Activity 2.1.5
EXXONMOBIL – EMPLOYEE TRAINING AND FLEXIBILITY
Evaluate ExxonMobil’s decision to adopt flexible work patterns amongst their workforce.
Workforce can be defined as the people or individuals involved in work. In this context, ExxonMobil
is making the decision to adopt flexible work patterns amongst their workforce, which means the
people will have more freedom in terms of work.
ExxonMobil’s decision to adopt a flexible work pattern for their workforce will certainly be
advantageous for the workforce themselves. This is because with flexible work patterns, workers can
have better organizational skills in terms of dividing their working time with recreation time. For
example, certain types of workers such as parents, they can easily manage their time for work and
family time so as to have a work-life balance. Moreover, with flexible working patterns, employees
of ExxonMobil’s can choose their working hours, which allows them to eventually manage their time
wisely so that they can do more activities throughout the day.
Not only will ExxonMobil’s decision to adopt flexible work patterns benefit the workforce, but also
the business on its own as it saves money. When adopting flexible work patterns, there are
possibilities that some employees would work from home instead of going into the office on a daily
basis. This certianly will be beneficial for the business as not as much office space will be needed for
all employees as they would only come on certain days. In addition, in certain cases, the office might
get busier at certain days where more employees will be needed to come to work. Therefore, if
there are slack times on certain days, employees do not have to attend work, and thus saving money
for their wages.
However, there are also some drawbacks ExxonMobil will have to experience when they decide to
adopt flexible work patterns. One of them includes a struggle in communicating or spreading
information to all employees. Although technology has been developing rapidly, holding emergency
meetings or discussions could still happen, which may not be possible for the employees of
ExxonMobil to attend if it is not during their working hour. For instance, an economic crisis suddenly
occurred where the managers asks for a meeting to be held, there are possibilities that employees
outside of the working hour will not be able to attend. Therefore, effective communicaiton will be
more difficult.
Lastly, if many ExxonMobil’s employees decide their working hours on their own, or even working
from home, it will be hard for the managers or directors to monitor their productivity and progress.
With more freedom, employees might take advantage of the situation and postpone or feel relaxed
whenever they are given an assignment. For instance, if employees were given an assignment due in
two days, since they are not monitored by their managers, they might postpone their work and cram
it the night before the due date. Therefore, it could lead to lower productivity of the business.
All in all, ExxonMobil’s decision to adopt a flexible working pattern comes with both advantages and
disadvantages. One advantage include less money wasted on working space and more working
opportunities for people at all range, while some disadvantages include possibilities of less
productitivty and struggle in communication.
EXXONMOBIL – EMPLOYEE TRAINING AND FLEXIBILITY
Evaluate ExxonMobil’s decision to adopt flexible work patterns amongst their workforce.
Workforce can be defined as the people or individuals involved in work. In this context, ExxonMobil
is making the decision to adopt flexible work patterns amongst their workforce, which means the
people will have more freedom in terms of work.
ExxonMobil’s decision to adopt a flexible work pattern for their workforce will certainly be
advantageous for the workforce themselves. This is because with flexible work patterns, workers can
have better organizational skills in terms of dividing their working time with recreation time. For
example, certain types of workers such as parents, they can easily manage their time for work and
family time so as to have a work-life balance. Moreover, with flexible working patterns, employees
of ExxonMobil’s can choose their working hours, which allows them to eventually manage their time
wisely so that they can do more activities throughout the day.
Not only will ExxonMobil’s decision to adopt flexible work patterns benefit the workforce, but also
the business on its own as it saves money. When adopting flexible work patterns, there are
possibilities that some employees would work from home instead of going into the office on a daily
basis. This certianly will be beneficial for the business as not as much office space will be needed for
all employees as they would only come on certain days. In addition, in certain cases, the office might
get busier at certain days where more employees will be needed to come to work. Therefore, if
there are slack times on certain days, employees do not have to attend work, and thus saving money
for their wages.
However, there are also some drawbacks ExxonMobil will have to experience when they decide to
adopt flexible work patterns. One of them includes a struggle in communicating or spreading
information to all employees. Although technology has been developing rapidly, holding emergency
meetings or discussions could still happen, which may not be possible for the employees of
ExxonMobil to attend if it is not during their working hour. For instance, an economic crisis suddenly
occurred where the managers asks for a meeting to be held, there are possibilities that employees
outside of the working hour will not be able to attend. Therefore, effective communicaiton will be
more difficult.
Lastly, if many ExxonMobil’s employees decide their working hours on their own, or even working
from home, it will be hard for the managers or directors to monitor their productivity and progress.
With more freedom, employees might take advantage of the situation and postpone or feel relaxed
whenever they are given an assignment. For instance, if employees were given an assignment due in
two days, since they are not monitored by their managers, they might postpone their work and cram
it the night before the due date. Therefore, it could lead to lower productivity of the business.
All in all, ExxonMobil’s decision to adopt a flexible working pattern comes with both advantages and
disadvantages. One advantage include less money wasted on working space and more working
opportunities for people at all range, while some disadvantages include possibilities of less
productitivty and struggle in communication.
