Flexible Work Arrangements and Organizational Performance – The Difference between Employee and Employer-Driven Practices

Abstract

Flexible work arrangements (FWAs) enable flexibility in the work
design of employees and, consequently, can improve work-life
balance and enhance organizational performance. Based on the
disparate nature of previous findings and social exchange theory,
we defined the two research questions with an aim to explore the
impact of FWAs on organizational performance measured by
both financial and non-financial indicators, while taking into
account the employer versus employee-driven perspective of
FWA application. The data on 12 different FWA practices was
collected in 171 large-sized Croatian organizations by a
questionnaire survey using CRANET methodology. Our findings
suggest that organizational performance was higher in the
employee-driven group of FWA practices. On the other hand,
several employer-driven practices were found to be significantly,
but negatively related to organizational performance. The main
contribution of the paper is revealing the importance of work-life
balance arrangements in achieving success and competitive
advantage