ARE YOU TOO INFLEXIBLE FOR SUCCESS?

Technology has revolutionised the way we work, making it easier to access information to communicate and collaborate from anywhere, at any time.

And yet, for most people, Monday to Friday is still spent in the workplace with all the distractions and inconvenience of commuting, office politics and water cooler chit-chat.

Why? Because a culture of presenteeism is alive and well in the UK workplace and ‘working from home’ is still seen as a euphemism for ‘skiving’.

While all employees, regardless of their family situation, were given the right to request flexible working arrangements in 2014 provided they have completed 26 weeks’ service, this legal change to employer obligations has produced very little change in workplace practices.

It would seem that being seen to be working hard remains just as important as actually getting the job done: which doesn’t maximise the value of the technology at our fingertips or the individuals on our payroll.

As a recent IoD blog by head of corporate and large enterprise at Vodafone UK, David Langhorn, put it, the emphasis should no longer be “on how much time a coat spends on the back of a chair, but on how businesses can empower their workforce to work where, when and how is best for the individual and the job.

It’s an issue that is prevalent in the PR sector, where most agencies structure their fees based on the time they will dedicate to a client. As a result, PR professionals often end up working long days that include both the ‘visible’ hours spent on chargeable tasks like generating results and the ‘invisible’ time involved in admin, chasing their tail on stories that come to nothing and developing their knowledge of clients and their sectors.

At Clare PR, we do things differently. Firstly, as a construction PR agency, we are focused on the built environment which reduces the ‘invisible’ time we need to spend on research and analysis. Secondly, our business model is based on payment by results rather than time; so we’re not tied to the desk putting in the hours regardless of outcomes; we’re busy putting genuine expertise into getting the job done. Most importantly of all, we love what we do so we’re just as likely to scribble an idea on the back of an envelope on a Sunday morning as we are to brainstorm in the office.

The result is a business that combines office working with home working and regular time at a desk with school runs, dog walking, networking and all the other bits and pieces that make up a genuinely flexible work-life balance.

And as Colette Curry, comments, "Clare PR's flexible approach to working means that I have the freedom to fit work in around family and other commitments, as long as the work gets done. For me, if working on Sunday afternoon means I can be there for a school assembly on Monday morning I feel much more motivated."

Successful businesses value people and know how to get the best out of every individual and flexible working can have a massive impact on morale and productivity. As Richard Branson puts it: “If you look after your staff, they’ll look after your customers.”

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