Flexible Working Examples for Businesses
Different types of flexible working are growing in popularity in the UK. It is predicted to boom over the next 10 years as a growing number of employees request flexible working and businesses discover the many associated benefits including attracting and retaining loyal and motivated employees.
Read our latest report ‘Flexible and Proud‘ on how some of our client companies are achieving enviable business results by embracing flexibility in the workplace.
What types of flexible working might suit my business needs?
There’s a whole range of flexible working options that could suit your business and your specific flexible recruitment requirements:
| Format | Example | Results |
|---|---|---|
| Part time week | 3 full days per week, 9.00am to 5.30pm | Delivers reduced hours where there’s no daily operational restrictions |
| Part-time days | Reduced daily hours, 5 days per week e.g. 9.00am-3.00pm | Where daily attendance is preferred e.g. client facing role |
| Nine day fortnight | Working full days but 9 days instead of 10 over a fortnight | Delivers cost saving and flexibility for the employee with little loss of capacity |
| Condensed hours | Full time hours condensed into 3 or 4 longer days | Delivers cost saving and flexibility for the employee with little loss of capacity |
| Staggered Hours | Full time hours over different times, i.e. 7am-3pm | Offers flexibility for the employee with no loss of capacity |
| Short term/medium term contracts | To cover specific fixed-term projects or roles | When a new permanent employee is not required |
| Working from home/Remote working | Some or all of the role can be worked from home | Across full or part-time hours where the person’s not required in the office |
| Local job – Zero / Reduced travel | Full time working but employee saves many commuting hours per week through working locally | Recruiting local professional people attracts a wider talent pool |
What types of flexible working structure might suit my business needs?
Beyond the type of flexible hours you may need, there are several ways you can engage your ideal professional. Ten2Two can help you find the right person in our unique member community utilising any of the main formats:
| Structure | Benefit |
|---|---|
| Permanent employee | Where you have an ongoing business need. Provides stability for the employer and employee. Encourages loyalty and provides development and flexible progression options |
| Interim | Where a long-term project, change programme or employee coverage – e,g, maternity leave cover – is required. Provides predictable, fixed term resource |
| Projects & Consultancy | Where expert skills you don’t have in-house (or enough of) are required for a day, week, month or variable periods. Enables the company to inject resource and expertise without long term commitment |
| Non-Executive | Utilising senior, highly experienced professionals to provide executive guidance on an occasional or periodic basis. Can be formal non-executive board role or a mentoring/coaching function. |
In what situations could my company benefit from flexible working ?
There are many types of flexible working formats and flexible part-time professional resources that can help your business grow and improve. Below are some examples of the types of flexible working situations Ten2Two encounters and our ‘flexible fix’ suggestions ranging from hiring a part-time professional, to a job share or allowing an employee to work from home.
“My young business needs some professional support”
Your Situation
You’re doing well and business is growing. However, the weight of administration, book-keeping and managing the website is proving tricky. It’s stopping you from spending enough time with clients and finding new business.
The Flexible Fix: Hire a part-time administrator
An experienced part-time administrator can take away the burden of your business administration. Some of our clients even call them the MD (!). You can start with just a few hours a week and build it up as your business grows.
“We’re big enough now to need a dedicated…”
Your Situation
If your business has been growing, congratulations. But when you hit a certain size, you’ve begun to need more experience and dedicated time in areas like Finance, HR (that’s probably taking up a lot of your time) or Marketing.
The Flexible Fix: Recruit a part-time professional
Think carefully about whether you need full-time hours. A professional part-time person will bring the skills you need without the cost. They’ll bring the focus that your business is demanding, along with the expertise to effectively and efficiently take the function to the next level.
“We need someone to take on a special project”
Your Situation
You’ve got a new finance system to implement; you’re making a big change in the company’s operations, launching a new product or redesigning your brand. But you’re lacking the expertise you need and there’s no-one with the time to manage it.
The Flexible Fix: Think freelance or project
Employing an experienced professional on a fixed-term contract (full or part-time hours) or on a freelance basis, lets you bring in the expertise and fill the gap in resources for as long as you need. One, three or six months is common, but there’s definitely a flexible person that can do the job.
“We need some higher level expertise and experience to grow”
Your Situation
Ever feel you can’t see the wood from the trees? Feel like you’re a little out of your depth as your business grows in size and complexity? Or are you preparing to accelerate or sell your business? Every Business Director finds themselves in this position at some point.
The Flexible Fix: Support and mentoring from a part-time non-executive
Think about hiring a senior business professional working part-time hours to support and mentor you and your team, or to give high level business guidance and support. It could be exactly what you need. From a day or two a month, or even a few hours every week, it could provide the flexible input you need.
“One of our people wants to go part-time but we need full time hours”
Your Situation
A valued and loyal employee has asked to go part-time. It happens. You don’t want to lose them, but you can’t really afford to forsake the hours that the role demands.
The Flexible Fix: Consider a job share
Agree to the reduced hours and retain your employee. They’ll probably become more loyal and more effective – and make up the hours with a part-time job share employee. This is becoming a more and more popular option for employers now. And employees can gain from a wider, complementary skillset with two people in a job share.
“We can’t do without someone in that job”
Your Situation
One of your key people has resigned. It’s going to take you months to find a replacement, but you can’t afford a gap for that long. This is a common scenario, and one that also occurs when people go on maternity leave for up to a year.
The Flexible Fix: Recruit an interim manager
An experienced interim manager with the right skills and experience can get up to speed quickly. You have full and part-time options at your disposal, as you might just need someone to ‘care take’ the role without giving them some of the more key development projects the role requires.
“I need someone but I don’t need them here all the time”
Your Situation
You’ve got a role that’s pretty self-sufficient. You don’t need someone to be in your office every day. Perhaps it involves working with clients and colleagues across different locations, or maybe it demands ‘quiet’ time such as research or financial analysis.
The Flexible Fix: Offer a home based job
Offering a working from home option can attract a wider range of good people for your role. Plus the time your employee will save (together with clear objectives and frequent, structured communications) makes this option productive and efficient. Working from home as a recruitment option even saves desk space!