Initial hype has stalled but work flexibility still important

The aftermath of the pandemic seemed to promise a great reset to the way we work, with remote and hybrid working infiltrating every industry where they were possible. Conversations around four-day working weeks and basic universal income were hot topics. Now the dust has settled some of these conversations seem to have quietened momentarily, but they are far from finished.

Sarah Healy, founder of Tools for Better, a diversity, equity, and inclusion consultancy, believes there are strong arguments in favour of the four-day work week. “The concept of the Monday to Friday work week has been challenged and challenged quite successfully in the past number of years throughout Europe,” she says. “The idea that we are more productive if we work five days has been turned on its head and pilot after pilot has proved this.”

She believes companies who give it a chance will benefit from better productivity and happier workforces. “Early adopters of this will have a greater talent pool to choose from and greater employee retention.”

The benefits can be great, improving the employees’ work-life balance and gifting time back to those juggling childcare or looking after elderly parents. However, that only works as long as the staff are not expected to fit five days’ work into four.

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Gillian Harford, country executive for the 30% Club Ireland, recalls how in a previous HR role she was speaking on a panel at a university with an executive who told the assembled crowd ‘if you work for me I’ll give you the wages to buy a Maserati’. She quickly retorted ‘and if you work for me I’ll give you the wages to buy a Ford Escort, but I’ll give you the time off to drive it’.

This value on people’s work-life balance and wellbeing has been brought sharply into focus since the pandemic created a reassessment of what really matters. Harford says: “Lots of Irish companies do offer part-time options, so in some ways that’s already there. But we need to make sure that part-time work doesn’t always become associated with women or with lower paid work.”

Frank Farrelly, chief executive and co-founder at Sigmar Recruitment, has seen remote working already retreating from its “post-Covid highs”. He suggests that perhaps “a giant leap forward in AI will allow companies to make the step to a four-day week”, but in general thinks the current slowdown has stalled the movement. “Many companies would need to remodel their workforce and/or business models to cater for it.”

Although it’s not new allowing for flexible working hours has become more widespread across many sectors. Healy says access to technology that provides around the clock accessibility to company communication platforms has been instrumental in shifting the dial on the 9-5, Monday to Friday set working week.

“A lot of research has been done to prove that flexible working hours attract a wider pool of people and help retain the right people,” Healy says. “Flexible working hours demonstrate a business’s trust in its people and commitment to enabling the right support for them.”

However, there needs to be trust and also boundaries in place; flexible working hours can go wrong if employees feel micro-managed and under pressure to account for every minute, or if the pressure to be accessible outside of office hours mounts up. “In some cases where flexible work is encouraged there is an expectation to be ‘always on’ and a person’s wellbeing can take a hit. When implementing flexibility companies need to be cognisant and clear on what their expectations are of their employees, and have this reflected in their corresponding policies and performance management,” says Healy.

Flexibility is essential to attract candidates, according to Farrelly. At Sigmar Recruitment they see clear evidence for this: “There is no doubt that jobs that advertise flexibility attract a greater response. The more flexible the greater the number and diversity of applicants.”

While not all applicants want remote working options, over 90 per cent are looking for some flexibility, and, according to Farrelly, “significantly influences job-acceptance decisions”. Commuting can be a key factor in this requirement, he says. “Commute length and convenience heavily impact job acceptance. Areas with poor public transport pose challenges, especially for junior staff who may not have access to a car.”

Having some flexibility around core office hours can make a big difference to avoiding not only rush hour traffic, but also crowded public transport, something which became even less attractive as public awareness of virus transfer heightened over the pandemic. Nobody wants to be sneezed on while packed like a sardine in a crowded bus.

Meanwhile companies that have returned to fully on-site models are struggling to attract and retain talent on that basis. Farrelly says 90 per cent of candidates expect the option to work from home at least one or two days a week if the position allows for it. “If the same position presented itself but one was fully on-site, the candidate would choose to apply for the company offering the flexible approach.”

It seems the reset has yet to find its balance. Some wonder if employers will be so flexible when the ball is back in their court in terms of recruitment.

Harford says: “We’re at a point where it’s the focus of action for so many organisations and nobody has it right yet.”

For Harford, the conversation needs to be broader than remote working versus back-to-office: “It’s a really great opportunity to think about: How do we do work? When do we do work? And how do we break up a day? How do we reflect that element of choice around how work gets done. We see potential for a much bigger conversation.”