How is flexible working perceived by line managers and what are the advantages, disadvantages, enablers, and challenges to embed in the NHS?, September 2024 In recent years the NHS has had to respond to the evolvement in the way in which the world now works since COVID-19. There is now an expectation that employees want to be working more flexibly to aid their personal and work-life balance and the requirement for all to work flexibly in NHS England’s (2021) People Plan was the driver for the research to be undertaken. The research aimed to understand management perception of the advantages, disadvantages, enablers, and challenges faced when implementing a flexible working (FW) strategy in the NHS. A qualitative research design was selected, and a sample of 8 managers were interviewed using a semi-structured approach. Advantages of FW were determined; however, management perception of advantages was counteracted with disadvantages and challenges meaning benefits can only be achieved if the disadvantages and challenges are overcome to enable the advantages to grow. Further research is recommended into the holistic view of FW from other perspectives such as executives to achieve a top down approach or equally from an employee perspective to understand their perception of the same question. Finally, a full list of recommendations has been provided taking into account there is no budget to outsource any actions.
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Cairns, Emily
Rights Holders: Cairns, Emily Supervisors: Myers, Adrian
Oxford Brookes Business School
MA Human Resource Management
2024
© Cairns, Emily Published by Oxford Brookes UniversityAll rights reserved