An end to nine ’til five?
The British workplace landscape will be changing substantially over the next five years as nearly 3 out of 4 (73%) office workers envisage that working flexibly will be the norm according to a new survey. The survey will be discussed at a House of Commons event to mark the launch of the 9-2-3 Club today (Wednesday 13th September).
East Mids 58.62%
East Anglia 70.59
London 79.7
North East 77.78
North West 75
N Ireland 54.54
Scotland 64.4
South East 75.92
South West 63.89
Wales 64
West Mids 65.71
Yorks & the Humber 76.81
The Westminster event, supported by MP Victoria Prentis, aims to spark discussion between employees and employers, as the survey also showed that flexibility (26%) is often the third most important key influencer on career choices after pay and location.
There was a substantial gender difference with nearly 1 in 3 women siting flexibility as the key influencer and only 1 in 5 men – indicating the British businesses need to give female workers in particular the option of flexibility rather than forcing them to hourly commutes and being tied to their desks.
Helen Wright, the businesswoman taking the lead on the event and advocating flexible working arrangements is calling for a national flexible working day in 2018 as part of the campaign to make flexible working mainstream. As well as raising the benefits of flexible working, the campaign will highlight the need for this issue to be taken on board at executive levels and with leadership from the Government.
However the research also showed that 1 in 5 women thought that working flexibly has a negative effect on career prospects. In fact over 50% of men and women thought it made no difference or had a negative impact on their career prospects. It was Generation X (35-44) that thought it had the most negative effect on their career prospects (25%).
Helen Wright said: “This negative connotation of flexible working needs to be reversed and a greater uptake of flexible arrangements need to be created across British businesses. Working with both employers and employees, we’ve identified that flexible work is crucial to the wellbeing of employees in the workforce, but also to the productivity of organisations – but as a society we’re not doing enough about this.”
Larger enterprises – which employ 40% of the UK’s workforce1 – are being encouraged to embrace flexible working, as firms can significantly lower their workforce costs, such as office overheads and utilities, by welcoming more sophisticated and less rigid working practices. In recent years American Express reported annual savings of $10 million to $15 million thanks to its remote work options (worker productivity also rose)2. Plus of course home-working options not only help alleviate stress in workers, they also go a long way to reducing our carbon footprint.
Many SME’s have already recognised that creative ideas don’t necessarily happen between 9 to 5 and that by allowing flexible working, businesses can grow.
The aim is to:
– Encourage positive dialogue between employees and employers on flexible working
– Change negative connotations
– Highlight the companies that are embracing flexibility well
– Ensure flexibility becomes mainstream
– Advocate for greater polices that support flexibility
“It’s our hope that through this event and a future national flexible working day, the perceived negative connotations of working flexibly will be reversed and a greater uptake of flexible arrangements will occur across Britain – in fact on this day I would like to see all vacancies being advertised with some flexible arrangements. I am also calling on all candidates to ask about flexible working practices in their next interview, not a demand, just a question” Ms Wright added.
Victoria Prentis MP is adding her support to the campaign, She said: “Having job shared before I became a MP, I am really supportive of any initiative that encourages flexibility in the workplace. It is not just mums and dads who have career breaks – increasingly we are seeing people taking on caring responsibilities for elderly relatives as well. Helping these talented professionals to continue to work is so important.
“I know that the Government is keen to encourage flexible work days and programmes aimed at Returners. £5m in funding has been earmarked to help people – in particular mothers – back to work, and last month it was announced that some of this money will go towards schemes to help civil servants, teachers, social workers and health workers get back to work after a career break. We are making good progress in the right direction.”
Figures show there are 427,000 female professionals looking to return to work following a career break (which is worth £1.7bn to the UK economy)3 and a campaign to recognize the importance of flexibility will help achieve gender diversity in the workplace. However the initiative is not solely focused at women but also those who have had a career break, carers, suffered illness, over 50’s and more. Flexible working should be for all.
Mrs Wright is the founder of 9-2-3, a recruitment consultancy that aims to help professionals find flexible work, while enabling employers to harness the benefits of flexible working arrangements. A mother of 3 young children and a former broadcast journalist, she has drawn on her own experiences of transitioning back into the workplace without the necessary support systems in place. As part of the ongoing commitment to flexible practices, 9-2-3 will be launching The 9-2-3 Club, with regular meetings giving candidates the opportunity to get together, share experiences and gain in confidence before re-entering the workplace or making a flexible working request. Companies of all sizes are also being invited to take part, and join in the conversation.
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