We all remember a time when a full-time role meant being office based 5 days per week: with little to no flexibility on home working and or/reduced office hours. Since Covid, people’s mind set has changed – enjoying a better work/life balance whilst also being able to do your role effectively and efficiently from home.
This has in the main benefited individuals as well as companies. Those organisations based outside of the big metropolitan areas have been able to attract more diverse talent. Working parents have been able to juggle home and work life better, meaning they don’t have to downgrade their role just because they are a parent.
However, this change in working patterns has been in the news again recently after Nigel Farage called for an end to working from home. For everyone. He dismissed the notion that people can be more productive working from home as ‘a load of nonsense’.
For many, working from home is not just a nice to have but a must have. One of the first questions we get asked from candidates is ‘what is the company’s hybrid working policy’? This shows us that continuing to have flexibility around office presence is still very important to job seekers and could be a main factor as to whether the vacancy would be of interest. From a company’s point of view, offering a hybrid working model opens up a wider talent pool, not being limited to candidates who live within the immediate/local area.
A hybrid working model offers both collaborative working when required in the office, but also that much desired work/life balance (not to mention a reduction in travel time!) which appeals to the majority of job seekers.
That said, we are seeing a reduction in preference for fully remote roles from candidates, with people citing wanting to be with fellow team members for relationship building and collaboration; often finding working fully remote to be isolating and not offering the same opportunities (such as training/guidance) that you would if you were onsite. On that last point, we do advocate more inexperienced members of staff to be in-person with their employer and their team as much as possible, to learn from seeing / hearing how others do the job and to build a lifelong network.
The trend we have seen is candidates being more selective on the roles they apply for. Many are comfortable where they are and will only move for the ‘right’ role which ticks all of their boxes. By offering only full time office based, will your business be able to attract the best talent, or just those that your competitors do not?
We absolutely see the benefits of working in person, together to solve problems and create new ideas. There is definitely a purpose to being in the office. But that is what is should be based around, not just a tick box presenteeism. We would strongly encourage all organisations to offer a hybrid and/or flexible approach to the working week, whilst also having times that their teams can collaborate face to face and nurture their leaders of the future. Not only will this attract a higher volume and more diverse interest, but it could also be the deciding factor on them accepting your role.