Barriers to Flexibility Uptake in Organizations

• In Event: 128 - Section on Organizations, Occupation and Work Paper Session. Work and Family: New Challenges, New Directions

Abstract

Despite the vast effort companies have devoted to developing and implementing cutting-edge flexibility programs, many employees worry they cannot achieve success at their companies while using these programs. In this paper, I examine the industry, organizational, and individual barriers that prevent workers from feeling comfortable using existing flexibility programs. I present the results of 33 in-depth interviews with consultants in the San Francisco Bay Area as a case study of this larger phenomenon. I find that the definition of success incentivizes overwork and discourages flexibility. At the industry and organizational levels, the culture and structure of consulting cast doubt upon the viability of using a flexible work arrangement. This definition of success also frequently contradicts actual productivity and client satisfaction. At the individual level, employees sanctify their companies and presume that flexibility can only function under certain limitations. Rather than expecting their companies to provide flexible alternatives, employees retain a sense of perceived control by holding an individualistic mindset about work-life balance. Through their continued overwork, employees reconstitute the larger structures that undermine flexibility.

Author

• Alison Wynn, Stanford University