Navigating Recruitment in Q4 2024
As we transition into autumn, the UK employment market continues to evolve. Here are the key trends observed by our senior recruitment specialists. Market Growth The UK economy has shown…
Attitudes and expectations around work are changing more rapidly than ever, and what once worked like a charm to entice the best employees won’t always be so successful. That’s why it’s vital to think about how you can attract employees with benefits, keeping them up to date and competitive. One of the many reasons to adopt flexible working is that it’s by far the most popular employee benefit, and thus the most effective for staff retention and attraction.
The flexible approach to work comes in many variations, so businesses should try to think creatively when establishing their policies: a one-size-fits-all approach is unlikely to be popular with everyone. Wherever possible, flexible working terms should be negotiated with individual employees, as flexible working styles will depend on the person, their team, management and the company itself.
Below are the five types of flexible working employers should consider offering.
Remote working
Full-time remote working gained many new converts during the pandemic, and they’re not about to give up their ‘new normal’ easily. While having employees completely off-site may concern some employers, you can’t ignore this highly desirable option. With the right safeguards in place, such as secure remote servers for remote employees to log in to, and regular communication throughout work hours, studies have shown that productivity isn’t adversely affected, and may even improve!
Hybrid working
Not all employees want to give up the camaraderie and team culture completely, and will jump at the chance to split their weeks between collaborative office work and focused days at home. This office/home split is now very widespread, and despite some misconceptions about hybrid working, it’s proving to be a perfect middle ground for businesses of all sizes.
Flexi-hours
Flexible working hours allow employees to change their core business hours, updating their start and finish times to best suit them. Additionally, it can also mean that business hours are extended. This can be a huge help to parents who need to pick up children from nursery or school, or employees with other care obligations. To prevent too much disruption, employers will often stipulate that workers using this benefit must be present in the office during core business hours, and work a standard eight-hour day.
Job share
Job sharing, where two employees share one full-time role, is particularly popular among return-to-work parents, or those who want to work part time. Of course, it requires careful communication between the two parties to ensure nothing is missed. At Tiger, our job-sharing employees typically overlap one day a week for this reason.
Reduced hours
A reduction in work hours is also an option for those wanting to work flexibly. Examples include employees’ shortening their lunch breaks to leave work earlier, as well as employees compressing their standard working weeks into fewer days.
In addition to these examples, flexible working may also mean that employees need to demonstrate flexibility to benefit the team. If an employee is based in another time zone, for example, it could mean that they work to suit the head office’s hours, or agree to change their WFH day to cover another employee.
In every case, a successful flexible working arrangement should take an individualistic approach, with management and teams working together to recognise these options as legitimate ways of working. Learn more about this alternative way of working in our guide to flexible working.
If you’d like to speak to a consultant about hiring best practices, or if you’re looking to recruit, get in touch today!
