But beyond picking the right candidates, you need to attract them too. In this piece, we’ll look at how a positive work-life balance draws the best talent to your company, looking at how remote working, flexible parenting policies, and forward-thinking attitudes to work attract the best and brightest.
Remote working lets employees work around their lives
The way we work has changed dramatically in the past decade or so.
Where employees were previously chained to their desks for the 9-5 working day, today we can work virtually anywhere — all we need is a laptop and an internet connection.
This has been partly facilitated by our increasing reliance on technology in the workplace. Cloud-based software, video calls, and easy internet access have made it possible to work and collaborate with your team seamlessly, anywhere in the world.
But this emphasis on remote working has also been expedited by the realisation that remote working gives employees greater flexibility and freedom in their own lives too.
A flexible remote working policy recognises the changing dynamics of the workplace. As well as providing candidates with a role that works around their lives, remote working makes allowances for people to work in an environment that suits them.
For instance, if a deadline is looming and you need to focus on a project, working from the quiet of your own home gives you time and space to work without the distractions of a busy office.
Remote working removes the restrictions of the office and opens up the possibilities of a working day that is anchored to your laptop, not your desk.
Modern parenting policies embrace modern family life
Parenting policies in the UK have come a long way in recent decades.
Traditional legal guidelines placed emphasis on mothers, with paid maternity leave enshrined in law in 1975. However, this policy reinforced sexist attitudes towards parenting, virtually forcing mothers to stay at home in order for the father to continue earning. Paid paternity leave was only introduced in 2003, and even then only for up to two weeks.
But being good at your job and wanting to start a family are not mutually exclusive. In 2020, no-one should have to choose between starting a family or pursuing a career.
Flexible parenting policies stop employees from having to make that choice.
Remote working plays a big part in this. The option to work from home on a fixed basis makes it easier to coordinate childcare plans and school runs and also gives parents the option to stay home should their child get sick.
But alongside this, in order to attract top talent, businesses should also allow for flexible working within that. Let staff take time out from working to feed and bathe their children, for instance, or to pick up or drop off their kid from school or daycare.
Flexitime lets staff work to live, not live to work
It’s often said that we should work to live, not live to work. However, the necessity of the 9-5 lifestyle makes this difficult to put into practice.
Flexitime lets employees take time for activities that make them happy. Exercise, extracurricular classes, long weekends away — these are all made easier through working hours that work around the individual.
Beyond this, flexitime also accounts for the different ways in which individuals work.
Some employees might find they are more productive in the morning, hitting the ground running in the early hours. Others, however, might prefer a slower morning, really hitting their stride later on.
People work better when they are offered a fluid, flexible manner in which to work. Flexitime accounts for this by focusing on the individual instead of the whole.
Today’s job market is candidate-driven. As such, it’s down to employers to entice the best and brightest with a strong offering that goes beyond just a good salary.
The best candidates want to flourish both inside and outside of work. A positive work-life balance is crucial in attracting top talent for your business. If your employees, both current and prospective, don’t work in a place in which their personal lives can flourish, they’ll jump ship to find somewhere else.
Adopt forward-thinking working practices and embrace a positive work-life balance – in 2020, this is one of the most effective tactics for getting the best candidates for your business.
Gareth Simpson is founder and managing director of Seeker Digital, a Bristol-based outreach, digital PR and technical SEO agency.
