National Work Life Week

This week is National Work Life Week – an annual campaign to highlight the importance of flexible and family-friendly practices in the workplace. The campaign is run by ‘Working Families’, a national charity with working parents at its heart.

This year, the focus is on increasing access to flexible working and finding the flex in every role, which is more important than ever given the current cost-of-living crisis. We should be starting conversations about all of the ways flexibility can work, and the important role recruitment has in making flexibility an everyday part of working life.  Here are five reasons why you should start recruiting flexibly, according to Working Families and SF recruitment:

It will expand your talent pool. 

You want the best person for the job, so why would you limit your options? Our research shows that the majority of parents and carers won’t apply for jobs that don’t mention flexible working in the advert, meaning you could be missing out on a wealth of talent and experience. Advertising jobs with flexible options is a fast-track solution to widening your talent pool. 

It's good for business. 

Flexible working makes sense – it enhances productivity and employee engagement, as well as reducing staff turnover. Remember that flex is not just about remote or hybrid working. It’s possible to find flexible solutions in all roles across all sectors. Once you start designing and advertising jobs with some flexibility, you can unlock all these benefits for your business. 

Flex is now a must-have. 

Offering flexibility is no longer just a nice-to-have: our research found that over half of parents would be willing to consider leaving their job for a more flexible role. In a market where there is a shortage of skills, employers who strengthen their proposition through offering flexible options are more likely to hold on to valued staff. 

It unlocks employment opportunities. 

For many parents and carers, having an element of flex is the only way they can access employment, and in some cases can help people avoid paying for formal childcare. In the current financial climate, finding flexible solutions within roles and ensuring job adverts state what flexibility is on offer will mean that more of the people who need work can find it. 

It will help your people thrive. 

Investing in your top talent is a sure-fire way to keep them, and their expertise, in the business. Yet the lack of flexible roles at senior levels is stopping people achieving their potential, not to mention limiting the talent pool. With nearly a third of parents working below their skill level in flexible jobs, there is an opportunity to design flexible jobs at all levels to make the most of this untapped talent. 

Working Families has provided a ‘Top Tips for Employers’ Toolkit to help you kick start your efforts – please get in touch if you would like a copy of this or need further support with re-profiling, drafting adverts or flexible working in general.