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Flexibility is the key to attracting and retaining high-calibre employees, says Sam Gyimah, CEO, Workology.co Flexibility is the key to attracting and retaining high-calibre employees, says Sam Gyimah, CEO, Workology.com
The way we work has changed irrevocably. In the past, we had little choice but to accept the traditional 9-5 grind. Today, legislative changes and technological advances coupled with a shift in our own motivations have seen us exert more control over our working lives than ever before. More and more people are abandoning the once-rigid working week and are taking control of how they work, carving out for themselves a healthier work-life balance.
A recent study by Workology.com brings this mindset change in to focus. Research into the attitudes to work of 1000 professional people revealed clear motivations for working outside of the traditional 9-5.
Forty-one per cent claimed they would forgo a 100 per cent pay rise if it meant giving up control of the way they work. And while laws have been introduced to offer employees with young children a number of flexible working options, for those that took part in the research, these legal concessions don’t go far enough. According to the poll, 71 per cent believe that employers with more than 50 staff should be legally obliged to offer flexible working options – regardless of whether the employee has children.
Many businesses make the mistake of believing that offering work-life perks – such as part-time or flexible hours, the option to work from home etc – is the preserve or large, corporate organisations. But in reality, the opposite is often true. One of the distinct advantages SMEs have over larger corporates is that their smaller size allows them to be more agile in what perks they can offer their employees.
It’s clear from the study that attracting and retaining high-calibre employees is not necessarily dependent on being able to offer sky-high salaries and big bonuses. Instead, SMEs can make themselves as appealing as corporate outfits by offering their employees what many larger competitors can’t: flexibility and the ability to control the way they work. In doing so, employees are far more likely to remain loyal and stay with the company longer, which reduces employee churn and the significant costs associated with hiring new staff.
One of the most common misconceptions about flexible working is that staff will automatically opt to work fewer hours and subsequently productivity will drop. The Workology.com report, however, finds otherwise. Thirty-two per cent of those that took part in the research work between 41 and 50 hours a week, while 30 per cent work more than 50 hours per week. So even though for many respondents the hours are long, the fact that they control when, where and how they work makes it all worthwhile.
So, how can you capitalise on this burgeoning trend? Essentially, by taking advantage of your organisation’s nimble structure and keeping an open mind towards your employees’ working patterns.
Take the time to understand what makes your staff tick, and acknowledge and embrace the fact that employees’ expectations have shifted. Both male and female employees are expecting – and in many cases, demanding – more flexible working options, so resist the knee-jerk reaction that this must mean they are less committed to your company. It simply means that people are exploring new ways to strike a healthier work-life balance and streamlining their working hours is very effective way of doing so. Offering it will increase commitment.
Embrace other changes, too. Most (especially younger) employees will be exploiting the proliferation of online social media – Facebook, LinkedIn, Workology.com and others. These networks have blurred the boundaries between work and home life; many of us use these tools to network for both work and social reasons. This means today’s employees want a more fluid working environment that fits with their home life.
Despite some bad press, these sites, if used sensibly, can be a good thing for business. Your employees will be accessing a wide networking of other people through social media. By encouraging them to network and discuss ideas – with each other, and with their extended non-work network, both physically and online – you will reap the benefits of the ‘new water cooler’: the place people go in big companies to discuss ideas. This sharing of ideas, working practices and experiences can inspire dynamic thinking and creativity that will benefit your workplace. And it can offer access to other resources, which can supplement an employee’s learning and furthers their expertise.
Be flexible yourself: focus on creating a productive environment, and on achieving a goal, rather than sticking rigidly to a set 9-5 regime for your employees. You may find that they work better early in the morning, or later at night. The important thing for you as an employer is achieving the desired result, not when the work was done.
Finally, remember that a happy employee is a productive employee. The Workology.com research found that 75 per cent of flexible workers claimed that working outside of the 9-5 has improved the quality of their life either ‘enormously’ or ‘a lot’. Which means you can engender employee loyalty, fresh thinking and a happier, more committed workforce without having to rely solely on paying out hefty salary rises.
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