Our Core3 candidates are passionate about office lifestyle, and they love having the freedom of working from home too. From purchase ledger to interim financial controller, finance professionals have changed expectations regarding their working lives and for employers hoping to find the best talent, it pays to be flexible!
The COVID-19 pandemic altered the way we work forever, and before 2020, working from home was the exception rather than the rule. The proportion of those in employment reporting that they worked exclusively from home rose from 5.7% of workers in January/February 2020 to 43.1% in April 2020. In the same month that year it was reported that 46.6% of workers did ‘some’ work from home, and of those, 86% did so as a result of the pandemic. With advice from the government constantly changing, how will home working in the UK look for the remainder of 2023 and into 2024?
At Core3 we believe the hybrid working model – blending the advantages of both office-based and remote work – strikes the right balance. It gives employees the flexibility they need while preserving the collaboration benefits of face-to-face interaction. The sense of camaraderie, impromptu brainstorming sessions, and learning and mentorship opportunities that you are exposed to in an office environment are irreplaceable. However, if an individual can offer a distinct skill set remotely and their role doesn’t demand physical presence, then why restrict them to an office setting?
This flexibility is especially useful when it comes to interim or temporary contracts and the recruitment of staff for short periods. When looking to hire an interim financial controller, for example, the hybrid model offers benefits to all parties – with so many applications and programs now being cloud-based, no longer is there the need for a physical desk in a physical building, meaning overheads can be saved on that front, and the very practical effort of setting-up and making space for someone can be avoided altogether. Whereas previously an interim financial controller would require as much infrastructure as a full-time person to start their temporary role, hybrid working enables them to start and finish their tenure with little to no disruption or practical outlay at all.
Besides the practicalities, flexible working arrangements foster a more inclusive environment. They enable individuals who might have been side-lined in a conventional 9-5 office setting – such as parents, caregivers, or those with disabilities – to actively contribute to the workforce. Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that flexible working can play a pivotal role in narrowing the gender pay gap, often providing women, who still shoulder a disproportionate amount of caregiving responsibilities, with a more balanced work-life dynamic.
This being said, the very jobs that are suited to working from home are those where ethnic minorities and people from lower socio-economic backgrounds are seriously unrepresented – for example, those who can and do work from home are more likely to have a degree, than those who are working jobs that can’t. A business needs to do more than offer flexible working conditions to become more inclusive.
In the UK, the majority of employed people are full-time based at their workplace (approximately 60%) due to the nature of their jobs – customer-facing, retail, driving, construction, to name a few. It is estimated that around 10% of employees are working almost entirely from home, while the rest of the working population are operating on some version of a hybrid model of working. So, the question begs asking; ‘is working from home here to stay?’ The answer is yes. The pandemic disrupted the working patterns forever, and for the vast majority of workers, this is viewed as a positive outcome.
However, most employees have a preference for hybrid (approximately 50/50 split between home and office), rather than an exclusive working-from-home pattern for their week. With the cost-of-living crisis off the back of the pandemic, now more than ever, people are looking for any way they can save money. Gone are the long commutes or constant re-fuelling of the car, quite simply, people cannot afford it anymore – the 2020 average price for petrol was 119.9 per litre, contrasted with 2022’s at 159.9! People’s salaries have not been increased by the 25% that the petrol price has in the past two years, and so hybrid working is one very practical way they can save some money.
It is not just the employee who can save money, but the company too. We’ve already touched on the savings that can be made for interim roles, but the same can be said for our full-time employees as well. Offering flexibility is key, with people increasingly desiring the mentoring, networking and collaborative opportunities found in the office, alongside the opportunity for quiet, focused work which can be done at home.
With this flexibility comes a necessity for managers to adapt their style too. The way that recruitment, development and management are conducted must take into consideration the flexibility expected and required by their candidates and employees. When you can no longer look across the office to check someone is sat at their desk, there has to be a shift to managing an employee’s performance based on what they are producing on a daily basis, rather than what time they clocked in or out at. This is a big adjustment to make, but a vital one if you are wanting to attract and retain the best candidates out there.
As your recruitment partner, Core3 use technology to amplify your brand with dedicated landing pages, employer brand videos, virtual job descriptions, social campaigns, co-branded advertising and thought leadership events all helping you find the right candidates. Get in touch today for a chat with an expert.
