work policy. 2. A number of researchers have conducted thorough researches on the issue of work life balance in female employees. The studies have shown that female employees find it very difficult to maintain a proper work life balance. Managing their families and working side by side has always been difficult for women (https://www.apa.org, 2016). Therefore, women have more needs in arranging a balance between their work life and personal life. Some of these needs are discussed below: Flexible work timings one of the foremost needs for women, in arranging their work life balance, is flexible work timings. Flexible working hours provide females with an opportunity to manage their families and fulfil their job responsibilities side by side. Maternity leaves one of the biggest issues in the work life of women is when they do not get ample amount of time to be with their children. It is never easy for young mothers to leave their children behind and come to work with a relaxed mind. Therefore, women need additional leaves or off from work hours to attend their young children and fulfil their childhood needs. 3. A job sharing has been considered to be a good arrangement for the employees as well as for the employers but it has advantages as well as disadvantages. Let is discuss the pros and cons of job sharing for employees: PROS Helps in maintaining a better work life balance Employees are able to manage their shifts in a better way and are able to contribute more towards the contribution of organisational goals and objectives It improves their motivation levels and morale CONS It might be challenging for some employees to effectively coordinate with employees with whom they are sharing their jobs. If the employees sharing a job are not compatible, the purpose of job sharing might fail altogether. Job sharing requires a lot of negotiations and compromises between two people, which might not sit well between some employees. Pros and cons for employers: PROS Helps the employers in retaining talent within the organisation Helps in fostering a creative environment by allowing two employees to work together as a team Collective responsibilities increase the accountability of the employees towards the employers. CONS Job sharing can sometimes hinder the efficiency and productivity as some of the employees might not form capable teams with others It can bring about an increase in the employment costs The operational costs and costs of benefits might increase if all job share partners are provided with equal and full benefits (Cordle et al., 2015). 4. A Job sharing is not that common in Australia for senior level executives, while it still works for some employees working in medicine, teaching, law and public relations. Though some people believe that part time jobs mean working for more number of hours in a week, many of them still believe that job sharing helps them in maintaining a proper work life balance. In Australia, the concept is being largely adopted by many companies and the culture of the country is accepting the new change. Thus, the culture of the country does not pose a problem to the introduction of the concept as the people themselves want to start sharing their jobs with other people so that they can go back home from their work and can spend time with their families without getting any urgent work related calls from their offices (Financial Review, 2013). References Tickle, S. (2015). Everyone wins with job-share. [online] Workingcarers.org.au. Available at: https://www.workingcarers.org.au/index.php/work-n-care/work/1681-everyone-wins-with-job-share [Accessed 21 Jul. 2016]. Cordle, A., Maloff, J., Kierbow, H., Adams, W., Wortman, B., Griffith, Z. and Fontaine, D. (2015). Pros and Cons of Job Sharing - GoSmallBiz. [online] GoSmallBiz. Available at: https://gosmallbiz.com/what-is-job-sharing/ [Accessed 19 Jul. 2016]. Heathfield, S. (2016). Know the Advantages and Disadvantages of Employees Sharing a Job?. [online] About.com Money. Available at: https://humanresources.about.com/od/glossaryj/g/job_share.htm [Accessed 19 Jul. 2016]. Financial Review. (2013). Two for one: making job sharing work. [online] Available at: https://www.afr.com/leadership/two-for-one-making-job-sharing-work-20130611-jhop0 [Accessed 19 Jul. 2016]. Jobsharepartner.com.au. (2016). What is Job Sharing?. [online] Available at: https://www.jobsharepartner.com.au/what-is-job-sharing/ [Accessed 21 Jul. 2016]. https://www.apa.org. (2016). Women in the workplace: Work-life balance lessons from mission control. [online] Available at: https://www.apa.org/pi/about/newsletter/2015/09/women-workplace.aspx [Accessed 19 Jul. 2016].