The role of senior management

opportunity : Flexible Workplace :
The role of senior management

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Model administrative arrangements: flexi-place

Model administrative arrangements:
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1 Senior management has responsibility for establishing the policies and practices that i) facilitate a flexible workplace and ii) are appropriate to the Center’s work, workforce and geographic locations.

2 These responsibilities include:

establishing a flexible workplace policy that accommodates the differing work environments of the Center’s headquarters and regional and country stations;
ensuring that new appointees are introduced to the policy during their induction; and
ensuring that line managers live up to their responsibilities to approve flexible work practices when possible.

Establishing a Center policy on a flexible workplace
3 The model policy provided in these guidelines identifies the key responsibilities of setting up a flexible workplace arrangement, including:

assuring Center management’s commitment to inclusion and to creating a flexible workplace to optimize inclusion;
defining the range of practices that support the Center’s overall flexible workplace policy;
defining the underlying philosophy, i.e. the practices will be applied if they do not impair long-term Center productivity and where they are considered feasible; and
encouraging staff to utilize this flexibility when appropriate.

4 The Model Policy’s list of six workplace practices is intended as a suggestion and is neither the minimum acceptable nor the maximum possible. Centers may well identify other practices that could enhance their workplace flexibility. They should choose practices that can be applied effectively, either as ongoing, Center-wide policy or as a trial, either across the entire Center or in specific geographic locations.

Ensuring content and timeliness of induction procedures
5 The Center procedure for new appointees should ensure that new staff members always have the flexible workplace policy and its options explained to them as part of their induction.

6 In addition, senior management needs to ensure that the policy is communicated across the entire Center, not just at headquarters. This level of education is not difficult to achieve at headquarters but it can be more difficult in relation to appointees at regional and country offices.

Reinforcing line managers’ responsibilities
7 It is often easier for a line manager to turn down a staff member’s request for flexible working arrangements than to approve it, particularly if:

other members of the work group will be affected, or
work plans and work objectives are not well defined in the group, and work is handled on a reactive rather than planned basis.

8 However, if the Center has adopted a flexible workplace philosophy, the line manager is abrogating her/his responsibility by focusing on the obstacles to implementation rather than on the positive benefits. By doing so, the line manager undermines the strategy of inclusion as well as the competitive advantage the Center has set out to establish over other employers.

9 Senior management ensures that line managers are fully aware of the Center’s commitment to a flexible workplace and of their responsibilities in creating and sustaining a flexible workplace. This is best done through occasional personal contact from senior managers rather than e-mails, when possible.

10 Line managers certainly need to invest time in planning and facilitating flexible work conditions for individuals or operational groups. However, they also need to understand the risks and costs of not doing so. If staff members resign because their need for flexible working arrangements cannot be met, the time that the line manager will need to spend recruiting a replacement typically will be far greater than that required for planning and facilitating flexible work conditions.