Flexible working within the West Midlands Police: In search of the equilibrium,
employer vs. employee needs
Christopher Stephen Jones
Submitted for: The MA in Managing and Leading People
M45HRM
Faculty of Business, Environment and Society
Coventry Business School
June 2015
Tutor: Stephen Clapcott
STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP
I certify that this dissertation is my own work and contains no material, which has been accepted
for the award of any degree or diploma in any institute, college or university. Moreover, to the
best of my knowledge and belief, it contains no material previously published or written by
another person, except where due reference is made in the text of the dissertation. I also
understand that under no circumstances should any part of this dissertation be published,
including on the Internet, or publicly displayed without receiving written permission from the
school.
1
ABSTRACT
A study of flexible working within the West Midlands Police was conducted, exploring the
complexities of managing flexible working in a 24/7 policing environment and the challenges of
achieving a balance between employer and employee need. The research aimed to
understand differing organisational practices and workforce attitudes, with a particular focus on
how morale is impacted amongst flexible working employees. The study was limited to the
ranks of Police Constable through to Police Inspector.
A mixed methods research design was applied consisting of 3 questionnaires specifically
tailored to flexible workers, their line managers and their non-flexible colleagues. This
generated a total of 137 responses supported by 11 semi-structured interviews across all
populations. The study identified significant challenges in effectively integrating flexible workers
within the West Midlands Police.
It was evident from the research that there were inconsistencies in the management of flexible
working across the force with poor policy awareness. The research identified that the needs of
flexible workers regularly conflicted with the needs of West Midlands Police, with staffing levels
often lower at peak demand times. Consequently team cohesion was adversely impacted due
to uneven allocations of workload. Flexible workers were generally content with their working
arrangements and line managers and colleagues supportive of the need for work-life balance.
The consequential impact on flexible worker morale was generally positive.
Recommendations have been made to the West Midlands Police Senior Leadership Team,
based on the findings of this research.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Without the support and encouragement of my family and friends, this dissertation may never
have been written. There are a select few who I am greatly indebted and wish to acknowledge.
First and foremost I would like to thank my wife, Alison. I am forever grateful for her unwavering
support, patience, love and understanding. Words alone cannot express my gratitude. I want to
also thank her for giving me the most precious children, Amelia & Megan who arrived at the
inception of this University Course.
I would like to thank my parents who have continually been there for me and shown belief,
enthusiasm and encouragement.
I would also like to thank my supervisor Stephen Clapcott. His expertise, guidance and
understanding enabled me to write about a subject which I have a lot of passion about. I thank
him for giving me his valuable time and advice and for making this a rewarding journey.
In addition, I would like to express my gratitude to a fellow student, Roy Mall, who has been a
great sounding board. He has inspired me and helped to keep me going despite the continued
work pressures we were both facing. Finally, I would like to thank the West Midlands Police for
supporting me in my academic studies and for allowing me this opportunity.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP ...................................................................................................... 1
ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................................... 2
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................................... 3
TABLE OF CONTENTS ...................................................................................................................... 4
LIST OF FIGURES............................................................................................................................... 7
LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................................. 8
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................................................ 8
LIST OF APPENDICES....................................................................................................................... 9
Chapter 1 ............................................................................................................................................ 10
1.
Introduction.............................................................................................................................. 10
1.1. Research background and relevance ......................................................................... 10
1.2. Research objectives .......................................................................................... 13
Chapter 2 ............................................................................................................................................ 15
2.
Literature Review ................................................................................................................... 15
2.1. Types of flexible working within WMP ........................................................................ 15
2.2. The legislation ................................................................................................................ 16
2.3. The process in WMP ..................................................................................................... 17
2.4. History of flexible working ............................................................................................. 18
2.5. Differing perspectives of flexibility ............................................................................... 19
2.6. The flexible firm .............................................................................................................. 21
2.7. Work/family conflict & drivers for flexibility ................................................................. 26
2.8. Workforce attitudes towards FWA’s............................................................................ 28
2.9. Benefits & drawbacks.................................................................................................... 29
2.10. Integration challenges................................................................................................. 32
2.11. Politics ........................................................................................................................... 33
2.12. Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 34
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Chapter 3 ............................................................................................................................................ 36
3. Methodology ................................................................................................................................... 36
3.1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 36
3.2. Philosophy and methodology ....................................................................................... 36
3.3. Research design ............................................................................................................ 40
3.3.1. Questionnaires.................................................................................................. 41
3.3.2. Interviews .......................................................................................................... 45
3.3.3. Analysis of qualitative data ............................................................................. 48
3.4. Reliability and validity .................................................................................................... 50
3.5. Ethical considerations ................................................................................................... 50
Chapter 4 ............................................................................................................................................ 51
4.
Results and Findings ............................................................................................................. 51
4.1. HR flexible working data ............................................................................................... 51
4.2. Interview & survey results (with discussion) .............................................................. 54
4.2.1. Flexible workers................................................................................................ 54
4.2.1.1. Thematic analysis ............................................................................ 54
4.2.1.2. Respondents ..................................................................................... 54
4.2.1.3. Data analysis & discussion ............................................................. 55
4.2.2. Line managers .................................................................................................. 66
4.2.2.1. Thematic analysis ............................................................................ 66
4.2.2.2. Respondents ..................................................................................... 66
4.2.2.3. Data analysis & discussion ............................................................. 67
4.2.3. Co-workers ........................................................................................................ 72
4.2.3.1. Thematic analysis ............................................................................ 72
4.2.3.2. Respondents ..................................................................................... 72
4.2.3.3. Data analysis & discussion ............................................................. 73
4.2.4. HR Manager – Interview findings................................................................... 77
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Chapter 5 ............................................................................................................................................ 79
5.
Conclusions ............................................................................................................................. 79
5.1. Summary of Findings .................................................................................................... 79
5.2. Limitations ....................................................................................................................... 84
5.3. Recommendations ......................................................................................................... 85
5.3.1. Management of FWA’s .................................................................................... 85
5.3.2. Recruitment and deployment ......................................................................... 86
5.3.3. Data management ............................................................................................ 87
5.4. Future research .............................................................................................................. 87
5.5. Personal learning statement ........................................................................................ 89
REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................... 90
APPENDICES................................................................................................................................... 110
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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: The Flexible Firm model - Adapted by Atkinson J. (1984) by Marchington and
Wilkinson (2012) ................................................................................................................................. 23
Figure 2: All police officers with a FWA (1,031 individuals) ......................................................... 53
Figure 3: Replies by rank .................................................................................................................. 55
Figure 4: Reason for FWA ................................................................................................................ 55
Figure 5: Happy in role ...................................................................................................................... 56
Figure 6: As a result of being a FW my morale level at work has increased ............................ 57
Figure 7: Level of support & engagement ...................................................................................... 58
Figure 8: I am able to have a good work-life balance due to my FWA ...................................... 62
Figure 9: Training & Development questions................................................................................. 63
Figure 10: Overall I feel that WMP are fair in their management of FW's ................................. 64
Figure 11: Support, morale & engagement .................................................................................... 67
Figure 12: Management perceptions .............................................................................................. 69
Figure 13: Dealing with FWA requests ........................................................................................... 70
Figure 14: Co-workers perceptions ................................................................................................. 73
Figure 15: The volume of FW's has a negative impact on team performance ......................... 75
Figure 16: Treatment of FW's on the team..................................................................................... 76
Figure 17: Overall, I think the management of FWA's within WMP is good .............................. 76
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LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Semi-structured interviews……………………………………………………………….….47
Table 2: Total number of flexible workers by rank & their respective proportions ………………52
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
CIPD = Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development
FCID = Force Criminal Investigation Department
FW = Flexible Worker
FWA = Flexible Working Arrangement
HR = Human Resources
LPU = Local Policing Unit
NFW = Non Flexible Worker
NHS = National Health Service
PC = Police Constable
PPU = Public Protection Unit
SLT = Senior Leadership Team
WFC = Work/Family Conflict
WMP = West Midlands Police
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LIST OF APPENDICES
Appendix 1: Flexible working application process in WMP
Appendix 2: Flexible worker questionnaire
Appendix 3: Line manager questionnaire
Appendix 4: Co-worker / NFW questionnaire
Appendix 5: Semi-structured interview questions
Appendix 6:
(a) Thematic analysis of interview data for flexible workers
(b) Thematic analysis of free text questionnaire data for flexible workers
(c) Thematic analysis of interview data for line managers
(d) Thematic analysis of free text questionnaire data for line managers
(e) Thematic analysis of interview data for co-workers
(f) Thematic analysis of free text questionnaire data for co-workers
(g) Thematic analysis of interview data for the HR manager
Appendix 7: Certificate of ethical approval
Appendix 8: Participant information sheet – flexible working
Appendix 9: Informed consent form template
Appendix 10: Headcount of police officers within WMP (as of April 2015)
Appendix 11: Location of flexible workers within WMP & proportion against overall team
Appendix 12: Type of FWA held by the respondents
Appendix 13: How important is your focus on career development at this time in your career?
Appendix 14: When was your flexible working agreement last reviewed by your line manager?
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Chapter 1
1. Introduction
WMP, the 2nd largest police force in the UK, comprises approximately 7000 officers and is
divided into 10 local policing units and a number of specialist departments; including FCID and
PPU.
Each LPU is overseen by a separate leadership team, with the force headed up by the Chief
Constable. This complex structure presents difficulties in achieving a consistent, force-wide
approach to flexible working, with departments and teams having unique demands and
priorities. Whilst all agreements require HR approval, specific terms require local agreement
with line managers where an element of subjectivity exists.
1.1. Research background and relevance
Although not specifically focussed on WMP, research was undertaken in 2001 on the integration
of FW’s into the police service. Problems identified, though not insurmountable, included a lack
of awareness and consistency around the management of FW’s, particularly part-time and
reduced hours working (Tuffin 2001). Key findings included a need to improve the monitoring of
existing FWA’s by HR and a need for evidence to back-up new applications linked to demand
profiles.
The police service now finds itself in a different landscape, with changing social and lifestyle
trends, evolving technology and economic changes all impacting flexible working. Research
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suggests that the recent economic downturn has deteriorated many employees work-life
balance with increased workloads and demands (Gregory and Milner 2013).
There has been limited research in recent years on the challenges of implementing FWA’s into
a 24/7 emergency service environment. Anecdotally, over the past decade WMP have been
quite accommodating to FW’s. However, the recession and government comprehensive
spending review have necessitated more effective management of FWA’s force-wide.
Reductions in staffing numbers, the introduction of a ‘lean’ working model and changes to terms
and conditions; including longer working careers, are just some of the modern challenges
around the management of FW’s.
WMP appears to be approaching tipping point, where balancing employer and employee needs
has become a significant challenge. The 24/7 demand-led activities often conflict with the
requirements of FW’s (Dick 2004). This population, which makes up to 22% of the total
workforce in some departments (Aldington et al. 2015), are often unable to work during peak
demand times or show flexibility to meet operational need.
The private sector has seen a move towards employer led flexibility, with the focus on working
arrangements weighted more towards the needs of the organisation than the employee (Rubery
et al. 2005). However, the police service has not followed this trend. All FWA’s for police officers
are employee initiated, in an attempt to effectively balance their own competing work-life
demands.
There are 8 business reasons why managers may reject a FWA request; each seeking to
protect the interests of the organisation and ensure a fair balance of needs (ACAS 2015):
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1. The burden of additional costs
2. Detrimental effect on the ability to meet customer demand
3. Inability to re-organise work amongst existing staff
4. Inability to recruit additional staff
5. Detrimental impact upon performance
6. Insufficiency of work during periods the employee proposes to work
7. Planned changes
8. Other grounds as may be set out in regulations
Despite the above, research across three police forces suggests that FW’s lead negotiations in
the manager and employee relationship; and all that can be achieved is a minimal level of
integration between individual and organisational need (Dick 2009).
The majority of the literature focusses on the impact of FWA’s on applicants, generally
highlighting a positive association on individual performance (Stavrou 2005), job satisfaction
(Almer & Kaplan 2002), attendance levels and commitment (Maxwell et al. 2007).
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Whilst some authors argue no clear association with these alleged benefits (Hyland et al 2005),
others even suggest a detrimental impact on work-family balance (Hooker et al 2007) and
attendance (Venne 1997); Indeed, within WMP it is suggested that some FW’s feel
disadvantaged at work, believing that such arrangements impact career progression and
opportunities. Some feel that they lack support with agreements impacting supervisory and
colleague relationships.
Previous research apportions less focus on the views of line managers and NFW’s, who are
affected by these arrangements, which may impact on their own annual leave and workloads.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that morale, workforce relations and operational effectiveness are
therefore impacted across entire teams. This will review the impacts of FWA’s across the force,
focusing on Police Constables, Sergeants and Inspectors. It aims to explore current attitudes
and experiences of flexible working within WMP, amongst colleagues, line managers and FW’s
themselves, looking specifically at how arrangements impact the morale and happiness of FW’s,
something that is often neglected in the literature (Atkinson and Hall 2011).
The research is based on the opinions of PC’s, Sergeants and Inspectors, in proportion of
weighting to the police structure; together with input from an HR representative.
1.2. Research objectives
There are three intended outcomes from this research. It seeks to understand:

What are the differing organisational practices around FWA’s for police officers?
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
What are the workforce attitudes towards FWA’s and, in particular, do they positively
impact morale amongst FW’s?

Can FWA’s be effectively accomplished within the 24/7 needs of WMP operations?
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Chapter 2
2. Literature Review
A brief overview of current flexible working practices and legislation in WMP will be presented
before exploring the history of FWA’s. The wider literature review will then consider differing
perspectives on flexible working, appraise arguments of the benefits and drawbacks, as well as
exploring the impact of political policy. Focus will be given to the ‘flexible firm’ model in the
context of WMP.
2.1. Types of flexible working within WMP
An internal policy document outlines several common forms of FWA (FW Policy 2015):

Job sharing (two or more people carry out one job)

Part-time (working less than full-time hours)

Compressed hours (working normal contractual hours over fewer days than the
traditional shift pattern)

Flexitime (choose when to begin and end work within agreed limits and core hours. This
is not available to police officers that follow shift patterns other than those working
standard office hours)
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
Annualised hours (employees work an agreed number of hours annually but timing of
these is flexible. It may include some core hours or required attendance to meet
organisational demand)

Staggered hours (differing start and finish times from other employees)

Term time working (time off during school holidays)

Working from home (or anywhere else other than the normal place of work)
Flexibility at work is not restricted to a variation in working time and location but also to job
sharing, term-time working, part-time reduced hours and career breaks which includes maternity
leave (Chung 2009). FWA’s may incorporate a mixture of the above options. Further options
exist which are not applicable to police officers, such as the controversial use of ‘zero hour’
contracts.
2.2. The legislation
Newly introduced employment legislation extends the statutory right for all individuals to request
FWA’s, irrespective of whether they are a parent or carer (Flexible working regulations 2014).
WMP has had these provisions in place for a number of years; sworn police officers are ‘officers
of the crown’, not employees who would be covered by traditional employment legislation.
Whilst Constables through to Chief Inspectors work an average 40 hour working week, they can
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work flexibly under Police Regulations (2003) with no restriction on the number of times they
can request FWA’s, something unique to the police service.
If the set procedure for FWA’s in WMP is adhered to (appendix 1) then officers have no legal
challenge to a refusal. However, they are covered by the Equality Act (2010) and could, in
certain circumstances, claim unlawful discrimination for a refusal. Officers are also covered by
other regulations including the Maternity and Parental Leave Regulations (1999), Working Time
Regulations (1998) and the Part-Time Worker Regulations (2000) which prevents less
favourable treatment based on part-time status.
2.3. The process in WMP
Employees initially hold informal discussions with line management before submitting a written
proposal. A formal meeting then takes place to discuss this and the line manager can accept or
refuse. Where the manager feels that their own team cannot cater for the request but the LPU
or department may be able to, they can refer the request to a workforce strategy meeting. If the
employee is unhappy with the outcome, they are entitled to appeal for independent
consideration by a panel involving corporate HR and senior officers. The overall process should
take no longer than 3 months.
Police regulations state that officers who converted from full time to part-time working can apply
to revert back at any stage. Recent reforms to pay and working conditions allow WMP 4 months
to identify a suitable vacancy upon receiving employee notification (Windsor 2011). There is no
automatic right to increase hours within their current posting and as such, officers may be redeployed to another role within WMP.
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2.4. History of flexible working
Locating the starting point of flexible working is difficult, however deviations from the standard 8
hour 5 day a week working pattern can be seen as early as the 1930’s when W.K. Kellogg
company in America introduced 6 hour shifts to improve productivity (Avery and Zabel 2001).
Moving forward to the 1980’s, it was argued that the declining prosperity of established
economies was directly linked to rigidities in production processes and labour markets (Piore
and Sabel 1984). This saw the formal introduction of the term ‘flexibility’ a concept that would
enable organisations to tackle this problem through the adoption of new employment practices
and strategies (Skorstad 2009).
Over the past two decades, FWA’s have gained attention from organisations and academics for
many reasons. Technological advances have enabled organisations to create and maintain
flexible structures (Phillips & Wright 2009) with mobile phones, video conferencing and email,
enabling individuals to make productive use of time outside of their normal working location as
well as enabling them to attend to personal matters whilst at work (Wajcman et al. 2008). Whilst
alleviating certain pressures however, such flexibility can, in certain circumstances, have a
detrimental impact on performance, particularly as it is reliant on good individual time
management (Bittman, Brown and Wajcman 2009).
Significant changes to the economy, social trends and modern lifestyles, coupled with changes
in the demographic makeup have generated a new landscape for FWA’s. Individuals are living
and working longer and have become healthier, lifestyles are more variable and integrated,
(Earl and Taylor 2015). It would also appear that the use of external child care has become
more socially acceptable.
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Lake (2013:5) highlights that prior to the 1970’s there was a consensus that, men were
generally the main breadwinner. Women acted as the homemaker and looked after children,
enabling families to balance work/life demands with a clear division of responsibilities. Changing
trends have seen an increase in the number of fathers now taking a more prominent role in child
care and mothers are returning to work. There has been an increase in dual-career couples who
demand flexibility to cope with competing demands (Ben-Galim 2011).
A formal decision to introduce FWA’s in the UK police service was made in 1992. This followed
a pilot scheme initiated by the Police Advisory Board in 1990 which introduced flexible working
options including part-time working. This was a consequence of a successful industrial tribunal
claim on the grounds of sexual discrimination whereby a female officers’ request to work
reduced hours had been refused (Tuffin and Baladi 2001).
FWA’s are considered essential both in retaining well qualified personnel and in support of
equal opportunity responsibility. By bringing with them personal qualities, the continued
integration of women police officers sought to contribute to a positive shift in culture (Gaston
and Alexander 1997).
2.5. Differing perspectives of flexibility
FWA’s enable employees to diverge from traditional working hours and are defined by Lewis
(2003: 1) as ‘policies and practices that enable employees to vary, at least to some extent,
when and or where they work’. Berg et al (2004: 331) state it is ‘the ability of individual workers
to increase or decrease their working hours and to alter their working schedule’. The British
government recently defined flexible working as ‘a way of working that suits an employee’s
needs, which includes flexible start and finish times, or working from home’ (GOV.UK 2014).
19
Each definition suggests that flexibility is driven by employee need rather than that of the
organisation. The extent to which FWA’s enable a mutually beneficial solution for both employee
and employer is debated (Barnett and Hall 2001, Hill et al 2001).
Nowadays the terms ‘flexible’ and ‘flexibility’ are widely used and generally perceived in a
positive context, however the concepts can be incongruous and confusing (Furaker et al. 2007).
The meaning of the term ‘flexibility’ is often unclear and ambiguous, with a multiplicity of
meanings. This is likely to be due to the diversity of the terminologies, and the differing
interpretations applied by both employer and employee (Zeytinoglu et al. 2009). However, what
does appear consistent is that flexibility can positively serve the needs of both the organisation
and employee if effectively managed.
During a discussion on part-time working, Sheridan and Conway (2001) highlight how flexibility
can be driven from two separate directions. This is helpful in illustrating the different meaning of
flexibility for employee and employer. Supply driven flexibility requests are usually constructed
to benefit the employee, enabling them to better manage their work-life interface. Conversely,
flexibility that is constructed to benefit the employer would be driven by organisational demand;
enabling enhanced efficiency and more cost effective human resource management. This
means managers and FW’s are unlikely to share all of the same views about the drawbacks and
benefits of FWA’s. An example of employer led flexibility is seen through the advertisement of
part-time jobs. It is estimated that in excess of 1 million workers in the UK now work part-time as
they were unable to find full time work. This suits the employer but not necessarily the employee
(Ben-Galim 2011).
Olmsted and Smith (2007) reinforce how flexibility can be viewed from two perspectives.
Organisationally, it is the ability to rapidly cope and adjust to changing economic conditions by
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reallocating or expanding levels of labour to improve their product, service, productivity and
costs. From an employee’s view, flexibility is viewed as adjusting individual work-time schedules
or workplace locations when work demands conflict with personal needs.
2.6. The Flexible Firm
So what exactly is flexibility? The famous and controversial flexible firm model was developed
by Atkinson (1984). This opened up a debate around the definition of flexibility (Mesu, Riemsdijk
and Sanders 2013) which will now be explored.
Atkinson suggested that employees can be used to meet business demand through the
introduction of flexible working into day to day operations. His model, identifying core and
peripheral/secondary workers, distinguished two separate dimensions of employee flexibility;
functional, which is generally the permanent, skilled employees with internal career paths
(Wood 1989) and numerical, which are those individuals used to respond to changing demand,
including both internal staff (through overtime, changing hours etc.) and external supplementary
labour. This model looked to challenge the mechanistic, also known as scientific, management
approach (Taylor 1947 cited in Mullins 2007: 45), in which set rules and procedures seek to
enhance productivity however result in a very rigid structure (Bartol and Martin 1991).
In contrast to the mechanistic approach, functional flexibility, commonly labelled ‘job rotation’
captures the degree to which current employees can do differing roles, tasks and activities
within the organisation. It is said that ‘if resources are difficult to imitate and can be adapted to
changing conditions, they will be able to generate superior performance’ (Fernandez-Perez de
la lastra, Martin-Alcazar and Sanchez-Gardey 2014: 1). Indeed, by having permanent multiskilled workers and adopting functional flexibility, organisations create a wider dispersion of
21
skills, experience and knowledge, which also minimises the risk of reliance on dedicated
workers in niche areas. As well as encouraging innovation, this enables employees to be quickly
redeployed to tackle new challenges in an ever changing climate (Arvanitis 2005). It is also
argued that the use of functional flexibility improves job satisfaction for employees by ‘reducing
monotonous, repetitive work’ (Martinez-Sanchez et al. 2009:364). It does however rely heavily
on multiple competencies and skill sets within the human resource pool and may increase
training costs. Atkinson describes functional flexibility as the core group of employees who are
highly regarded, often well paid and involved in decision making (Torrington et al 2011). This
group comprises both skilled workers including technical staff and management who are
essential to organisational success (Pilbeam and Corbridge 2010).
Numerical flexibility; altering the number of workers and/or hours worked, in accordance with
demand levels (Roca-Puig et al. 2008) can be achieved through the use of external workers on
temporary or fixed term contracts, a population which Atkinson terms peripheral employees.
Pilbeam and Corbridge (2010: 116) argue that the peripheral work force have little autonomy in
their work and ‘tend to have jobs rather than careers’, displaying general skills and knowledge,
not specific to one organisation. Whilst required by the organisation, they are not essential and
their skill sets easily replaced; giving them a lower level of job security than the core workforce
even if they can display functional flexibility (Marchington and Wilkinson 2012). They do
however buffer the core workforce against job insecurity.
The non-core employee population can be divided into three broad categories as highlighted in
the illustration below.
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Figure 1: The Flexible Firm model - Adapted by Atkinson J. (1984) by Marchington and Wilkinson (2012)
1. First peripheral group: Workers from the secondary labour market who are internal to the
organisation. They have a degree of permanence and are typically full time however
their job security is lower than that of the core, due to their non-specialist skills. They
provide a degree of numerical flexibility as, if laid off, they can be readily replaced by
employees with a similar skill set.
2. Second peripheral group: Workers who exhibit limited skills and experience,
consequently finding it difficult to break into internal labour markets, with little prospect of
employment security. Many temporary or part-time workers fit into this category and for
some the possibility to become ‘internal’ employees exists if they do a good job.
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3. External individuals: This includes sub-contractors, consultants, self-employed
individuals and agency workers of diverse skill sets including nurses, teachers,
accountants and secretaries (Druker and Stanworth 2001). These individuals are often in
a powerful position, choosing to remain outside of main stream organisational life in
order to maintain greater work-life balance and earn larger amounts of money.
There has been criticism of Atkinson’s model; in particular it is argued that numerical flexibility in
the form of temporary employment results in vulnerable groups of workers who suffer inferior
terms and conditions and can be excluded from equal opportunities policies (Conley 2002).
Furthermore, it oversimplifies matters claiming that core workers are highly skilled and periphery
workers are therefore low skilled (Hyman 1991). Nevertheless, the concept of the flexible
working model can be seen within organisations today and continues to be discussed by
academics.
Temporal, or working time, flexibility is a type of numerical flexibility. It captures adjustments to
working hours for existing employees, including reduced hours, altered working schedules, flexitime, term-time working, overtime and so on.
Atkinson believes that numerical flexibility allows management to match the supply of workers
with demand at any given time, and was intended as a proactive tool to meet business needs.
This is true if the flexibility is management driven. This is not the case in WMP, where all police
officers have the right to request flexibility to accommodate their personal needs; management
then deciding if it can accommodate them.
Applying the concepts of the flexible firm to WMP creates a number of challenges consequential
of the fixed, hierarchical and mechanistic structure, which, by its nature is inflexible. This
24
structure, popular in the western world, assumes that detailed job descriptions are essential to
effective HR management (Elkin and Strach 2006). A limited degree of functional flexibility
exists with officers able to be redeployed to differing roles and locations at management
discretion. A recent restructure, increasing alignment to specialisms and generating more
‘experts’ has presented a risk that officers will become de-skilled in other areas, further
impacting functional flexibility.
The current policing model is mechanistic in nature. It could be said that all police officers are
core employees, in permanent positions with standardised minimum skills. Within the current
HR model, WMP does not have a clearly defined peripheral or external resource pool for
serving police officers, limiting the degree of employer driven numerical flexibility. For instance,
WMP does not utilise bank staff, something that the NHS has adopted for some time (Wright
2014). The only group that could be said to clearly fit into these categories are Special
Constables, officers who are trained and hold the powers of police officers in a voluntary
capacity.
Standard shift patterns are created in line with demand to ensure efficient deployment of
resource. Whilst providing a degree of longer-term numerical flexibility, short term numerical
flexibility is low, with officers all having minimum working hours agreed. There is some scope for
WMP to mandate flexibility to suit organisation demand, enabled through police regulations.
Exigencies of duty may require police officers to be ordered to work beyond their scheduled
duties, to re-roster their rest days or work on their agreed flexible ‘free days’. Uniquely, police
officers can be called to duty at any time.
Another dimension of flexibility that should be considered is that offered informally by
organisations; this is the unwritten rules and culture that governs what is permissible in the
25
workplace (Holt and Thaulow 2004). These informal rules for instance enable managers to
dynamically alter working agreements at short notice to cater for organisational or employee
need. Such arrangements do exist within WMP, with the extent varying across different types of
roles. They are locally managed without HR involvement and consequently are not formally
recorded. Trying to integrate FWA’s into a non-flexible organisational structure presents some
fundamental deep rooted issues as well as specific, case by case considerations.
2.7. Work/family conflict & drivers for flexibility
The conflict between work and family roles can be differentiated from two directions (SanzVergel, Rodriguez-Murfloz and Nielson 2014); Work-family conflict (WFC) occurs when work
interferes with family life whilst family work conflict is seen when family interferes with work life.
WFC is linked to job dissatisfaction, impacting employee morale and turnover rates (Smith and
Gardner 2007, Porter and Ayman 2010). FWA’s can help reduce such conflict (Allen 2001)
however some employees perceive them as a necessity rather than a benefit Lewis, Gambles
and Rapoport (2007). The effectiveness of FWA’s in enhancing work-life balance is reliant upon
the support of management.
FWA’s are commonly employee initiated for their personal need and can be sold by employers
as a benefit to attract, recruit and retain highly qualified staff (Kelliher and Anderson 2010). They
can, conversely be driven by employers to address organisational requirements (Margherita,
O’Dorchai and Bosch 2009). During the recent recession, many employers used FWA’s as a
tool to help manage changes in demand whilst reducing redundancies (Ben-Galim 2011, Beck
2013).
26
It is suggested that work-family conflict can result in higher absenteeism, depression and poor
employee health (Grice, McGovern and Alexander 2008). For employees, flexible working is a
means to reduce such conflict, achieving an effective balance between work and personal
commitments (Russell, O’Connell and McGinnity 2009); promoting wellbeing and giving greater
control to switch between work and family responsibilities (Pederson et al 2008).
Shifting family practices, driven by a rise of women in employment, mean that FWA’s are now
also beneficial to men (Hofacker and Conig 2013), with greater use by them in recent years
(Lingard and Francis 2009). This growing trend of men taking a more active role in the
upbringing of children is further supported by the ability for up to 50 weeks maternity leave to
now be shared (Shared Parental Leave Regulations 2014). However, Burnett et al (2011)
highlight that some modern flexible working policies fail to sufficiently cater for fathers in
professional jobs, with expectations from employers that they should work increasingly longer
hours, leading to work life balance conflicts. Skinner and Pocock (2011) also suggest that some
employees, particularly men, think flexible working practices lead to lower income and job
insecurity.
Scientific evidence suggests that flexible working promotes physical and mental wellbeing, with
a review of 10 research studies by Wolfson Research Institute showing it is linked to reduced
stress. One study found that police officers who could alter their working times showed
significant improvements in psychological wellbeing when compared to officers on standard
working patterns (Smith 2010).
Beauregard and Henry (2009) however, propose that flexible working only leads to increased
job satisfaction and organisational commitment if employees themselves perceive that they
have increased control over their time through the usage of such flexibility. Vandeweyer and
27
Glorieux (2008) agree that the link between FWA’s and improved work-life balance will only be
seen when arrangements are voluntarily entered into rather than being imposed by the
organisation, whilst Wang and Walumbawa (2007) believe there is no clear link between FWA’s
and commitment to the organisation.
2.8. Workforce attitudes towards FWA’s
Research into the perceptions of line managers and co-workers is limited, especially within a
policing context.
A key underlying issue around the management of FWA’s appears to be the subjectivity,
personal values and beliefs of line managers. This was seen recently when an employee
successfully won a sexual discrimination case against his employer, the world’s second largest
professional services network Price Waterhouse Coopers (Crawford 2014); An employee was
told by his manager that FWA’s would damage his career and perceived FWA’s for family
purposes to be more suited to females. A tribunal found that despite diversity training, cultural
assumptions and subconscious views had influenced the judgement of the manager.
Pfeffer (2007) highlights that some managers have cynical assumptions about employee
behaviour, viewing them as inherently effort adverse; exploiting any changes in working patters
to minimise their efforts at work. FW is subjective and often managers and co-workers hold
subconscious stereotypes; for instance motherhood invokes a view, amongst some, that FW’s
lack productivity, competency and commitment (Correll, Benard and Paik 2007).
Mcarthy, Darcy and Grady (2010) recognise that managers’ attitudes towards FWA’s are
influenced by policy awareness and involvement in policy setting; in turn impacting employee
28
awareness, uptake and policy satisfaction. Surveys on both employers and employees highlight
that line manager’s attitudes are a critical barrier to effective FWA’s (CIPD 2012), with a lack of
management support sometimes resulting in increased work life conflict (Porter and Ayman
2010). Work overload and a lack of commitment and time by line managers will constrain their
ability to effectively manage FWA’s (Hutchinson and Purcell 2010).
A survey in 2012 by the Police Federation for women officers, receiving over 3000 responses,
highlighted that 18% of respondents felt FWA’s are discouraged in the police service and 4 out
of 10 were considering leaving. The survey specifically identified the need to improve the
management of FWA’s (Police Federation 2012).
Within the policing environment some attitudes and misconceptions faced by officers requesting
FWA’s have been old fashioned, with some individuals thinking that their managers perceive
FW’s to lack commitment or are being intentionally difficult (Turnbull and Wass 2012).
2.9. Benefits & drawbacks
There are a number of alleged benefits and drawbacks to FWA’s. Joyce et al. (2010) for
instance, propose that flexible working positively correlates with employee attitudes, well-being
and performance. The College of Policing have also suggested that the benefits within a
policing environment include improved morale and commitment, reduced sickness, retention of
staff and reduced training costs (COP 2013). However, they present no clear empirical research
to back up these statements. Furthermore, research by Keliher and Anderson (2008) shows a
strong relationship between FWA’s and the perceptions of job quality; however their research
also found that development opportunities and career progression were negatively impacted.
29
The following findings, unless stated, are generic discussions on FWA’s and show how some
alleged benefits are contested.

Stress levels
It is claimed that employees who achieve an effective work-life balance through FW experience
reduced stress levels in comparison to those struggling to manage competing demands
(Kossek, Kalliath and Kalliath 2012, Shagvaliyeva and Yazdanifard 2014). Ince (2004)
reinforces that FWA’s, specifically within a policing environment, can lower stress levels and
improve officer fatigue. A recent study however, focusing on the impacts of flexi-time
programmes, found no link to the reduction of stress levels and identified a negative relationship
between flexitime and job security (Eldridge and Nisar 2011). Russell, O’Connell and McGinnity
(2009) go a step further and argue that, contrary to general belief, flexibility with working
schedules may actually hinder the work-life balance and exacerbate problems.

Organisational performance
Some authors believe that there is a positive correlation between FWA’s and organisational
performance (Glass and Finley 2002, Shagvaliyeva and Yazdanifard 2014); conversely others
have found no association between the two (Wallace and Young 2008). Mcdonald, Pini and
Bradley (2007) argue that such a link, whilst possible, is not certain to be beneficial to
organisational performance.
30

Absenteeism
Maxwell et al (2007) found that FWA’s reduce sickness levels, whilst Hyland and Rowsome
(2005) were unable to find a correlation. Of note Venne (1997) found an associated increase,
however this study was restricted to employees working compressed hours and therefore does
not represent a comparable population.

Employee productivity
Stavrou (2005) found that individual productivity was enhanced by flexible working. This was
reinforced by a survey involving 1000 organisations which found that 58% of employers
believed their staff became more productive (CIPD 2012); conversely Branine (2003) identified
an increase in employee dissatisfaction through FWA’s and questioned the impact this has on
individual productivity.

Morale
Paterson (2014) highlights how FWA’s can significantly increase employee morale at work and
enhance their mental and physical well-being. During their study on the NHS, Atkinson and Hall
(2011) found that, when managed well, FWA’s can make employees feel happy at work, a
measure of employee morale. They link this to positive behavioural characteristics and
individual performance. Further research shows that FWA’s have a significant impact on
employee motivation (Ahmed, Idris and Hashim 2013) and a positive correlation with healthier
lifestyles, often resulting in increased hours of sleep and improved stress management
(Grzywacz, Casey and Jones (2007). Hutchinson (2014) highlights that FWA’s increase
employee motivation, satisfaction and engagement; resulting in higher levels of productivity.
31
2.10. Integration challenges
A study amongst nurses found differences in perceptions of the availability of FWA’s,
recognising that the 24/7 nature of nursing poses significant challenges to its successful
implementation. It highlighted inconsistencies in the management of FWA’s and suggested that
high volumes of FW’s can result in organisations actually becoming inflexible (Harris et al.
2009).
Tuffin and Balladi (2001) conducted a survey across all police forces, concluding that part-time
officers were located in a variety of roles however there were no standard procedures for
introduction or management of these individuals. Further research found that FW’s within the
police service have previously reported a lack of development opportunities and feelings of
isolation (Turnbull and Wass 2012).
By definition part-time officers have chosen a shorter working week. This can conflict with the
requirements and expectations of the organisation, which may necessitate officers to start early
and, under exigencies of duty, stay at work late, or even be called in during rest days and
annual leave (Turnbull and Wass 2012). Indeed, FW’s may actually be viewed as inflexible
within operational policing (Edwards and Robinson 1999). There is evidence to suggest that
FWA’s can be effectively integrated into the policing environment, in 2006 the Metropolitan
Police Service was selected as the working families employer of the year, offering measures to
assist officers in balancing their work-life demands; including emergency backup child care,
subsidised holiday play schemes and work-life balance advisors (Foster 2007).
32
2.11. Politics
FWA’s are currently a critical focus area amongst politicians. In 2012, Deputy Prime Minister
Nick Clegg, outlined proposals for the right to request FWA’s to be extended to all employees.
This was widely misinterpreted, with the Telegraph stating that all employees would be able to
demand FWA’s as opposed to requesting them (Peacock 2012), contributing to a significant
perceptual problem. Employees have the right to request, but not demand FWA’s and
employers have plenty of scope to refuse requests. The Daily Mail further exacerbated this
problem in June 2014, stating that employees could ‘demand’ FWA’s, if they ‘just want a lie-in or
time off to pursue a hobby’ with parents and carers potentially losing out as requests could not
be prioritised (Doyle 2014: 1).
The government recently introduced shared maternity/paternity leave between mothers and
fathers, further highlighting the importance of FWA’s amongst the countries leaders. Within their
2015 election manifesto, the Labour party lay out proposals to working families, including an
extension of free child care (BBC NEWS 2015), aimed at encouraging more parents to return to
work; indicating likely increases in the numbers of employees who will seek FWA’s going
forward. The Liberal Democrats similarly pledged to extend free childcare, introduce more
paternity leave for fathers and extend parental leave for new-borns to grandparents (Liberal
Democrats 2015).
Research by the Centre for Economics and Business Research claims that flexible working
policies could inject £11.5 billion into the British economy through efficient HR deployment and
increases in individual performance and morale; with a further £7.1 billion saving possible on
travel expenses through technology advancements and work from home schemes (Crawford
2014).
33
Working families, the UK’s leading work-life balance charity have recently created their own
manifesto to encourage the government and businesses to further promote FWA’s. It includes
proposals to have a flexible by default approach to job design and recruitment in the public
sector, to increase the length of paid paternity leave, and to introduce a national strategy on
childcare to reduce the significant costs currently faced by parents who are looking to go to work
(Working families 2015).
WMP have recently joined forces with working families to review the force flexible working policy
and make observations against other comparable organisations.
2.12. Conclusion
This review has found the concept of flexibility to be broad and somewhat lacking in theoretical
clarity with a multiplicity of meanings and interpretations. As seen, there are many alleged
benefits and drawbacks to FWA’s.
It has been suggested that many academics use the term ‘flexible’ too narrowly, with the
dominant focus often placed on the employees domestic life needs rather than organisational
need (Lake 2013). Following an analysis of the literature the researcher supports this view.
For employees, the separation between the domains of work and domestic life, which often
forms the main focus of the wider literature is complex; trying to achieve a balance between the
two can be extremely difficult and as Donkin (2010) highlights, in reality the two are inseparable.
An increased focus is now needed on trying to seek a balance between the organisations need
and that of the employees, particularly in a 24/7 emergency service environment where demand
times are often during unsociable hours and can clash with the needs of the FW. There is also a
34
need to have a greater understanding of the attitudes and perceptions surrounding FWA’s,
particularly amongst line managers and co-workers.
FWA’s within the police service are driven and initiated by employee need rather than that of the
organisations, and the concept of the flexible firm model when applied to WMP shows that
numerical and functional flexibility is restricted. Furthermore, it has been suggested that a high
volume of FW’s can result in an organisation becoming inflexible. The past decade has seen a
significant increase in the number of employees who uptake FWA’s and recent government
proposals are likely to maintain this upward trend.
This literature review has shown that flexible working in the police may result in reduced
development opportunities and feelings of isolation. An example in the Metropolitan Police
Service has shown that flexible working can, to a degree, be effectively integrated into the
policing environment. Despite this, research by the Police Federation in 2012 highlighted that
there is an urgent need to improve the management of FWA’s within the police service.
35
Chapter 3
3. Methodology
3.1. Introduction
This study seeks to understand existing flexible working practices with WMP and the challenges
which these present given the 24/7 emergency service obligations.
A key objective of this paper is to identify if FWA’s have a positive impact on employee morale.
Morale has been defined as ‘the confidence, enthusiasm and discipline of a person or group at
a particular time’ (Oxford Dictionary 2015) and is a critical factor in any organisation Mcfadzean
and Mcfadzean (2005). Indeed, it is claimed that low morale results in poor job performance and
absenteeism (Richards 2013).
This research will explore levels of job satisfaction, feelings of well-being and general
enthusiasm of flexible workers; all areas which McNall, Masuda and Nicklin (2010) claim are
enhanced through the use of FWA’s and are commonly referred to within the concept of
‘morale’.
3.2. Philosophy and methodology
An initial examination of research philosophies was used to determine the chosen methodology.
There are various research paradigms which guide the way research is undertaken, with two
core philosophical dimensions: ontology and epistemology (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill
2009). In essence, these relate to the development and nature of knowledge. Ontology is about
how people perceive a reality, whilst epistemology is concerned with the study of knowledge, its
36
presuppositions, foundations, extent and validity; and ultimately what is deemed to be
‘acceptable knowledge’. Alongside these fundamental philosophies are axiology and
methodology, two beliefs which impact the way reality is investigated. Axiology looks at how
people determine the value of things and is concerned with ethics, acknowledging how people
think differently and encompassing the researcher’s stance in relation to the subject being
studied. Methodology relates to the various approaches of the research process and is
concerned with the collection of data; focussing on why, what and how data is collected and
how it is subsequently analysed (Collis and Hussey 2009).
A chosen methodology must be suitable to achieving the intended aims and objectives of the
research. Collis and Hussey (2009) explain that research design is the art of planning
procedures to undertake a study in order to produce the most valid findings. There are two main
categories of data collection namely qualitative and quantitative.
Quantitative research, an approach typically based on positivism, produces data in numerical
form and tests theory by measuring numbers and analysing with statistical techniques. Some
researchers believe that unless human behaviour is expressed numerically it cannot be
measured accurately (Taylor et al 2004). Common assumptions underlie such research
methods including the belief that reality can be studied objectively and that the researcher is
independent and does not interfere with the research. In the social sciences, many people
believe that quantitative research is more scientific, implying precision and accuracy and
commands more respect (Berg 2004). Conversely, critics argue that the measurement process
possesses a synthetic and false sense of reality (Bryman 2008) and that it is impossible for a
researcher to remain objective without their values and beliefs hindering the research (Somekh
and Lewin 2011). Positivists believe in generalisation; extrapolating quantitative research
findings across entire populations. This theory was endorsed by Manheim et al. (2007: 119) who
37
believes that ‘a truly representative sample is a microcosm, a smaller but accurate model of the
larger population from which it is taken’.
Supporters of this approach believe that different researchers who apply similar statistical
techniques to the same problem will generate similar results. Axiologically, the researcher is
detached from what they are researching. Epistemologically, it advocates a scientific approach,
utilising numeric measures to capture an adequate level of knowledge.
Qualitative data is closely linked with interpretivism, seeking to understand human and social
activities by examining and reflecting upon perceptions. It is subjective (Collis and Hussey 2009)
and can involve participant observation and unstructured interviews through to the analysis of
words, videos, pictures, or objects. The underlying assumption is that there are multiple
realities, which are socially constructed. During data collection, researchers work closely with
individuals and groups, seeking to understand their feelings and experiences, advocating that
this provides greater depth and a more detailed picture of social life (Taylor et al. 2004).
Qualitative research should be flexible and unconstrained and has been described as an
interpretive, dynamic and free-flowing process (Corbin and Strauss 2015). Hennink, Hutter and
Bailey (2011) show us that social reality may frequently change and can have multiple
perspectives because experiences are subjective.
Berg (2004) acknowledges that the practice of qualitative research is often criticised; its nonscientific basis calling into question the validity of results. Axiologically, researchers form an
integral part of the research process; they interact with participants, gather qualitative data to
understand social constructs. Epistemologically, the research focuses on the detail behind a
situation, acknowledging that the nature of reality is subjective and different meanings will be
applied. Corbin and Strauss (2015) highlight that each person experiences and applies meaning
38
to events in light of their own biography or experiences; according to time and place, gender
and political, cultural, religious and professional backgrounds. Indeed, when a collection of
people witness or experience the same event there can be much conflict over what was said,
with differing meanings applied. Individual interpretation can be complex and is based upon
each person’s history, values and beliefs.
A risk with qualitative research is personal bias in interpretation. It is imperative that researchers
self-reflect on how they influence the process (Hamberg and Johansson 1999) and try to remain
objective. The quality of results produced using a qualitative approach is highly dependent on
the skill of the researcher.
Advantages and drawbacks exist with both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies.
Berg highlights that they offer a different line of sight directed towards the same point, to
observe and understand a phenomena (Berg 2004). An approach known as triangulation
combines different lines of sight. Using multiple, data-gathering techniques to investigate the
same problem provides an enhanced understanding of a reality. Researchers who adopt a
‘mixed method’ approach use different measurements to provide a repeated verification, thus
confirming the validity of a study Hart (2005: 349); conversely there is an argument that
quantitative and qualitative researches are incompatible and such triangulation is superficial
(Bryman and Bell 2011).
39
3.3. Research design
The research design for this study focused on:
(1)
Uncovering the differing organisational practices within WMP around flexible
working
(2)
Understanding workforce attitudes towards flexible working and whether
FWA’s positively impact morale
(3)
Exploring whether flexible working can be effectively accomplished within the
needs of WMP’s 24/7 operations
The focus of this research was limited to police officers in the ranks of PC, Sergeant and
Inspector, where the bulk of FW’s were likely to be positioned. The very nature of this research
is emotive and subjective. It is not a ‘black and white’ subject and trying to restrict the research
measurement to a quantifiable basis does not seem appropriate in understanding the ‘why’ that
sits behind research data. It is reasonable to suggest that there may be conflicting opinions
dependant on individual experiences of FW. A mixed methods approach was therefore adopted
to try and reduce the threat of inconsistencies or bias within the results obtained.
HR data was obtained, providing an initial oversight of where FW’s are positioned amongst the
many departments and teams within WMP. This provided a view of the FW demographic within
WMP as well as including a full list of relevant individuals which supported a representative
sampling approach.
40
The researcher identified three specific viewpoints which formed the basis of this research. Data
was collated from:
1. Flexible Workers
2. Line Managers
3. Co-workers (rank of PC)
In addition, a face to face interview was undertaken with an HR Manager.
The first research method employed was that of a quantitative nature, using 3 different
questionnaires, specifically tailored to each of the above target groups (appendices 2-4).
3.3.1. Questionnaires
Questionnaires consist of uniformed questions in which the respondents are offered standard
options to answer from; this includes ranking answers on an agreement scale or answering
yes/no. A single blanket questionnaire did not seem appropriate for all three groupings. The
researcher utilised the Bristol Online Survey Tool and considered the objectives and findings of
the literature review in designing a set of suitable questions bespoke to each of the three
groups. Hofstee (2006) argues that an advantage of this approach is that confidentially is
ensured to respondents, which can raise confidence and encourage a higher response rate. It is
also easier to analyse and convert results into quantitative data.
41
Flexible workers
The questions were partitioned into 4 distinct sections which sought to explore their
perspectives. This could only be completed by FW’s (appendix 2).
i.
Background (capturing gender, age, department, type and length of FWA and the
reason)
ii.
Support, morale & engagement
iii.
Training & career development
iv.
Awareness of policy and line management reviews
An optional free text box concluded the questionnaire:

How can WMP improve the management of FWA’s?
Line managers
This questionnaire followed the same format outlined above for FW’s, with questions adapted to
suit the target audience in order to obtain the relevant management perspective. It could only be
completed by respondents who were line managers of FW’s (appendix 3).
42
Non flexible workers/co-workers
This short questionnaire consisted of 3 key areas and could only be completed if the respondent
was a NFW and was not responsible for line managing a flexible worker (appendix 4).
Questions, again were tailored to this specific audience and explored their:
i.
Background
ii.
Knowledge of flexible working & perceptions of FW’s
iii.
Thoughts on training & career development
2 optional free text boxes concluded the questionnaire:

When considering flexible working within WMP, please provide any positive comments
you may have

Please provide any constructive comments you may have that will assist in improving
flexible working practices
WMP comprises over 7000 police officers, of which 1048 hold FWA’s. It was not practical to
conduct research across the entire population, therefore an electronic questionnaire link was
sent via internal email, to 400 individuals selected from the HR listing, comprising:
43
1. 250 FW’s were selected from the ranks of PC, Sergeant and Inspector and were
representative of Force Contact, FCID, PPU and the full range of departments across all
10 local policing units
2. 90 line managers at the rank of Sergeant and Inspector (across the above departments)
3. 60 NFW’s (Co-workers at the rank of Police Constable)
The majority of the three questionnaires were made up of closed questions; i.e. age groupings,
male or female, Likert scales and checklists and therefore tended to generate quantitative data.
In addition to this, the free text concluding boxes across each questionnaire enabled
respondents to write descriptive answers. This introduced a qualitative aspect to the
questionnaire and ensured that respondents did not feel constrained to just those topics
covered in the questions posed by the researcher. This provided an opportunity for individuals
to express personal opinions on any aspect of flexible working that they felt appropriate.
The steps outlined by Francis et al (2004) were referred to when constructing each
questionnaire. This was to; (i) consider the research objectives, (ii) choose a response format,
(iii) design suitable questions and (iv) pilot and revise questions prior to distribution. The survey
comprised short sentences with simple and clear language and for all closed questions the
survey tool only permitted respondents to provide one answer.
A 5 point Likert scale was chosen for many questions, which comprised of:
44
1. Strongly agree
2. Agree
3. Neither agree or disagree
4. Disagree
5. Strongly disagree
This sought to provide a measurable level of support or disagreement to the questions posed.
The majority of questions were designed to illicit responses that would explore the key objective
areas and the issues identified from the literature review; testing the common arguments. Of
course, there are other questions that could have been included however those selected were
the most pertinent to achieving the research objectives within a restricted scope of research to
comply with timescales and word count.
3.3.2. Interviews
The next stage of analysis was to apply a qualitative approach through the use of one to one
interviews. There are three common approaches to interviewing; structured, semi-structured or
unstructured (Fontana & Frey 2005), each of which was considered. Key considerations around
these approaches are:
Well defined structured interviews: These can be largely shaped by the way the researcher
defines the concepts and structures the schedule, phrases and order of questions. This
45
approach uses a predefined set of questions applied in the same order to each respondent and
such standardisation seeks to minimise the impacts that the interview process can have on the
results; tending towards a quantitative data collection approach. Advocates of structured
interviews claim that studies can be more easily replicated by others which can facilitate future
comparisons. Conversely critics claim that the researcher can heavily restrict the direction and
results of the interview (Hobson and Townsend 2010).
Semi-structured interviews: These enable the researcher to cover certain aspects of an
agenda whilst giving opportunity to participants to talk about areas of significance for them. As
Hobson and Townsend (2010) state, this approach allows the researcher to achieve both
breadth and depth in their datasets. This approach, which affords a greater degree of flexibility,
is also likely to produce answers that the researcher had not thought of. This sits in the middle
of the quantitative/qualitative continuum.
An unstructured approach: This is completely flexible with little or no set format. Corbin &
Strauss (2015: 38) claim this approach ‘provides the richest source of data for theory building’
but the key objectives of the intended research could be missed.
In light of this, a semi-structured approach was selected to ensure focus whilst still allowing
freedom for the interviewee to supply their thoughts and feelings; remaining mindful throughout
each interview that there is a risk of the researchers’ own personal bias, values and beliefs
influencing the direction of the interview (Bryman 2008). This approach can generate a good
amount of qualitative data from a small quantity of respondents which can be used to explore,
support or negate findings from questionnaires (Hart 2005).
46
The researcher designed a small set of simple and broad questions around the topic of flexible
working, specifically tailoring questions to each of the three main groupings in a similar notion to
the questionnaire approach (appendix 5).
Determining the number of interviews sufficient to present credible findings is a challenging and
subjective area. Research has however shown that saturation can occur within the first dozen
interviews and the basic elements of meta-themes (the significant dimensions of the topic being
studied) can be present as early as 6 interviews (Guest, Bunce and Johnson 2006).
11 interviews were undertaken to obtain 4 key perspectives. Confidentiality was of the upmost
importance in encouraging respondents to answer questions truthfully and freely; questionnaires
were submitted anonymously whilst interviewees were allocated numbers.
To avoid duplication of responses, leading to bias in the data, interviewees were not part of the
questionnaire sample group.
Table 1: Semi-structured interviews
Pers pecti ve
Ra nk
Fl exi bl e worker
Fl exi bl e worker
Fl exi bl e worker
Fl exi bl e worker
Fl exi bl e worker
Line ma na ger
Line ma na ger
Non fl exi bl e worker
Non fl exi bl e worker
Non fl exi bl e worker
HR ma na ger
Ins pector
Sergea nt
Sergea nt
PC
PC
Ins pector
Sergea nt
PC
PC
PC
Pol i ce Sta ff
Intervi ewee
number
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
It is recognised that the sample size within each perspective group is small and this is a further
limitation to the research findings.
47
3.3.3. Analysis of qualitative data
There are many variations on how qualitative data can be analysed with a range of
terminologies, including interpretative phenomenological analysis, conversation analysis,
discourse analysis and narrative analysis. The researcher conducted a thematic analysis of the
free text questionnaire data and the detailed written notes taken from each interview. This
method, which identifies, analyses and reports themes (patterns) is the most common form of
analysis for qualitative research (Guest 2012) and considered useful when analysing underresearched topics (Braun and Clarke 2006). Interestingly there is no clear agreement about how
to undertake a thematic analysis (Tuckett 2005, Attride-Stirling 2001) and the approach is
flexible in its nature. 6 common phases were followed:
1. Familiarisation of data
2. Generation of initial codes
3. Searching for themes
4. Reviewing themes
5. Defining and naming themes
6. Producing the report
Having followed step 1 the researcher generated codes. Coding is a word or phrase which
‘symbolically assigns a summative, salient, essence-capture and/or evocative attribute for a
48
portion of language based or visual data’ (Saldana 2012: 3). These codes were then collated
and grouped into themes. Determining what counted as a pattern and theme was subjective,
relying on personal judgement. To maximise the data output, a significant amount of time was
therefore spent carefully assigning, reviewing and naming each theme. This process is not an
exact science so, in order to optimise data interpretation, the material was re-read several
times. As identified by Corbin and Strauss (2015) it was essential for the researcher to look
critically when trying to make interpretations, regularly questioning the meaning of phrases and
words. In order to ensure focus, a copy of the research objectives, and other main issues
surrounding flexible working were regularly referred to when making the coding decisions, as
recommended by Auerbach and Silverstein (2003).
A thematic analysis was completed across the entire qualitative data set and partitioned into 7
summary tables. See appendices 6(a) - 6(g)

Interview comments – 4 tables: FW’s, line managers, non-flexible co-workers and a
senior HR manager

Questionnaire free text comments – 3 tables: FW’s, line managers and non- flexible coworkers
The most frequent and prevalent themes were placed at the top of each table; the researcher
then cross referenced these against the quantitative questionnaire results and the findings from
the literature review.
49
3.4.
Reliability and validity
Watling (cited in Winter 2000: 7) states that ‘reliability and validity are tools of an essentially
positivist epistemology’. Reliability is the degree to which research provides an accurate
representation of the wider population being studied; it looks at accuracy and the measurement
of reality. Validity looks at whether research truly does measure the intended objectives and
how truthful the results are; it is the extent to which research can be replicated and the capacity
to produce the same measurements. The author acknowledges that the relatively small sample
size of questionnaires and one to one interviews poses inherent limitations to the resultant data
sets. No claims can be made regarding the generalisability across the wider population in WMP
and research results are necessarily tentative. To try and validate the views of the respondents,
the author has drawn upon the literature review and cross references findings with HR data.
Furthermore, a mixed methods approach, which was adopted here, is said to assist in
confirming the validity of research (Creswell 2014).
3.5.
Ethical considerations
The primary research methods for this paper received approval from the Coventry University
ethics committee (appendix 7). Permission was also obtained from WMP to undertake this
research which involved the receipt and analysis of HR data. As part of the ethical submission,
a participant information sheet (appendix 8) and informed consent form (appendix 9) was
provided to all individuals confirming that their participation was voluntary and that all responses
would be treated in a confidential manner. The process to collate information through internal
questionnaires and face to face interviews was conducted on an anonymous basis in order to
comply with the commitments of the ethical submission.
50
Chapter 4
4. Results and Findings
This chapter will begin by summarising data obtained from the WMP HR department, which
provides an overview of the overall flexible working numbers for police officers; and their
deployment across departments. It will then explore the results of the questionnaires within each
of the following groups:
4.1.

Flexible workers

Line managers

Co-workers

HR (interview only)
HR flexible working data
WMP is divided into 10 local policing units; each having four core policing functions; Response,
Investigation, Neighbourhood and the Community Action & Priority team. There are further LPU
teams that sit alongside this including the Offender Management team.
Outside of the LPU’s, the force has a number of specialist teams, including FCID, Firearms unit,
Traffic, Force Contact and the PPU.
51
The number of police officers (headcount) within WMP, as of April 2015 is 7177. Appendix 10
shows the breakdown of this across differing departments and outlines the total numbers within
each ranking, from Police Constable through to Chief Constable. After deducting the loss of
employee hours through part-time/reduced hours, the actual strength of police officers is
6993.3, of which 57% are aligned to a specific LPU.
The 2001 study on FWA’s within the police service found that forces did not have effective or
standardised mechanisms for recording FWA’s, and data collection was difficult (Tuffin 2001).
In 2004, a Home Office study for police resource management also found that obtaining data
was problematic and figures were often approximated (Home Office 2004). A decade on in
2015, it was clear that such problems, to a degree, still exist within WMP.
FW data was supplied by the WMP HR department in April 2015 with a caveat that it was
unlikely to be 100% accurate and was between 6 to 12 months out of date. Furthermore, the
data reflects a snapshot in December 2014, making it slightly out of date. The information, with
permission of the HR department, has still been included in this paper to provide an
understanding of the general flexible working picture within WMP.
Table 2: Total number of flexible workers by rank & their respective proportions
Number of flexible
workers
0
0
0
0
0
2
13
108
908
1031
Rank
Chief Constable
Deputy Chief Constable
Assistant Chief Constable
Chief Superintendent
Superintendent
Chief Inspector
Inspector
Sergeant
Constable
Grand Total
52
Proportion against
rank
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%
3.10%
4.90%
11.40%
15.90%
14.60%
Table 2 above shows that 14.6% of officers hold FWA’s. The highest proportion being Police
Constables (15.9%) rapidly decreasing to just 3.1% (2 individuals) at the rank of Chief Inspector.
The overall gender split for FW’s is 79% female / 21% male. No members of the SLT hold
FWA’s.
All police officers with a FWA (1031)
56.1%
3.4%
0.9%
0.5%
0.1%
0
Annualised hours
Term Time
Multiple Flexible
Working
Arrangements
Job Share
Seasonal
Staggered hours
12.0%
Flexible working
still categorising
13.4%
Compressed hours
Staggered Hours
13.6%
Part
Time/Reduced
Time
60.0%
50.0%
40.0%
30.0%
20.0%
10.0%
0.0%
Figure 2: All police officers with a FWA (1,031 individuals)
Figure 2 demonstrates that, over half (56.1%) of all FWA’s relate to part-time/reduced hours,
with minimal job sharing agreements. Information was not available to highlight the reasons for
each FWA (i.e. child care) and 124 agreements had not been allocated to a category.
Appendix 11 shows a full breakdown of where FW’s are deployed. In summary:

61% of all FW’s are located on an LPU and spread across a range of functions; the
majority being aligned to Neighbourhood and Investigation teams

The proportion of FW’s on an LPU is as high as 20.3% (Birmingham Central & West)
53
4.2.
Interview & survey results (with discussion)
A Likert scale was frequently used to measure the extent of agreement or disagreement of
respondents to the questions within the electronic survey. The graphs in each section illustrate
the five measurements used. When discussing what the graphs show, a ‘selective interpretation’
approach has been adopted. The responses agree/strongly agree and similarly
disagree/strongly disagree have been clustered, with each relevant chart showing the more
detailed breakdown of results. Alongside this, the key findings from the semi-structured
interviews and free text questionnaire data will be presented. This mixed methods approach
enables a deeper and more meaningful discussion of the data. Finally, section 4.2.4 will present
the findings from an interview with a senior HR manager.
4.2.1.
Flexible workers
4.2.1.1.
Thematic analysis
5 FW’s were interviewed; a thematic analysis has been undertaken on the resulting data which
has identified 7 main themes and several sub-themes. A full breakdown of this can be seen in
appendix 6(a). In addition, a number of respondents provided free text data within their
questionnaires; the thematic analysis relating to this can be seen in appendix 6(b). Key themes
and relevant quotes are discussed below alongside the questionnaire results.
4.2.1.2.
Respondents
Electronic questionnaires were sent to 250 FW’s across Force Contact, FCID, PPU and
departments across all 10 LPU’s. 89 questionnaires were completed, equating to a 36% return
54
rate which is within the normal anticipated range of 30-40% for internal surveys (Survey gizmo
2010). Respondents were from a wide range of departments and geographical locations, as
outlined in appendix 11. Figure 3 below shows the breakdown of responses by rank. 40
individuals included free text (qualitative) information.
Figure 3: Replies by rank
4.2.1.3.
Data analysis & discussion
3 22
Child Care
Other
Personal Health
82
Carer
Figure 4: Reason for FWA
55
Figure 4 demonstrates that, within the selected sample almost all of the agreements were for
child care purposes (92.1%). Most respondents confirmed that their agreement was for either
reduced/part-time hours or an amended shift pattern (appendix 12).
60.7% (54) of respondents in the WMP survey were aged 26-35 years old. These findings align
with the Office of National Statistics who, in 2013, found that despite changing trends, women
are still commonly the main child carer and the mean age to have a baby is 30 (Office of
National Statistics 2013). Whilst officers have a right to request flexible working for any reason,
with each application being considered against 8 business reasons for rejection, there were no
examples identified where officers hold FWA’s in order to pursue hobbies, training courses,
charitable work or reduced hours in the approach to retirement.
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
44
25
11
6
Strongly Agree
Agree
Neither Agree
or Disagree
Disagree
3
Strongly
Disagree
Figure 5: Happy in role
Interviewees were asked whether they are happy in their role in order to gauge an initial
indication of morale. This question did not test any correlation between ‘happiness’ and their FW
status, which subsequent questions drill down into. Figure 5 shows that the majority (77.5%)
agreed.
56
45
40
40
35
29
30
25
20
15
9
10
9
5
2
0
Strongly Agree
Agree
Neither Agree
or Disagree
Disagree
Strongly
Disagree
Figure 6: As a result of being a FW my morale level at work has increased
More specifically, respondents were then asked if their morale at work had increased since
becoming a FW, which research by the CIPD (2012) cites as one of the main benefits of flexible
working. As seen in figure 6 above, the majority of individuals (77.5% = 69) agreed,
demonstrating the positive impact FWA’s can have, with increased morale commonly linked to
enhanced performance. These findings support research conducted in the NHS which found
that flexible working within a 24/7 organisation can lead to improved employee satisfaction
(Wortley and Grierson-Hill 2003).
Qualitative data (interview and free text) generally supported the questionnaire results:
‘I have got the balance right with my home life, as a result I would say my morale
is very high but this could quickly drop, it depends on how I am managed’
Interviewee 2
57
However, there were exceptions to this general trend usually associated with bad management
or negative perceptions amongst co-workers:
‘Being a FW has actually reduced my morale at work. This is because of the way
staff and management make you feel’ Interviewee 4
Figure 7: Level of support & engagement
When asked if their line manager is supportive of their FW status, 82% (73) of respondents
agreed, with only 5 individuals disagreeing, see figure 7 above. This is largely supported by the
qualitative responses:
58
‘I have had very supportive line managers who have been clear regarding their
expectations and have been fair regarding my requests’ Interviewee 1
‘My current Sergeant is supportive however for the last two years I did not have
that support’ Interviewee 4
‘I feel that WMP have been very supportive of my need to work flexibly’
Questionnaire 1
As seen in figure 7, when respondents were asked whether they have found WMP
accommodating to their flexible working needs 74.2% of individuals agreed. This positive view
was supported by several of the qualitative responses. It was however identified in the free text
responses of two individuals that WMP could do more to encourage male flexible workers:
‘Many couples are both employed by WMP and I think more support is needed for
men to work flexible/part-time. There is a stigma attached to this’ Questionnaire 24
‘There needs to be more willingness and understanding towards full-time male
officers requesting FWA’s and not carry the view its always going to be female
officers’ Questionnaire 9
Consistency in the management of FW’s has been recognised as a contentious area. Figure 7
shows that only 34.8% of individuals agreed that there is consistency across WMP whilst 52.8
% (47) disagreed. Concerns were also raised through many of the qualitative responses; 13 of
the 40 cited management inconsistency as an issue, for example:
59
‘The management of FWA’s is inconsistent across the force. Having performed a
variety of roles I have seen how differently flexi-working is managed’ Interviewee 1
‘Managers must be more consistent. Some are great, willing to listen and
compromise, others are terrible’ Questionnaire 49
It is widely suggested that flexible working enables employees to be more productive, especially
for those who feel they have a good-life balance (Galea, Houkes and De Rijk 2014). 73% (65) of
respondents agreed with this statement.
A further commonly claimed benefit of flexible working is enhanced employee commitment to
the organisation (Beauregard and Henry 2009). Jones, Ni and Wilson 2009 show that employee
commitment provides better job satisfaction and improves productivity. To test this, flexible
workers were asked if they feel more commitment towards WMP because of their FWA. Figure
7 shows that only a small majority, 58.4% (52) agreed with this, casting some doubt on the full
extent to which employee commitment is improved through the use of a FWA.
Mixed quantitative responses were received in respect of whether workloads are fair. 50.1%
(45) agreed that they are, however 35.9% (32) disagreed, indicating a lack of standardisation
across the force and potential management inconsistencies; see figure 7. The following sample
of qualitative responses support this concern:
‘At no point have any adjustments ever been made to my workload since reducing
my hours and I have always been given work suitable for a full time role’
Interviewee 2
60
‘Make sure that the work load is pro rata and do not give a FW the same amount
as a full time officer and expect them to be able to cope. This has led to me feeling
stressed’ Questionnaire 39
Wider research around work distribution has found that if it is not managed well, FWA’s can lead
to work intensification (MacEachen et al. 2008).
As illustrated in figure 7, just under half of the respondents (41.6%) felt that their FW status has
proven detrimental to relationships with colleagues, highlighting some significant concerns
around team cohesion and internal working relations. This was echoed in the qualitative
responses with some individuals feeling that colleagues and managers had negative
perceptions of FW’s:
‘The rest of the team are unhappy with those on FWA’s as this puts more stress
on them, particularly on late shifts. They make their feelings known, with
comments like ‘come when you can then’’ Interview 4
‘I often hear line managers talking about FW’s in a negative light and they intimate
it is a luxury to be able to work these hours. It something I simply need to do due
to childcare’ Questionnaire 50
Conversely 32.6% (29) felt that these relationships were the same or better.
61
45
42
40
35
30
25
20
19
14
15
11
10
3
5
0
Strongly Agree
Agree
Neither Agree or
Disagree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Figure 8: I am able to have a good work-life balance due to my FWA
Workplace flexibility seeks to enhance work-life balance; this is associated with reduced stress
levels and enhanced employee well-being (Russell, O’Connell and McGinnity 2007), which for
most respondents was the underlying purpose of their FWA. In fact, failure to achieve good
work-life balance is said to result in reduced employee morale, job satisfaction and loyalty at
work (Gregory and Milner 2009).
As shown in Figure 8, 68.5% (61) agreed that their FWA was an effective enabler to this
however the residual level of neutrality / disagreement highlights some disparity. This is despite
the findings shown in figure 7 above that WMP are, in the main, supportive and accommodating
to FW needs. `
62
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Strongly Agree
Agree
Neither Agree or Disagree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
As a flexible worker, I
feel I have the same
promotion prospects as
non flexible working
colleagues
As a flexible worker I feel
I have the same
development
opportunities as non
flexible working
colleagues
Figure 9: Training & development questions
Figure 9 above identifies that FW’s do not feel that they have the same promotion prospects or
development opportunities as their NFW colleagues, with 56.2% (50) disagreeing that their
promotion prospects are the same and the same proportion not believing that they have the
same development opportunities.
These findings are consistent with previous research in both the police service and other
professional occupations which identifies that part-time employees feel that they have less
development and promotional prospects (Dick 2004, Dick 2009). This could conflict with the
part-time working prevention of less favourable treatment regulation (2000). Indeed, when
respondents were asked how important their focus on career development whilst they were on a
FWA, over two thirds (65.2 % = 58) stated it was still important or very important to them (see
appendix 13).
63
These quantitative responses were backed up by qualitative statements such as the following
examples:
‘I don’t get as many opportunities for training courses as my colleagues. I think I
would struggle to get promoted’ Interviewee 4
‘Generally I feel if you have aspirations for promotion a FWA doesn’t do you any
favours’ Questionnaire 16
Line Management Reviews & Policy awareness
In adherence to the policy, 75.3% of respondents had received a line management review of
their FWA within the past 12 months. This does however leave a quarter of respondents outside
of policy guidelines. See appendix 14 for a breakdown.
When asked if they felt they had a good understanding of the FW policy, 32.6% (29) disagreed;
highlighting a lack of awareness amongst over a third of FW’s, despite this policy specifically
relating to them.
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
26
26
15
13
9
Strongly
Agree
Agree
Neither
Agree or
Disagree
Disagree
Strongly
Disagree
Figure 10: Overall I feel that WMP are fair in their management of FW's
64
When asked whether WMP are fair in the management of FW’s, there was no obvious
consensus, as seen in figure 10, with a small majority 43.8% (39) disagreeing. At first glance
this could be seen to clash with figure 8 where respondents felt line managers were supportive
and WMP accommodating to FW needs. However the semi-structured interviews and free text
answers provide further insight into why FW’s view management to be unfair. Managers are
seen to grant unsuitable agreements and not to tackle officers who are perceived to be taking
advantage of the FW policy:
‘The bad feeling around FW’s has been around for a long time and has been
caused by ridiculous applications being agreed, making a mockery of the system’
Questionnaire 35
Conversely there are examples where FW’s believe that they have been treated unfairly:
‘My inspector didn’t want me, stating that there are too many flexible workers, and
suggested that I should be answering the phone in the contact centre. I was upset
and asked if I should just resign. I was told that’s what the job wants me to do’
Interviewee 5
This further indicates force wide inconsistency in regard to the approval and fair treatment of
FW’s:
‘A lot of managers either 1. Run scared and grant the hours that the staff request,
irrespective of whether it works for the organisation, as they are worried about
being accused of being unfair, or 2. Are too harsh and refuse reasonable
applications’ Interviewee 3
65
The root cause of this perceived ‘unfairness’ was often cited as a lack of policy awareness
amongst managers:
‘The issues I have found with FWA’s all surround supervision not understanding
the process’ Questionnaire 88
Also, some FW’s themselves felt that managers did not consider the needs of WMP when
granting FWA’s:
‘I don’t think FWA’s are well managed. Most managers don’t understand the policy
and that it must also suit the organisation’ Interviewee 3
4.2.2. Line managers
4.2.2.1.
Thematic analysis
2 line managers, of flexible workers, were interviewed; a thematic analysis identified 7 key
themes, see appendix 6(c). Additionally, 11 questionnaires included qualitative data. The
themes were very similar and can be seen in appendix 6(d). This data will be discussed
alongside the questionnaire results.
4.2.2.2.
Respondents
20 out of 90 questionnaires were completed, equating to a 22.5% return rate; slightly lower than
anticipated. Nevertheless, a number of common issues were highlighted.
66
4.2.2.3.
Data analysis & discussion
Strongly
Agree
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Agree
Neither
Agree or
Disagree
Disagree
I have received I have a good
I feel the
sufficient
understanding organisation
training to
of the FW
supports me
confidently
policy
when I make
manage flexible
decisions
working
around flexible
requests
working
I am able to Overall, I feel I
comfortably
am able to
control the
effectively
work-flow of
supervise
my flexible flexible workers
working staff
on my team
Strongly
Disagree
Figure 11: Support, morale & engagement
Figure 11 shows a striking level of disagreement around the training and support of line
managers. 85% (17) unanimously disagreed that they have received sufficient training to
confidently manage FW requests and over half disagreed that they had a good understanding of
the FW policy. Both interviewees also identified a need for training.
‘Training is urgently needed for managers & supervisors in flexi working’
Questionnaire 4
It is said that the lack of effectiveness of many FWA’s derives from a lack of understanding
(Mcshane, Olekalns and Travaglione (2010). These findings could explain an underlying cause
for the apparent imbalance between individual and organisational need. Indeed, a separate
67
survey involving 1000 organisations identified a line manager’s ability to manage flexible
working to be one of the top barriers to the success of FW (CIPD 2012).
Management inconsistency was a key theme identified in the qualitative data. Some felt that
their counterparts allow inappropriate agreements, there is a lack of consistency, and as a result
FW’s take advantage of the policy:
‘There are inconsistencies across the LPU. I look at evidential grounds when
refusing whilst other teams just approve them. This gives my staff more of a right
to appeal as they feel they are not being treated fairly’ Interviewee 6
Figure 11 shows that 65% (13) of respondents disagreed with the statement that they feel
supported by the organisation in their decision making around FWA’s. The practical day to day
management of FWA’s appears to be a concern amongst supervision. 65% (13) disagreed that
they feel comfortable in managing the work-flow of FW’s and over half disagreed that they felt
able to effectively supervise them. It is said that organisations foster a culture of trust by offering
flexibility in the workplace Shagvaliyeva and Yazdanifard (2014), however this may clash with
the traditional ‘line of sight’ management approach, historically adopted by the police with direct
monitoring of staff (Dick 2004). Qualitative data provides a degree of support for this and shows
how some managers are not comfortable that FW’s are not fully aligned to their team and may
crossover multiple supervisors:
‘I am not always on when my FW’s are, this means they don’t have supervision.
Trying to monitor what they are doing is difficult, it’s hard to gauge how busy they
are and how much work to give to them’ Questionnaire 7
68
‘FW’s don’t always attend work when we need them to and the workload has to be
absorbed by other team members. I think some FW’s have less work given to
them as managers are not supervising them closely enough’ Interviewee 6
Strongly Agree
20
Agree
15
Neither Agree
or Disagree
10
Disagree
5
Strongly
Disagree
0
I feel I am supportive
towards flexible
workers
I understand the
need for a good
work-life balance
I believe that flexible
working retains or
enhances employee
motivation (among
flexible workers)
I believe that
flexible working
retains or enhances
commitment (among
flexible workers)
Figure 12: Management perceptions
Overall, line managers held a positive perspective towards flexible working. Figure 12 above
shows that all respondents felt supportive of FW’s and 90% understood a need for a good worklife balance believing it enhances employee motivation, a benefit which is closely linked to
morale.
There was a divide in opinion whether flexible working retains or enhances employee
commitment, with 30% disagreeing. Brescoll, Glass and Sedlovskaya (2013) suggest that
employers may view workers with family care responsibilities as exploiting FW policies, avoiding
work responsibilities and perceiving them to lack commitment; although there was no specific
reference to this within the line management interviews or free text data. Some FW’s
themselves feel that their managers perceived them to lack commitment:
69
‘As a FW I haven’t reduced my hours because I wanted to, I have done it because I
have had to, WMP appears to have the view that people do it because they don’t
want to be full time anymore’ Interviewee 2
‘I often hear line managers talking about FW’s in a negative light and they intimate
it is a luxury to be able to work these hours. It something I simply need to do due
to childcare’ Questionnaire 50
Strongly
Agree
20
Agree
15
Neither Agree
or Disagree
10
Disagree
5
0
It is important to
ensure that regular
reviews of flexible
working arrangements
are completed (every
6-12 months)
I feel comfortable in
re-negotiating flexible
working agreements
during a review
I feel comfortable in
refusing flexible
working agreements
during a review
Strongly
Disagree
Figure 13: Dealing with FWA requests
Figure 13 shows that 90% of respondents (18) felt it was important to ensure regular
management reviews of FWA’s. However, 35% (7) disagreed that they felt comfortable
negotiating and 65% (13) disagreed that they felt comfortable refusing FWA’s. This is likely to
be linked to the lack of training and perceived support from the organisation; key themes in the
qualitative analysis:
70
‘It’s easier to say yes than no to FW’s. We open ourselves up to a lot of problems
and grief when we try negotiating or refusing’ Questionnaire 10
‘I feel I have no actual power and I am completely unsupported from above. The
SLT just allow things, without accounting for the fact we cannot deliver day to day
business’ Interviewee 6
‘It is difficult to change or refuse agreements and it’s easier to just agree what
people want, we don’t get supported by senior management’ Interviewee 7
Refusal of FW requests due to a ‘quota’ in a particular area of the force could constitute
unlawful direct discrimination (COP 2013). Each should be considered on its own merits and
balanced against policing requirements. However, in practical terms, Interviewee 6 highlights:
‘It should not be first come, first served, however we cannot review everybody
else’s FWA each time a new application comes in. We have to make decisions on
team circumstances as each request comes in, existing agreements will influence
things’
The College of Policing suggest that organisational demand and service delivery should
underpin decisions on FW proposals (COP 2013). Without the support of clear empirical
research, they propose that in many instances the needs of the police service and officers will fit
together. However, contrary to this both interviewees and 4 questionnaire respondents
highlighted that the differing needs often clash, integration is difficult and the balance is in the
favour of FW’s. Samples below:
71
‘FWA’s just don’t fit within 24/7 policing. Most FW’s need to be at home when we
(the organisation) get busy on late, night and weekend shifts’ Questionnaire 12
‘Too often I have seen arrangements which benefit the individual but fail to
provide sufficient resilience for the force’ Questionnaire 3
4.2.3. Co-workers
4.2.3.1.
Thematic analysis
3 co-workers were interviewed and a thematic analysis identified 3 key themes; see appendix
6(e). In addition, 3 questionnaire responses included short free text data, appendix 6(f). These
will be referred to alongside the questionnaire results.
4.2.3.2.
Respondents
28 out of 60 questionnaires were completed, equating to a 46.7 % return rate; suggesting a
strong passion amongst co-workers to put across their views on FW.
72
4.2.3.3.
Data analysis & discussion
30
Strongly
Agree
25
Agree
20
Neither
Agree or
Disagree
Disagree
15
10
Strongly
Disagree
5
0
I feel that flexible
workers are
managed fairly on
my team
I feel that
workloads are
fairly distributed
amongst flexible &
non flexible
workers
I believe there is a
good balance
between the needs
of flexible workers
and the needs of
the organisation
I understand the
need for my
colleagues to
request flexible
working
Figure 14: Co-workers perceptions
Figure 14 shows that 28.6% (8) respondents disagreed that FW’s are managed fairly on their
team and concerns over line management were highlighted in the free text responses, for
example:
‘FW’s work across teams and nobody seems to supervise them, I think some are
incapable of working without supervision and look to do the minimal amount
possible’ Interviewee 9
73
A perception that some FW’s take advantage of the policy was also raised:
‘Many FW’s abuse the policy and they are not managed well. After all we joined
the job in a full time capacity and management should be stricter and fairer to all’
Questionnaire 18
The majority of respondents (71.4% = 20) opposed the statement that workloads were fairly
distributed between FW’S & NFW’S, highlighting a fundamental management issue and
potential impact on team working relationships. This casts doubt on a statement by the College
of Policing, which suggests that colleagues incorrectly perceive that they are carrying additional
workloads due to FWA’s (COP 2013).
Interviewee 8 supports concerns around work load distribution:
‘Unfortunately it falls onto us full time workers who seem to pick up the lion share
of the work. Workloads are unfairly distributed and what’s worse, we are the ones
being held to account’
The majority of co-workers (71.4%) did not agree that there is a good balance between the
needs of flexible workers and the needs of the organisation:
‘By having so many FW’s on the same team, it impacts our ability to serve the
public’ Interviewee 8
The balance is seen to be tipped in favour of the FW, with a lack of effective management
enabling some individuals to take advantage of the organisation:
74
‘The rest of the team constantly have to cover the work during the busier times as
FW’s have gone home, piling pressure on the rest of the department. Some FW’s
use it to their advantage and it allows them to be lazy’ Interviewee 8
‘Too many people in the past submitted plans that got through which were
completely unfair. New people expect to get the same terms. It’s a problem that’s
been created through poor management’ Interviewee 10
Despite these negative perceptions towards FW’s almost all respondents (92.8% = 26)
understood the need for their colleagues to request them.
Strongly
Agree
Agree
30
25
20
Neither Agree
or Disagree
15
Disagree
10
5
Strongly
Disagree
0
The number of flexible workers has an
adverse(negative) impact on team performance
Figure 15: The volume of FW's has a negative impact on team performance
Figure 15 above shows that 75% (21) of respondents felt team performance suffered due to the
volume of FW’s, further indicating a perceived imbalance between individual and organisational
need. Responses to how managers treated FW’s in comparison to other team members were
mixed, as shown in figure 16 below:
75
14
13
12
10
10
8
6
4
4
1
2
0
Flexible workers on my Flexible workers on my Flexible workers on my
team are treated the team are treated more team are treated less
same as non flexible
favorably than non
favorably than non
workers (by the line flexible workers (by the flexible workers (by the
manager)
line manager)
line manager)
I do not have a view
Figure 16: Treatment of FW's on the team
14
13
12
10
8
8
6
4
2
3
3
Agree
Neither Agree
or Disagree
1
0
Strongly Agree
Disagree
Strongly
Disagree
Figure 17: Overall, I think the management of FWA's within WMP is good
75% of respondents disagreed that the management of FWA’s is good, see figure 17 above.
The interviews & questionnaire thematic analysis reiterated this message, which has been
evidenced in many of the responses already included within this document.
76
4.2.4. HR manager – interview findings
A thematic analysis of the semi-structured interview with a HR manager was undertaken; see
appendix 6(g). Key points will now be discussed:
During the interview the individual stated that they felt WMP should be able, and currently do,
accommodate most flexible working requests; identifying that over the past 3 years, only 2
decisions have had to be made by an independent appeals panel:
‘I would expect an organisation as large as WMP to be able to accommodate most
requests, this may involve redeployment. Most applications are agreed and
overall, management are very accommodating to FW’s’
When looking at management refusal decisions, HR ensure that adequate business reasons
exist and question whether work can be re-organised or if there is any discrimination. This is a
concern amongst some managers who have suggested that it is easier to agree requests rather
than contest them. The interviewee however, sympathised with the challenges faced by
management and identified that there was scope for improvement:
‘I think that as a force we could improve and it is a massive task and challenge
trying to implement FWA’s into a 24/7 contracting workforce’
There was a belief that managers and FW’s should have a reasonable understanding of the
policy, and whilst there is no specific training, detailed information is available on the internal
intranet. The interviewee had heard anecdotally, that some employees feel FWA’s will impact
career advancement and argued a culture change is needed, stating that:
77
‘In my mind you could be Chief Constable and have a FWA’
The interviewee felt that the topic of FWA’s is subjective, often dependant on personal
experience. Some individuals may hold negative views towards FW’s as they don’t understand
the purpose or content of the policy. The HR manager highlighted the need for firm and fair
negotiations, ensuring a balance between organisational and personal need.
78
Chapter 5
5. Conclusions
5.1.
Summary of findings
The aim of this paper has been to explore the current attitudes and experiences of FWA’s within
WMP, amongst colleagues, line managers and FW’s. It has considered the differing
organisational practices which currently exist across the force and, ultimately whether FWA’s
can be effectively achieved in the 24/7 organisation.
The introduction section of this paper identified that the complex structure of WMP presents
difficulties in achieving a consistent approach to managing FWA’s. It highlighted that research in
2001 recognised problems in trying to integrate flexible working into the police service (Tuffin
2011) and that there has been limited research in recent years. Reductions in staff numbers,
necessitated by recent police funding cuts have exacerbated the challenges that exist in
balancing the needs of both employer and employee.
The literature review identified that, in recent years, flexible working has moved to the forefront
of HR management. This is due to advancements in technology, changes to the economy,
social trends and an increase in dual career couples balancing childcare and employment
commitments. In support of this, almost all participants in the survey cited childcare as the
primary reason for their FWA.
The terms flexible and flexibility are broad and often lead to ambiguity. There are two key
dimensions; employer and employee flexibility and sometimes the two are in conflict. Indeed,
flexibility within WMP is generally employee lead, which presents significant challenges to line
79
management and colleagues. Childcare requirements often necessitate shift patterns to be
aligned with schooling, clashing with demand times for WMP, which are usually at weekends or
during unsociable hours.
The target population for this research comprised of officers within the ranks of Police
Constable, Sergeant and Inspector. A mixed methods approach to data collection was adopted
drawing upon questionnaires and semi-structured interviews to gather a combination of
quantitative and qualitative data with the following key findings:
The HR data highlighted that a high proportion (61%) of FW’s are located across the 10
LPU’s. Managers are faced with an issue whereby the cumulative impact of this means they
struggle to cater for the unsocial 'peak demand' times. Job sharing is minimal, which if
effectively adopted could assist in addressing such resilience problems. FW’s are almost
entirely restricted to the ranks of Constable, Sergeant and Inspector, with no members of the
SLT on FWA’s. A greater understanding of the reasons for this would be beneficial in helping to
develop future talent from the FW population.
Research amongst FW’s identified that the majority feel their morale at work has
increased and that they are able to be more productive in their job as a result of having a FWA.
This supports the work of Golden (2012) who said that FWA’s improve employee morale at
work, which in turn improves productivity and organisational performance. Most individuals also
reported a benefit of improved work life balance. Supervisors are generally viewed to be
supportive, and WMP accommodating to their FW needs, however several interviewees
responded that line management is inconsistent, with some FW agreements being
inappropriately lenient and others either too strict or unfairly refused.
80
The literature review suggested that employee commitment is enhanced through the use of
FWA’s however there is a disparity in responses regarding employee commitment towards
WMP. A small majority (58.4%) agree that commitment is enhanced, casting doubt on the full
benefit. Furthermore, some free text respondents commented that both management and
colleagues perceive them to lack commitment. Whilst the College of Policing states that FW’s
should have the same opportunities for promotion and training as their NFW colleagues (COP
2013), the literature review identified that this can be affected through FWA’s. In support of the
literature, over half felt that their promotion prospects and development opportunities are
negatively impacted by having a FWA, which is likely to affect their commitment.
Workforce attitudes to flexible working were generally found to be accepting, with most
line managers and co-workers stating that they understand the need for FWA’s for their
colleagues in managing the work-life balance. The impact on team performance and cohesion
was however identified as a significant challenge. FW’s themselves reported a lack of
standardisation of work allocation, echoed by their co-workers who disagreed in overwhelming
majority (>75%) that work is fairly distributed.
Over half of line managers feel uncomfortable managing workflows, particularly as agreements
generally lead to FW’s not attending work when needed during peak demand times. Historically,
managers appear to have allowed agreements that should be contested in the current climate,
and there is a feeling that this has set a precedent for all FW’s still expecting to be given similar
agreements. The College of Policing states that a quota of FW’s in a particular area is a not a
reason in itself for FWA’s to be rejected (COP 2013). This means that the only way to fairly
manage FWA’s is to enforce robust regular reviews with re-negotiation of terms or redeployment
if required; ensuring a fair balance of employee and employer need. The feeling amongst line
managers’ is that it is extremely difficult to re-negotiate agreements once they are in place;
81
resulting in either; (1) Inconsistencies between existing and new agreements or (2) New
agreements being approved which do not meet the current needs of WMP. The balance of
power in FW negotiations currently appears to sit with employees and the level of compromise
given by some individuals could be greater.
Effective supervision is reported to be a challenge due to varying amounts of shift alignment.
This issue is apparent to co-workers where again, the vast majority responded reporting that
line management is poor, with a lack of supervision of FW’s.
The above challenges understandably have a negative impact on team cohesion. Nearly half of
FW respondents viewed their status as having a detrimental effect on their relationships with
colleagues. Whilst three quarters of co-workers stated that they believe team performance
suffers due to the volume of FW’s.
It was raised by both FW’s and line managers that training and policy awareness is poor, with
many individuals linking this to the inconsistent approach to the management of FW’s. Over half
of line managers did not agree that they feel supported by the organisation in decision making
around FWA’s and a significant majority feel uncomfortable refusing FW requests. Whilst most
see the importance of regular reviews, some feel uncomfortable in negotiations. These are
however critical for team cohesion as some co-workers perceive that their flexible working
colleagues abuse the flexible working policy and that a stricter management approach is
needed to ensure fairness within the organisation.
In summary, there is an inherent clash between FWA’s and the requirements of a 24/7
emergency service organisation and achieving a balance of employer and employee needs is
a significant challenge. Indeed, it is recognised that the nature of an organisation’s work can be
82
incompatible with FWA’s (Hutchinson 2014). Furthermore, the large and diverse nature of WMP,
with many departments and functions having varying demands and priorities, means that a
consistency in approach is inherently difficult.
Final observations:
WMP do not utilise bank staff, a form of numerical flexibility which could be used to fill gaps in
shift rosters at short notice. This is something the NHS has successfully been using for many
years. McCullough (2000) previously looked at the viability of utilising bank staff in the police
service; concerns were raised around the cost to implement such a scheme in light of annual
leave requirements, training and pension arrangements. However, Tuffin (2001) highlights that
in the past, the Metropolitan Police Service held an agreement with the Police Associates
Register, an organisation which provided a service similar to a bank staff arrangement. This has
since concluded and it appears that the organisation is no longer in existence. Nevertheless,
this is an area WMP may want to explore further.
CIPD (2015) highlight that implementing FWA’s effectively requires effort and energy;
challenges include addressing line managers attitudes, the concerns of co-workers who may
feel impacted by the use of FW and a general lack of support at senior levels. This current study
has reinforced these observations, highlighting each area mentioned to be problematic.
The researcher does not propose that the demand led nature of policing is completely
incompatible with flexible working but does feel finding the equilibrium of individual and
organisational needs will be extremely difficult, if not impossible.
83
5.2.
Limitations
It is recognised that there are a number of limitations within this research. These include:

The HR Data which was provided was caveated as not being 100% accurate and being
between 6 and 12 months old.

Upon reviewing questionnaire responses, it became apparent that input from the line
managers of FW’s who were also FW’s themselves had not formed part of the sample.
The three questionnaires did not cater for this scenario. This provides an opportunity for
further research in the future.

Time constraints limited the sample size for both questionnaires and interviews. It is
acknowledged that the number of responses does not provide a high enough confidence
level to make broader generalisations across the wider workforce.

The questionnaires comprised mostly closed questions. Whilst this enabled analysis,
there is a risk that the response options may have been directive, forcing respondents
into particular response categories; thus limiting the range of responses and issues.

This research was undertaken at a time of economic and political uncertainty, with
mandatory budgeting cuts leading to reforms in pay and working conditions. This is likely
to have influenced workforce morale and attitudes, which may have influenced the
results.
84
5.3.
Recommendations
Despite the challenges identified, if applied intelligently, FWA’s can make good business sense.
They could be used as a cost effective tool to meet changes in policing demand. The researcher
has identified three key focus areas to optimise the use of FWA’s and achieve a better balance
between employee and employer need.
5.3.1. Management of FWA’s

Outline a clear process for FWA’s; through an investment in communication and
awareness training, tailored towards specifically defined groups; including line
managers, the leadership team and FW’s themselves.

Encourage the use of trial periods for flexible working as part of all future agreements.

Introduce robust and timely review mechanisms to ensure all agreements remain valid
i.e. a system alert to remind managers.

Build in processes to monitor and evaluate the impacts of FWA’s, through regular staff
engagement and surveys.

Encourage leaders to actively support line managers and help them feel confident in
making firm but fair decisions. Steps must also be taken to remove negative cultural
perceptions relating to historic mismanagement of FWA’s.
85

Balance a stricter, but fairer, approach to the management of FWA’s by providing timemanagement training and stress awareness sessions to FW’s.

Take steps to ensure that all officers feel they have the same potential for development
and career opportunities, regardless of whether they hold a FWA. For example, this
could include presentations from staff on FWA’s who have progressed in the
organisation.

WMP could look to explore the provision of flexible, on site, child care facilities to support
employees when working outside school hours.

Explore schemes that the Metropolitan Police Service have successfully used; including
1. Emergency backup child care
2. Subsidised holiday play schemes
3. Work-life balance advisors which could enable one to one advice, training
seminars and group presentations to share best practice
5.3.2.

Recruitment and deployment
Consider recruiting a number of police officers as part-time workers with specified
working times to meet organisational demand; thus attracting individuals who may be
86
suited to this. Whilst this recruitment tactic is allowed (COP 2013), the researcher found
no such use within WMP.

For serving officers, identify and advertise for flexible working opportunities in certain
areas/roles that suit the organisation’s needs.

Review the deployment of Special Constables (a form of numerical flexibility) to ensure
maximum utilisation during times of high demand.

Utilise demand data to inform decision making around FWA’s. This would necessitate
demand profiling to be created for all roles and departments in order to understand peak
and low demand times. Current minimum staffing levels do not generally account for
changes in demand for early, late and weekend shifts.
5.3.3.

Data management
Improve the WMP HR master data recording system to accurately understand the FW
picture (being trialled).
5.4.
Future research
This research has adopted a generic view of FWA’s across the ranks of PC, Sergeant and
Inspector, with specific consideration of the balance between employee and employer needs.
87
Further research could be undertaken to focus more deeply on specific policing areas, for
instance Response policing or FCID, in order to understand the differing challenges across the
various teams. A ‘deep dive’ into specific policing areas would enable a range of perspectives to
be explored, for example amongst men, women, line managers with and without children, and
line managers who are FW’s.
This paper has uncovered a number of complexities and issues associated with FWA’s and
there is significant scope for further research into these; for example a deeper analysis of the
impacts on individual and team performance. Personnel issues such as attendance levels and
staff turnover could also be further investigated.
A further focus area would be to explore flexible working at the senior levels of the police
service. It is interesting to observe that the most senior FW’s, of which there were just 2, are at
the rank of chief inspector. The current changing culture of an increasing number of dual career
couples, balancing family commitments, would lead to an expectation of more FW’s achieving
senior positions within WMP, as is the case in other organisations such as Birmingham City
Council where the former HR Director was a FW. The HR representative suggested that there
may be a glass ceiling for FW’s and that it is difficult, in the current culture and climate within the
police service for members of the SLT to hold FWA’s. Further research could be undertaken in
this area, looking at opinions and practises within WMP as well as the wider corporate
environment. Indeed, it would be beneficial for senior leaders to send a positive message to the
workforce by effectively using and promoting well managed flexible working themselves.
88
5.5.
Personal learning statement
This study has strengthened my understanding of how to carry out effective primary research,
alongside the use of secondary sources of information to construct a comprehensive academic
paper. I now have a greater appreciation of the importance of using both quantitative and
qualitative data to arrive at accurate and valid conclusions.
It has been a challenging journey, requiring significant time commitment and focus. Strictly
adhering to a time management plan enabled me to ensure completion by the given deadline.
The primary research stage was difficult at times, due to a lack of previous research on FWA’s
within the police service. I discovered that testing survey questionnaires prior to sending them
out was an extremely important and useful exercise to ensure the correct focus. Subsequently I
have found that WMP is overloaded with internal surveys so If I were to repeat this research, I
may consider alternative research methods; for instance focus groups, to gain increased
engagement and allow a more time-efficient approach to obtaining perspectives and attitudes
from different groups of people.
89
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109
APPENDICES
Appendix 1
Flexible Working Application Process in WMP
110
Appendix 2 – Flexible Worker Questionnaire
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
Appendix 3 – Line Manager Questionnaire
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
Appendix 4 – Co-Worker/NFW Questionnaire
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
Appendix 5
Semi-structured interview questions
Flexible workers
Tell me about your knowledge of the flexible working policy in WMP
How easy or difficult was the process to become a flexible worker
How do you feel flexible workers are perceived by colleagues and supervision?
Has becoming a flexible worker impacted (positively or negatively) your morale at work?
Non flexible workers
Tell me about your knowledge of the flexible working policy in WMP
Discuss your views on the management of flexible working in WMP?
How do you feel flexible workers are perceived by colleagues and supervision?
Discuss how flexible workers are integrated into your team?
Line managers
Tell me about your knowledge of the flexible working policy in WMP
How do you feel flexible workers are perceived by colleagues and supervision?
Discuss how flexible workers are integrated into your team?
Are you comfortable in managing flexible workers? Why? Why not?
Discuss the training you have received in relation to the management of flexible working
HR managers
Do you think the wider force has a good understanding of flexible working?
How often do you revisit the flexible working policy?
Discuss the management of flexible working throughout WMP and your observations
What challenges does WMP face with flexible working?
What proportion of flexible working requests are accepted and refused
141
Appendix 6 (a)
Thematic Analysis of interview data for flexible workers
The researcher identified 7 main themes with several sub themes
Overview (Placed in order of the quantity of entries/quotes relating to each theme)
Theme
Sub-Theme
Lack of management
Lack of policy awareness
Management
Management inconsistency
Management are more strict
Co-Workers (Negative)
FW Perceptions
Management (Negative)
No Different
Employee prepared to be adaptable
Personal Need vs Organisatonal Management placing too much focus on organisational need (clashing with
Need
personal need)
Focus on personal need over organisational need
Benefits of FW
Training
Policy awareness amongst
Good
flexible workers
FW Allocation
Poor
Copy of blank template used by the researcher (example of layout)
Flexible workers (West Midlands Police Thematic Analysis - Interviews)
Theme
Sub Theme
Margin Note
Respondent
142
Date
Line(s) Quote
Appendix 6(b)
Thematic Analysis of questionnaire free text data for flexible workers
The researcher identified 4 main themes with several sub themes
Overview (Placed in order of the quantity of entries/quotes relating to each theme)
Theme
Sub-Theme
Management inconsistency
Lack of management
Management
Management are strict
Management are supportive
Lack of policy awareness
Management (negative)
FW Perceptions
Co-Workers (Negative)
Personal Need vs Organisational
Need
Management placing too much focus on organisational need (
clashing with personal need)
Focus on personal need over organisational need
Training and Development
143
Appendix 6(c)
Thematic Analysis of interview data for line managers
The researcher identified 7 main themes with several sub themes
Overview (Placed in order of the quantity of entries/quotes relating to each theme
Theme
Sub-Theme
FW's take advantage of the policy
Difficulty supervising FW's
FW management
Increased workload for others
Inappropriate deployment
Difficult integrating FW into police service
(individual/organisational needs clash)
Management (allow inappropriate
agreements)
Practical difficulties
FW Decision making
Negative (amongst co-workers)
Negative view by manager
FW Perception
Perception WMP will agree all requests
(historic precedence set)
Subjective and mixed
FW Policy Awareness
Lack of support from SLT
144
Appendix 6(d)
Thematic Analysis of free text questionnaire data for line managers
The researcher identified 4 main themes
Overview (Placed in order of the quantity of entries/quotes relating to each theme
Theme
Sub-Theme
Clash with organisational need
FW management
Management inconsistency
Lack of training
Lack of support from SLT
Decision making
145
Appendix 6(e)
Thematic Analysis of interview data for co-workers
The researcher identified 3 main themes with some sub themes.
Overview (Placed in order of the quantity of entries/quotes relating to each theme)
Theme
Sub-Theme
Poor overall management
Resilience issues further impacted by FW
FW management
Management allow inappropriate agreements
Lack of day to day supervision (clash in working
times)
Negative perceptions of FW by co-workers
FW impacts (unfair distribution of work)
Appendix 6(f)
Thematic Analysis of free text questionnaire data for co-workers
From the 20 questionnaire replies, only 3 provided free text qualitative data
1 Theme has been identified:
Theme
Management allow inappropriate agreements /
inconsistency
146
Appendix 6(g)
Thematic Analysis of interview data for the HR manager
The interview data has been partitioned into 5 key themes, with several sub-themes
Overview (Placed in order of the quantity of entries/quotes relating to each theme)
Theme
Sub-Theme
Scope for improvement
Most FW applications are agreed (positive view)
Few appeals force-wide (positive view)
FW Management
Line manager policy awareness should be
reasonable
Managers have a difficult challenge
Negative amongst some colleagues
FW perceptions
Perceived effectiveness of FW management is
subjective
Policy regularly revisited
HR involvement
Scrutinise managerial decisions when refused
No formal training for managers
FW Data inaccuracies (personnel)
147
Appendix 7
Certificate of ethical approval
148
Appendix 8
Participant information sheet – Flexible Working Research
1. Information about the purpose of the project.
This project seeks to gain a greater understanding of flexible working within West Midlands
Police and the following objectives have been set:

Understand differing organisational practices around flexible working for police officers

Explore workforce attitudes towards flexible working

Review whether flexible working arrangements positively impacts morale amongst
employees and how flexible working can be effectively accomplished within the needs of
WMP operations.
The research will focus on flexible working for police officers; predominantly between the ranks
of Police Constable through to Police Inspector (it will exclude police staff)
2. Why have I been chosen?
The research will focus on serving employees within the West Midlands Police, and you have
been chosen because you are either:

A flexible worker

A line manager of a flexible worker

A colleague of a flexible worker

An HR representative who has involvement with flexible working
3. Do I have to take part?
149
Your participation in this study is voluntary. If you don’t want to take part, you do not have to
give a reason and no pressure will be put on you to try and change your mind. You can pull out
of the questionnaire or discussion at any time. After completion of the survey or interview, you
will be able to contact the lead for this project and request that the information you have
previously supplied is destroyed and not used. There is a strict deadline of 23:59 hours on
the 5th May for any request to be made (in person, phone or email). After this time you accept
that your opinions and comments may be used to inform the findings of this research.
At the time of conducting this research, Coventry University will have reviewed and approved an
ethical application by the project Lead (Christopher Jones). This ensures that the correct ethical
practice is applied in the gathering, analysis and presentation of primary research.
4. What do I have to do?
If you agree to take part, you will be asked some questions around your views and experiences
of flexible working with West Midlands Police. There aren’t any right or wrong answers; this is
a chance to give your opinions and experiences.
You will be asked to participate in:

An anonymous survey, which should take no longer than approximately 10-15 minutes
And / Or

An anonymous interview discussion which should take no longer than an hour.
5. What are the risks associated with this project?
There are no clear, obvious or significant risks associated with your participation in this project.
150
6. What are the benefits of taking part?
It is not possible to promise that you will experience any direct benefits by having involvement
with this research, and at this stage the final outcome and recommendations cannot be
established.
However, the project seeks to identify recommendations that will improve the management of
flexible working with West Midlands Police and will look to find an effective balance between
employees’ personal needs and the needs of West Midlands Police.
7. Withdrawal options
As stated in point 3 - Your participation in this study is voluntary. You can pull out of the
questionnaire or discussion at any time. After completion of the survey or interview, you will be
able to contact the lead for this project and request that the information you have previously
supplied is destroyed and not used in the findings of this project. You do not have to give a
reason and no pressure will be put on you to try and change your mind. There is a strict
deadline of the 23:59 hours on 5th May for any request to be made (in person, phone or
email). After this time you accept that your opinions and comments may be used to inform the
findings of this research.
8. Data protection & confidentiality
All the information you supply will be confidential and used for the purposes of this study only.
The data will be collected and stored in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 and will
be disposed of in a secure manner. The information will be used in a way that will not allow you
to be identified individually.
9. What if things go wrong?
151
Your participation is voluntary and anonymous. You can request that any information supplied is
withdrawn as long as notice is given before the above deadline. If you are concerned, upset or
have any questions regarding your participation in this research, the lead of this project can be
contacted on the details listed below.
10. Who to complain to:
If you have any concerns or feel you need to make a complaint. The contact details are
as follows:
Project Lead – Christopher Jones (Police Sergeant 6545)

Mobile – 07983208998

Email – [email protected]

Address: Willenhall Police Station, Coventry, West Midlands Police
Supervisor (representing Coventry University) – Mr Stephen Clapcott

[email protected]
11. What will happen with the results of the study?
All the information that is supplied by you will be stored anonymously and securely in
accordance with the Data Protection Act 1988. An analysis of the information supplied by you
and others will be undertaken by the project lead; results will be made available within a
dissertation academic paper for Coventry University. This paper will be viewed by external
people outside the University, including employees at West Midlands Police.
152
12. Who has reviewed this study?
The West Midlands Police academic commissioning team have authorised this study and
allowed for serving employees and HR data to be accessed (anonymously).
13. Further information/Key contact detail
Project Lead – Christopher Jones (Police Sergeant 6545)

Mobile – 07983208998

Email – [email protected]

Address: Willenhall Police Station, Coventry, West Midlands Police
Supervisor (representing Coventry University) – Mr Stephen Clapcott

[email protected]
To re-iterate to all participants of this research, please be aware that:
At the time of conducting this research, Coventry University will have reviewed and approved an
ethical application by the project Lead (Christopher Jones). This ensures that the correct ethical
practice is applied in the gathering, analysis and presentation of primary research.
153
Appendix 9
Informed Consent Form Template
Flexible working within the West Midlands Police: In search of the equilibrium, employee
vs employer needs
This research seeks to gain a greater understanding of flexible working within the West
Midlands Police. It seeks to:

Understand differing organisational practices around flexible working for police officers

Explore workforce attitudes towards flexible working

Review whether flexible working arrangements positively impacts morale amongst
employees and how flexible working can be effectively accomplished within the needs of
WMP operations.
Please initial
1. I confirm that I have read and understood the participant information sheet
for the above study and have had the opportunity to ask questions
2. I understand that my participation is voluntary and that I am free to
withdraw at any time without giving a reason
3. I understand that all the information I provide will be treated in confidence
4. I understand that I also have the right to change my mind about
participating in the study for a short period after the study has concluded
(insert deadline here)
5. I agree to be filmed/recorded (delete as appropriate) and for anonymised
quotes to be used as part of the research project
6. I agree to take part in the research project
154
Name of participant: .................................................................................................................
Signature of participant: ...........................................................................................................
Date: .........................................................................................................................................
Witnessed by (if appropriate): ....................................................................................................
Name of witness: ........................................................................................................................
Signature of witness: ..................................................................................................................
Name of Researcher: ..................................................................................................................
Signature of researcher: ............................................................................................................
Date: ...................................................................................................................
155
Appendix 10
Headcount of police officers within WMP (as of April 2015)
LPU/Dept
PC
SGT
INSP
C.I.
SUPT
C.S.
Birmingham East LPU
Birmingham North LPU
370.0
224.0
46.0
29.0
13.0
12.0
3.0
2.0
2.0
1.0
1.0
1.0
Birmingham South LPU
Birmingham West and Central LPU
Coventry LPU
Dudley LPU
Sandwell LPU
Solihull LPU
Walsall LPU
Wolverhampton LPU
Total LPUs
Associations
Birmingham Partnerships
Command Team
Counter Terrorism Unit
Criminal Justice Services
DCC Task Force
Force CID
Force Contact
Forensic Services
Force Investigation Review
HR Holding Sickness Account
Intelligence
Learning and Development
Motorway Policing
Operations
Organisation and Service Development
Professional Standards
Public Protection
Regional Organised Crime Unit
Total Departments
300.0
528.0
379.0
251.0
347.0
209.0
305.0
354.0
3267.0
27
1.0
38.0
60.0
50.0
39.0
48.0
31.0
43.0
43.0
427.0
8.0
2.0
5.0
52.0
136.0
4.0
73.0
39.0
13.0
16.0
14.0
12.0
13.0
12.0
14.0
16.0
135.0
6.0
1.0
1.0
16.0
10.0
7.0
18.0
17.0
3.0
4.0
3.0
2.0
2.0
2.0
1.0
2.0
24.0
1.0
1.0
1.0
1.0
2.0
1.0
2.0
2.0
13.0
2.0
1.0
1.0
1.0
1.0
1.0
1.0
1.0
11.0
1.0
3.0
1.0
1.0
26.0
3.0
3.0
13.0
1.0
3.0
28.0
4.0
158.0
6.0
1.0
21.0
582.0
41.0
2477.0
52.0
7.0
12.0
48.0
2.0
4.0
98.0
5.0
550.0
Grand Total By Rank
5744.0
977.0
293.0
223.0
6.0
2
482.0
147.0
27
15
1.0
249
200.0
69
384
A.C.C.
D.C.C.
C.C.
Core
Establishment
435.0
269.0
8.0
1.0
1.0
1.0
2.0
8.0
2.0
1.0
1.0
51.0
15.0
10.0
4.0
1.0
1.0
356.0
610.0
448.0
306.0
413.0
256.0
366.0
418.0
3877.0
43.0
5.0
13.0
299.0
155.0
22.0
584.0
208.0
27.0
20.0
1.0
336.0
211.0
85.0
455.0
3.0
31.0
719.0
50.0
3267.0
75.0
28.0
21.0
4.0
1.0
1.0
7144.0
1.0
1.0
3.0
2.0
8.0
7.0
3.0
156
4.0
4.0
3.0
1.0
1.0
1.0
1.0
1.0
1.0
2.0
1.0
1.0
1.0
Funded
Externally
Grand Total
435.0
269.0
1.0
30.00
356.0
611.0
448.0
307.0
413.0
257.0
366.0
418.0
3880.0
43.0
6.0
13.0
299.0
156.0
22.0
584.0
208.0
27.0
20.0
1.0
336.0
212.0
85.0
481.0
3.0
31.0
719.0
51.0
3297.0
33.0
7177.0
1.0
1.0
1.0
3.0
1.0
1.0
1.0
26.0
Appendix 11
Location of flexible workers within WMP & proportion against overall team
(Includes a breakdown of FW deployment on the 10 LPU’s)
Deployment of FW
on LPU's
Number
NHT
Investigation Teams
Response
CAPT
OMT
Partnerships
LPT
Planning
OSD
157
219
205
83
44
44
17
5
3
6
Appendix 12
Type of FWA held by the respondents
40
35
35
30
27
25
20
17
15
10
5
5
4
1
0
Reduced Hours
Altered Shift
Pattern
Compressed
Hours
158
Flexitime
Other
Job Sharing
Appendix 13
Chart for Question 11(a) on the flexible working questionnaire
How important is your focus on career development at this time in your career?
10.10%
Very Important
42.70%
Important
Not Important
47.20%
159
Appendix 14
Chart for Question 13 on the flexible working questionnaire
When was your flexible working agreement last reviewed by your line manager?
45
40
39
35
28
30
25
20
15
10
11
10
5
1
0
During the past 6
months
6-12 months ago
12-18 months ago
160
18-24 months ago
2-3 years ago