Press Coverage
Flexible Working Wins Talent War
RECRUITMENT International - 2002-06-01
Flexible Working Wins Talent War
by Zena Everett
Despite preaching the benefits of flexible working to their clients, recruitment companies are wasting talent by failing to encourage Consultants who wish to work on a part-time basis. Family commitments prevent many experienced Recruiters from working traditional recruitment hours. However they often wish to remain in our industry on a more flexible basis, to continue to enjoy its high rewards. Zena Everett of Recruiters' Recruitment Company, Perriam and Everett, meets some women who have successfully made the adjustment to part-time working in recruitment and hopes that this will encourage others to follow their example.
Win-Win Benefits
Companies that have family-friendly employment policies are thin on the ground, according to new research by Henley Management College, and even those that have them make little use of them. This may have to change when the government's new Employment Bill is introduced shortly.
This will force employers to "seriously consider" requests from workers for flexible arrangements or risk facing a tribunal. But in our industry, where hours and pressures are notoriously high, working reduced hours has already shown to provide win-win benefits for both employer and employee. Our case studies show that agencies who are prepared to accommodate flexible working can retain high performers who they can't afford to lose. The Consultants continue their careers and enjoy financial rewards that would be difficult to find elsewhere. Cutting their stress levels, and making them acutely aware of how their performance will be judged, has made them more productive. There is no question that these people do a good job by any standard.
Client commitment
Heather Cockbain has the reputation for being a part time pioneer. A mother of two young boys, she works just two days a week as a Temporaries Controller for Award Winning City firm Career Legal. Heather has eleven years' recruitment experience and joined Career legal on a part time basis almost five years ago. She bills more revenue than many full time Consultants, despite her limited hours and still has a passion for the industry as well as using work to enjoy a welcome break from the children. She is always acutely aware that providing a first class service all of the time is of paramount importance and her dedication is rewarded by exceptional loyalty from her clients, 98% of whom followed her from her last company. Although her desk is covered for her when she is not in the office, her clients know her well enough to call her at home and Heather estimates that she spends another nine or ten hours a week on the 'phone on her days off.
She believes her clients are very comfortable with her part time hours in the office because her attitude of always being available means that clients really do have round the clock access to her. Heather joined Career Legal on the understanding that she would bring in business and the company would service it in her absence. She explains, " 1 am very grateful to Charles Norton who had the vision to employ me on this part time basis and the arrangement is very lucrative for both of us. 1 have the flexibility 1 need and he enjoys the profit from an extensive and very active client base. 1 had three job offers to work on a part-time basis but 1 came to Career legal because 1 was confident that Charles could guarantee a highly efficient and comprehensive service to my Clients on the days I was absent from the office. My clients are my livelihood and I could never afford to risk losing them."
You're only as good as your figures one of the problems with flexible working is the potential onus on full time colleagues who may feel 'put upon' and inconvenienced on the days the part time worker is absent. Heather is not aware of any tension and troubleshoots rare problems very effectively from home but she is sensitive to the fact that flexible working can be perceived as a soft option with good reward for very short hours. Co-operation and understanding from both colleagues and clients was necessary when Heather first started at Career Legal so that neither parties felt that they were getting a lack of commitment from her.
Clients needed ongoing reassurance that the service to them would not suffer in her absence and colleagues had to be made aware that they could always call her at home with queries and that simple telephone responses like "she's not in today, she's only parttime" may give a very negative message to callers. It took a while, and a lot of hard work, for the lines of internal and external communication to run smoothly and managing the success, the short hours, Clients and colleagues under constant pressure and in a professional manner is certainly not a soft option for anyone.
Another example of a flexible worker with full time commitment is Nicola Raho, Business Development Director for F5S, a Spherion Group company. Nicola came back to work quickly after her first child, then went part-time after her second baby. Dedicated to her career, but wanting to strike some kind of balance, Nicola said "I hate to think that sixteen years of working in recruitment is out of the window just because I have two children. I am now doing a job with even greater career options than I had before but manage to do it in four days, not five. I am lucky to have a very enlightened employer but I have worked for the company for a long time and my MD knows I will deliver."
Like many people who try to take Fridays off, Nicola doesn't call herself a part-timer and again is sensitive to that label. She stresses that she doesn't want to miss out on business opportunities and will attend client meetings on Fridays if necessary. Her mobile stays switched on all day. She is out of the house by 6.30 am at least twice a week and stays as late as she has to, even going out in the evenings to interview candidates when she has put the children to bed.
Can you manage?
Nicola previously had management responsibilities but now is completely focused on revenue generation. She doesn't need any back-up staff to support her when she is off, and arguably does a full week in her four working days. She strongly believes that having to manage staff would take away her opportunity to work flexibly. Nicky Pusey, of Parkside Recruitment in Uxbridge, disagrees. She has five people reporting to her but doesn't work on Mondays. She was promoted from Manager of the Staines office, where she worked a three and a half day week. Nicky attributes her success as a part-time Manager to working smart, getting buy in from her teams and putting a good structure in place so that staff know exactly what their objectives are in her absence. Again, she spends at least two hours each Monday on the 'phone sorting out problems and probably works another three to four hours a week at home in the evenings, so has created a situation where she can be very hands-on with her staff when she is in the office.
Confidence
Despite their different responsibilities, all three Recruiters I spoke to shared a confidence in their ability to deliver tangible results. They had negotiated their packages based on this accountability and their employers were clearly happy with the arrangement. They were also very focused, with almost ruthless time management skills. Heather Cockbain says that she plans her day in half-hour slots and will stick rigidly to these to get everything done. Nicky Pusey was a three day a week Consultant in 1992 but remained Parkside's highest biller, maximising her (reduced) client base to achieve optimum revenue. Clearly Consultants of this calibre, whilst generating revenue in their own right, are also great examples for their full-time colleagues to follow.
Our examples prove that these talented individuals are far more effective than many less skilled full-timers, despite, or perhaps because of, their other commitments. There is a shortage of good people in our industry and too many leave it because they fear a prejudice against part-time workers. If they had confidence in their ability to deliver tangible results, however, there is every reason for their careers to continue to flourish.
