Line managers influence who takes up flexible working

If an employee’s line manager is perceived to hold negative attitudes towards flexible working, this can make them reluctant to take up the opportunity to work flexibly. In a study looking at reduced load work, Gascoigne and Kelliher (2018) found that manager views had a significant influence on employees’ decisions about whether to ask for flexible working (or whether to consider alternative options, such as leaving the organization, remaining full-time, or delaying going part time). Kossek et al. (2016) interviewed line managers about their perceptions of using reduced load work; they found that managers were more likely to be supportive of this alternative work pattern if they perceived employees to be high performers, flexible in their use of reduced load work, and employed in suitable jobs. Less supportive managers expressed concerns that commitment to the organization and productivity would be adversely affected by reduced load work. They felt that a request for reduced load work acted as a warning of employees who were not coping with demands of the full-time job.

Earlier research suggested that managers’ knowledge of flexible working practices was often variable, which could affect their ability to offer flexible working to their employees (Casper et al., 2004). Managers may be unsure how to put organizational flexible work policies into practice and believe that they will have difficulties supervising flexible workers and managing their performance (Van Dyne et al., 2007). Indeed, managers often hold negative views about flexible working due to the tension between granting autonomy and maintaining control as a manager (Peters et al., 2010). Negative views are also associated with line managers who believe that flexible working is being used out of self-interest rather than to increase productivity (Leslie et al., 2012). In making decisions about requests to work flexibly, Klein et al. (2000) found that managers were more likely to approve requests to work part time for employees whose performance was considered good, would be likely to leave if their request was denied, and would be difficult to replace.

There may be a trickle-down effect from the attitudes and actions of senior management to those managers who are tasked with implementing flexible work policies. Williams et al. (2017) found that even though senior executives recognized the strategic benefits of having flexible work policies, they still reported concern about the impact of flexible working on productivity.

This was reflected in differing practices across organizational divisions, indicating that implementation depended on the extent to which senior managers signalled support through open communication and encouragement of flexible working practices. The study concluded that senior management attitudes resulted in a tendency for inconsistent practice across the organization and for leaving decisions to local discretion. In addition, when executives did not work flexibly themselves, this tended to reinforce the message that flexible working is career limiting. However, when line managers themselves have caring responsibilities, they tend to be more amenable to flexible working (such as schedule i-deals), leading to greater satisfaction with work-family balance for employees (Las Heras et al., 2017). The development of an organizational culture that supports flexible working and encourages better worklife balance can help to mitigate negative managerial attitudes. For example, Bourdeau et al. (2019) found that line managers held differing attitudes to work-life balance policies depending on whether they were perceived as enabling policies (i.e., which allowed latitude in when, where, and how long employees work), and those which operated in an enclosing way (i.e., which promoted work intensification). They found that line managers tended to view the latter as a signal of work devotion, rather than the former, but that the subsequent impact on employees’ career development was mitigated by organizational norms (for family supportiveness).

In contrast to quite a negative picture in terms of managerial attitudes towards flexible working, there is some evidence that increasing experience of managing flexible work and the increased incidence of flexible working practices being embedded in organizations, may lead to more positive attitudes. For example, Gascoigne and Kelliher (2018) found that their interviewees spoke of trying to identify managers who might be more amenable to flexible working due to cultural differences; one interviewee notes that a Swedish line manager was more receptive to the idea of flexible working compared to a UK manager within the same international company. Thus, we might expect that negative managerial attitudes may cease to act as a barrier to employees taking up flexible working opportunities over time, as line managers grow in confidence with further experience of flexible working in future.