Increased flexible working will modernise recruitment industry, says leading recruiter
1 July 2014
Increased use of flexible working will bring recruitment firms “often stuck in the 1980s” into the 21st century.
Tue, 1 Jul 2014 | By Nicola Sullivan
Increased use of flexible working will bring recruitment firms “often stuck in the 1980s” into the 21st century.
This is the opinion of Guy Hayward, chief executive of financial recruiter Goodman Masson, who said he has no fears that yesterday’s extension of flexible working rights to all employees will pose significant challenges for the recruitment industry.
He argued that rigid working structures of old are no longer essential to run a business effectively. “Organisations should look after their people and part of that is flexible working,” he told Recruiter.
He added: “There is most definitely a correlation between high levels of employee engagement and business performance. Flexible working can be part of that.”
He did stress, however, that additional requests needed to be handled carefully and interview processes needed to take account of the impact employees working flexibly had on workplace teams. “We have to be a little careful about how flexible working integrates with the spirit of the team and the camaraderie,” he explained.
Andy Hogarth, CEO of logistics and manufacturing recruiter Staffline, said that flexible working had a role to play when it came to attracting talented staff. He also highlighted that the extension of flexible working rights presented an “opportunity” for recruitment firms, which can help companies plug any gaps that flexible working might create. “It is absolutely the nature of what we do,” he added.
Barney Ely, director of Hays Human Resources, said more and more employees expect flexible working to be part of their benefits package. “Whether these wishes will materialise into flexible working requests is yet to be seen,” he told Recruiter, “but there is a clear appetite for flexible working and employers will need to take this into account when discussing the benefits they offer during the recruitment process.
“We will be working closely with our clients to help them understand the benefits of flexible working on their employee value proposition and recruitment processes.”
Increased use of flexible working will bring recruitment firms “often stuck in the 1980s” into the 21st century.
This is the opinion of Guy Hayward, chief executive of financial recruiter Goodman Masson, who said he has no fears that yesterday’s extension of flexible working rights to all employees will pose significant challenges for the recruitment industry.
He argued that rigid working structures of old are no longer essential to run a business effectively. “Organisations should look after their people and part of that is flexible working,” he told Recruiter.
He added: “There is most definitely a correlation between high levels of employee engagement and business performance. Flexible working can be part of that.”
He did stress, however, that additional requests needed to be handled carefully and interview processes needed to take account of the impact employees working flexibly had on workplace teams. “We have to be a little careful about how flexible working integrates with the spirit of the team and the camaraderie,” he explained.
Andy Hogarth, CEO of logistics and manufacturing recruiter Staffline, said that flexible working had a role to play when it came to attracting talented staff. He also highlighted that the extension of flexible working rights presented an “opportunity” for recruitment firms, which can help companies plug any gaps that flexible working might create. “It is absolutely the nature of what we do,” he added.
Barney Ely, director of Hays Human Resources, said more and more employees expect flexible working to be part of their benefits package. “Whether these wishes will materialise into flexible working requests is yet to be seen,” he told Recruiter, “but there is a clear appetite for flexible working and employers will need to take this into account when discussing the benefits they offer during the recruitment process.
“We will be working closely with our clients to help them understand the benefits of flexible working on their employee value proposition and recruitment processes.”
