Flexible working is the topic of our new round of Circle of Peers which is kicking off on Thursday 18th September in London and then circulating to the Isle of Man, Sussex and Gibraltar.
Flexible working is more relevant now than ever before, not only due to the recent change in legislation, meaning that all employees are able to request flexible working, but also because of the changing dynamics of the 21st century workplace. By 2025 millennials will make up 75% of the UK’s workplace. In the meantime, we are going to see an interesting dynamic where millennials and baby-boomers will be working side by side and flexible working is going to make a huge difference as to how that relationship develops.
So with this phenomenon in mind, what does Work Smart: Work Flexibly: Flexible Working mean?
Work Smart means addressing how management is handled in your workplace. The Deloitte Millennial Survey found that ‘more than previous generations, [millennials] are ready to work independently.’ It found that millennials much prefer working independently through digital means than being restricted by the rules of a traditional workplace. This means that organisations need to move away from micromanagement and towards outcome-focused management. Unum’s ‘Creating businesses that care’ report suggests that in order to create a caring culture that will attract and retain millennials, organisations need to ‘give line managers the autonomy to make decisions and the trust to get on with the jobs they have been hired to do, and in turn, they will pass this on to their employees.’ By embracing a Work Smart attitude, managers will create a better environment in which millennials and baby-boomers can work side by side.
Work Flexibly does what it says on the tin: allows employees to work flexibly. Unum advises that ‘now that the law gives all employees the right to request to work flexibly, the opportunity to change working hours and location should become the norm, not just something women ‘ask for as a favour.’ Flexible working is not a favour. It is about creating the right circumstances for individual employees to be able to work to their full potential. Millennials are much more likely to ask for flexible working more than any other generation and according to PWC’s Millennials at Work report, they are more likely to value training and flexible working above financial rewards. By making flexible working the norm, your organisation is more likely to attract the young talent it needs.
Flexible Working refers to the legal bit. With this new legislation, this high demand and this importance of changing for millennials, how are people professionals going to handle requests appropriately and within the law? If this is a great concern of yours then book yourself onto your nearest Circle of Peers event where Cullen Scholefield will share, inform and help you formulate how best to utilise flexible working in your workplace.
The dates are as follows:
London: Thursday 18th September, Institute of Directors, Pall Mall
Isle of Man: Wednesday 24th September, Sefton Hotel
Sussex: Friday 26th September, Virgin Holidays, Crawley
Gibraltar: Wednesday 22nd October, Eliott Hotel.
Book your place here.