Proposal
Topic: The impact of flexible working on work-life balance, and productivity.
Background.
Sangarandeniya & Ranasinghe (2020) state that work-life balance is the satisfaction of a good
working balance between work and home with a minimum to no conflict. Since the early 1990s
there has been a move from the traditional way of working to a more flexible way of working.
They moved from a full-time employment method to a more flexible alternative working
arrangement. This was due to the concern for the wellbeing of the employees( Barling, Inness &
Gallgher, 2002). Flexible working arrangements have proven to improve retention and attraction
of new candidates, but have also been linked to positive outcomes for individuals but also for the
organisation ( Sharafizad, Paull, Omari,2011).
Purpose.
The purpose of the study is to find out How flexible working arrangements influence the
work-life balance of an employee who has these benefits, and their productivity, and those who
are self employed that work flexible hours, or at a flex office. To do this, a research will be done
on the sectors that have the benefit of flexible arrangements and those who work at flex offices
with flexible hours.
Research Questions.
The research question that will be researched is “ Does flexible working have an impact on
work-life balance and productivity in Curacao?
Sub Question :Which sectors benefit more from flexible working policies?
Sub Question : Does flexible working policies have a positive or negative effect on the work-life
balance of a person?
To answer these questions a research will be done in the sector of Curacao which is known to
have flexible working policies such as the insurance sector for the employees who have the
advantage of flexible working, entrepreneurs who work at a flex office or from home.
Research Method.
Procedure & Validity.
The purpose of this research is to find out to what extent flexible working arrangements
influence an employees work-life balance and productivity. To find the data to analyze, the
quantitative research method will be used to collect data. There are two methods for data
collection which are the quantitative research method, and the qualitative research method. Some
writers use only one method or use a mix of both. As stated above, for this research, the
quantitative research method will be used.
The population for this study are the sales agents of all the branches of Guardian Group Fatum
who have the flexibility of flexible working, also entrepreneurs who make use of the flex offices
around Curacao no matter their sector. The total sales agents employees of Guardian Group are
an estimate of 150 people. They all practice the same role which is to sell the products of the
insurance company so only one department was used. Four (4) Flex office places were chosen
for analysis on entrepreneurs who work from these flex offices which are CoWorld- coworking
community Curacao, The Triangle Curacao, The Workspot Curacao, and Green Apple Curacao.
It is estimated that the population here is around 50. For this research, stratified sampling was
used because there are different branches and different flex offices. For this research, stratified
sampling was used because there are different branches and different flex offices. It was difficult
to reach all the agents at the same time due to them working on their own schedule, so we
requested to receive each agents email, and the survey was sent to them by this means.
Variable
Question
Source
Demographics
Q1, Q2,Q3,Q4
General questions
Flexible Working
Q5,Q6,Q7,Q8,Q9
Bijsterveld (2014) Davidescu,
et all(2020)
Stress due to work
Q10,Q11,Q12,Q13
Bijsterveld (2014)
Productivity/Efficiency
Q14,Q15,Q16,Q17,
Bijsterveld (2014)
Job performance
Q18, Q19,Q20,Q21,
Ramos-Villagrasa, et all
(2019)
Work-life balance
Q22,Q23,Q24,Q25
Bijsterveld(2014)
Validity Table.
Representativeness.
Branche Populati Male N
s/offices on N
%N
Male
sample
Female
N
%N
Female
N
Represe
nt of
populati
on
Isenia
25
5
5%
5
20
20%
20
25
Sint
Hill
35
10
10%
10
25
25%
25
35
Avidi
10
5
5%
5
5
5%
5
10
Capital
30
15
15%
15
15
15%
15
30
Green
Apple
15
5
5%
5
10
10%
10
15
Work
Spot
10
4
4%
4
6
6%
6
10
The
15
Triangle
10
10%
10
5
5%
5
15
Coworl
d
10
3
3%
3
7
7%
7
10
Total
150
57
57%
57
93
93%
93
150
Representativeness of population
Survey
Dear employee of Guardian Group Fatum, and entrepreneur at a flex office, my name is Mica
Pieters and I am currently conducting research to find out how flexible working impacts the
work-life balance and productivity of an employee. Please fill out this survey so I can find the
data necessary to do this research. The survey will take about 10 minutes to fill out.
1. Gender
0 Male
0 Female
2. What is your age group ?
0 18 -25
0 25-35
0 35-45
0 45-55
0 55-65
3. What is your marital status?
0 single
0 married
0 separated
0 civil
4. What is your highest level of education ?
0 high school
0 college
0 university
Flexible working
5. Please answer the following statements regarding the flexible working policies at your
work.
Does your organisation offer the following flexible policies ? please mark which applies
0 part-time
0 flexible working schedules
0 working from home
0 Flex place
6. Do you work the same number of hours every week?
0 yes
0 No
7. Do you work flexible hours?
0 Yes
0 No
8. Do you practice home working ?
0 Yes
0 No
9. Do you practice flex office ?
0 Yes
0 NO
Please select the opinion which applies to you with strongly disagree being the worst and
strongly agree being the best
Stress due to work
Strongle
disagree
disagree
Somewh
at
disagree
Neither
agree nor
disagree
Somewh
at agree
agree
Strongly
agree
Somehat
agree
agree
Strongly
agree
10. I
Enjoy my
work
11.I have
ample
energy at
the
beginnin
g of my
workday
12.I find
it
difficult
to relax
after
work
13.By the
end of
the day i
feel worn
out
Productivity
14. How many hours per week are you expected to work?
Strongly
disagree
15. I had
a hard
time
doing my
job
because
disagree
Somewh
at
disagree
Neither
agree nor
disagree
of
personal
problems
16. I am
inspired
by the
team to
do my
best work
17. I do
my work
because i
have to
Job performance.
Strongly
disagree
18. I take
extra
responsib
ility often
19. I set
priorities
at work
20.I plan
my work
so i
finish on
time
21. On
my own
initiative,
i start
new task
when old
one is
disagree
Somewh
at
disagree
Neither
agree nor
disagree
Somewh
at agree
agree
Strongly
agree
finished
Work-life balance:
Strongly
disagree
22. Work
should be
only a
small
part of
owns life
23. The
mayor
satisfacti
on in my
life is my
work
24. To
me, my
work is
only a
small
part of
who I am
25. I
have
other
activities
more
important
than my
work.
disagree
Somewh
at
disagree
Neither
agree nor
disagree
Somewh
at agree
agree
Strongly
agree