Flexible working is spreading but not fast enough, Siân Harrington discovers
When the government introduced its flexible working legislation 15 months ago, there was a smile of satisfaction from food retailers.
Working mothers, those returning to work and semi-retired people were not only to be found in stores across the land, but were actively being encouraged to apply for jobs as retailers responded to changing customer service demands and longer opening hours.
It’s quite right they should feel they’ve been ahead of the game. But while there have been plenty of initiatives aimed at store level staff, what about head office?
There is still reluctance among many retailers to extend genuine flexible working practices to head office, according to flexible work specialist Flexecutive.
“Retailers have not been so quick to adopt genuine flexible working practices at their head offices. And ultimately this may be to their disadvantage,” says Carol Savage, founder and managing director.
She says rationalisation and increasing competition within the marketplace mean that retailers are competing to get the best talent, reduce staff turnover and maximise productivity. Flexible working offers a means by which to achieve this.
Yet, suggests Flexecutive research, the only staff regarded as working flexibly at head office are those engaged in functions obliged to meet store requirements out of hours, such as IT support and human resources. Furthermore, in a Chartered Management Institute and Adecco UK survey of 1,500 managers published last month, retail had the dubious honour of taking the top spot when it came to lack of work-life balance and was second only to the transport industry in terms of numbers of hours worked in excess of those contracted. A third of retail managers worked more than 14 hours a week over while 57% said they were missing family or social occasions because of work pressure.
“There is a long hours culture,” says Petra Cook, head of policy at the CMI, “and this is having an effect on performance. Head office managers said they couldn’t give their full capacity as they were too exhausted and had no time to recharge their batteries.”
While nearly four in 10 wanted flexible working initiatives, for example compressed working weeks, fewer than 6% believed this would ever happen.
“Energy levels among managers in retail are dangerously low,” says Richard Macmillan, managing director of Adecco. “However, it’s clear managers are not afraid to work at this level, providing their ideas are heard and they can be made to feel valued, empowered and allowed to work more flexibly. Companies need to sit up and address this before it’s too late.”
n Part-time Fewer than 30 hours per week
n Job share Typically a full-time job split between two part-time workers, often with an overlap
n Flexitime Contracted hours are fulfilled but there is flexibility about when they are worked
n Home/remote working Working from alternative locations away from the main office
n Compressed hours Like working the hours of a five-day week but compressed into four
n Annualised hours A form of compressed hours but assigned for the whole year: more hours might be worked during peak times, fewer outside peak times.
Why introduce flexible working?One in four people now work over 48 hours a week, leading to higher stress levels, absenteeism and health problems.
So no wonder that research among senior managers in private and public sectors has shown that both male and female employees desire a greater flexibility in working patterns - 93% of women and 81% of men want more flexible job roles.
However, the same senior employees also felt that working on a more flexible basis might lead to lower pay, diminished opportunities for promotion and less challenging project work and activities.
But a study of the performance of flexible workers showed that managers of flexible workers rated 96% of them as outperforming their colleagues who worked in the traditional way.
The best performance benefits came from job-sharers, where managers rated them as producing a third more output than full-time counterparts.
With the benefits of flexible working to both employer and individual being so dramatic, there is a groundswell of opinion in favour of flexible working practices. Benefits to employer and employee result in benefits to the customer - and therefore to the bottom line.How to sell flexibility into your organisation?n Make sure that you tie in any flexible work proposals to your key business drivers - do not introduce a flexible policy simply because it is the trendy thing to do
n Make sure your proposals are in partnership with the operations team and indeed other key teams in the business - this cannot be ‘just another HR initiative’ or it will fall at the first fence
n Make sure your policy is all-inclusive, eg not just for mums returning to work
n Understand what your company wants to change in order to attract and retain key staff, and then benchmark this against what you need to deliver to your customers and what your employees require
n Create a process whereby teams can own flexibility by setting their own rules and objectives, and giving feedback on what is working and what is not
n Set up a team pilot exercise and feed back these results before proceeding with a full corporate roll-out.
The few food retailers that have extended flexible working practices from store to head office are benefiting, says Savage. As one retailer asked in Flexecutive’s survey said: “Flexible working can be used to access talent and drive customer service.”
Another said: “Every single one of our flexible working policies comes from our staff themselves. They show we’re serious about listening to staff and that we really mean it when we say it’s our people who make the difference in our business.”
Savage says head office flexibility should be based on understanding and recognition of the role that an employee performs.
“One supermarket chain has evolved a flexible working approach for its entire staff,” she says. “Though initially discounted, as management believed its staff resource would deliver less, two years later it rates the new approach as highly successful.”
This company has clear policies for flexible working at head office, with specific rules in place. For example, it does not hold meetings before 10am or after 4pm unless through mutual agreement across the team. The reason? “Because we have to take account of the many professional women we have working within the team.”
Management employees are expected to work the time they feel is appropriate and may take time off in lieu. This flexibility is not monitored and works on a trust basis.
The retailer sees work-life balance as an essential requirement for the future. It believes that, while some people may not want flexible working right now, it is important the options are there.
Tesco says its head office staff have the same access to flexible working as store staff. “Everyone can request flexible working and line managers have guidelines,” says a spokeswoman. “This way we get the best from staff when they are in work.”
She says Tesco’s most popular options are job sharing and working from home.
However, CMI’s Cook says many employees are afraid of asking for flexibility. “Unless people are prepared to put their head above the parapet it won’t happen. Many are worried their career opportunities will diminish,” she says.
She agrees staff must be consulted. “Unless you actively involve the workforce, completely inappropriate schemes will be dreamt up.”
There are enormous benefits from introducing flexible working practices into the head office workplace - in terms of staff retention and morale, individual and personal development, commercial gain and competitiveness. CMI monitors of growing and declining companies show those on the up tend to have more flexible working practices. And it is no coincidence those companies within Flexecutive’s survey who embrace flexible working are the market leaders.
When the government introduced its flexible working legislation 15 months ago, there was a smile of satisfaction from food retailers.
Working mothers, those returning to work and semi-retired people were not only to be found in stores across the land, but were actively being encouraged to apply for jobs as retailers responded to changing customer service demands and longer opening hours.
It’s quite right they should feel they’ve been ahead of the game. But while there have been plenty of initiatives aimed at store level staff, what about head office?
There is still reluctance among many retailers to extend genuine flexible working practices to head office, according to flexible work specialist Flexecutive.
“Retailers have not been so quick to adopt genuine flexible working practices at their head offices. And ultimately this may be to their disadvantage,” says Carol Savage, founder and managing director.
She says rationalisation and increasing competition within the marketplace mean that retailers are competing to get the best talent, reduce staff turnover and maximise productivity. Flexible working offers a means by which to achieve this.
Yet, suggests Flexecutive research, the only staff regarded as working flexibly at head office are those engaged in functions obliged to meet store requirements out of hours, such as IT support and human resources. Furthermore, in a Chartered Management Institute and Adecco UK survey of 1,500 managers published last month, retail had the dubious honour of taking the top spot when it came to lack of work-life balance and was second only to the transport industry in terms of numbers of hours worked in excess of those contracted. A third of retail managers worked more than 14 hours a week over while 57% said they were missing family or social occasions because of work pressure.
“There is a long hours culture,” says Petra Cook, head of policy at the CMI, “and this is having an effect on performance. Head office managers said they couldn’t give their full capacity as they were too exhausted and had no time to recharge their batteries.”
While nearly four in 10 wanted flexible working initiatives, for example compressed working weeks, fewer than 6% believed this would ever happen.
“Energy levels among managers in retail are dangerously low,” says Richard Macmillan, managing director of Adecco. “However, it’s clear managers are not afraid to work at this level, providing their ideas are heard and they can be made to feel valued, empowered and allowed to work more flexibly. Companies need to sit up and address this before it’s too late.”
Why introduce flexible working?One in four people now work over 48 hours a week, leading to higher stress levels, absenteeism and health problems.
So no wonder that research among senior managers in private and public sectors has shown that both male and female employees desire a greater flexibility in working patterns - 93% of women and 81% of men want more flexible job roles.
However, the same senior employees also felt that working on a more flexible basis might lead to lower pay, diminished opportunities for promotion and less challenging project work and activities.
But a study of the performance of flexible workers showed that managers of flexible workers rated 96% of them as outperforming their colleagues who worked in the traditional way.
The best performance benefits came from job-sharers, where managers rated them as producing a third more output than full-time counterparts.
With the benefits of flexible working to both employer and individual being so dramatic, there is a groundswell of opinion in favour of flexible working practices. Benefits to employer and employee result in benefits to the customer - and therefore to the bottom line.How to sell flexibility into your organisation?
The few food retailers that have extended flexible working practices from store to head office are benefiting, says Savage. As one retailer asked in Flexecutive’s survey said: “Flexible working can be used to access talent and drive customer service.”
Another said: “Every single one of our flexible working policies comes from our staff themselves. They show we’re serious about listening to staff and that we really mean it when we say it’s our people who make the difference in our business.”
Savage says head office flexibility should be based on understanding and recognition of the role that an employee performs.
“One supermarket chain has evolved a flexible working approach for its entire staff,” she says. “Though initially discounted, as management believed its staff resource would deliver less, two years later it rates the new approach as highly successful.”
This company has clear policies for flexible working at head office, with specific rules in place. For example, it does not hold meetings before 10am or after 4pm unless through mutual agreement across the team. The reason? “Because we have to take account of the many professional women we have working within the team.”
Management employees are expected to work the time they feel is appropriate and may take time off in lieu. This flexibility is not monitored and works on a trust basis.
The retailer sees work-life balance as an essential requirement for the future. It believes that, while some people may not want flexible working right now, it is important the options are there.
Tesco says its head office staff have the same access to flexible working as store staff. “Everyone can request flexible working and line managers have guidelines,” says a spokeswoman. “This way we get the best from staff when they are in work.”
She says Tesco’s most popular options are job sharing and working from home.
However, CMI’s Cook says many employees are afraid of asking for flexibility. “Unless people are prepared to put their head above the parapet it won’t happen. Many are worried their career opportunities will diminish,” she says.
She agrees staff must be consulted. “Unless you actively involve the workforce, completely inappropriate schemes will be dreamt up.”
There are enormous benefits from introducing flexible working practices into the head office workplace - in terms of staff retention and morale, individual and personal development, commercial gain and competitiveness. CMI monitors of growing and declining companies show those on the up tend to have more flexible working practices. And it is no coincidence those companies within Flexecutive’s survey who embrace flexible working are the market leaders.
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