Jonathan Moss

Is working 9-5 becoming a thing of the past? – a conversation with Sally Little from The Growth Company

Flexible working is fast becoming one of the most sought-after benefits on the market across all business sectors. From working parents looking to support a growing family to millennials in search of a better work/life balance, more-and-more candidates are seeking out flexible working arrangements in their next employer. It is therefore becoming increasingly important to consider offering flexible working arrangements as a standard benefit in order to appeal to the best candidates on the market. Sally Little, Group Head of Financial Accounting & Reporting at The Growth Company was one of those candidates. We recently worked with Sally to find her current role and she says that the flexible working on offer at The Growth Company was one of the major deciding factors in her decision. Stephanie Tasker, Principal Consultant at Sellick Partnership sat down with Sally to get her thoughts on the importance of flexible working, why she thinks it is so important in modern day society and why more businesses should follow suit and implement flexible working policies as a standard benefit. Flexible working – the deciding factor For many modern-day candidates, the thought of working nine to five, five days a week is becoming hugely outdated, with an increasing number of candidates seeking out employers with flexible working arrangements that fit in with their life at home. As a recruiter I have witnessed this change and can confidently say that flexible working is one of the most sought-after benefits on the market, often being placed above salary in many instances. Sally Little, who I recently placed at The Growth Company agrees. While looking for her next role it was important to find an organisation that would fit around her life at home. “I live in Preston so being able to have 2 days working from home means a couple of days when I can take my kids to school and overall gives me a much better work/life balance.” This is a common theme with the candidates that I and the wider team here at Sellick Partnership speak to on a daily basis. The majority, if not all, of the candidates on our database are seeking or would like some sort of flexible working arrangement in their next role. In the last 12 months a large percentage of my placements alone have chosen their current employers as a result of the flexible working arrangements they offer, proving that it is becoming a major deciding factor for a lot of candidates. A growing shift towards flexible working Flexible working has always been high on the agenda for candidates I have worked with, especially those looking for work within the public sector, however now we are witnessing the increase across all sectors and industries. Only 6 percent of UK employees are working the traditional hours of 9 to 5 according to a new poll carried out by YouGov. That means that 95 percent of the current working population work hours that fall outside what we would class as ‘the norm’. The same report also found that just 14% of employees would opt for working 9 to 5 if given the choice. I also feel there has been a shift in the types of candidates that are seeking flexible working arrangements. A few years ago, if you asked me the types of candidates that wanted flexible working, I would probably have said that more experienced candidates with families saw it as a priority. These days however it is much more widely requested. Everyone from recent graduates straight through to CEOs are now seeking some sort of balance which means that businesses that are not offering flexible working are putting themselves at a real disadvantage. What can businesses offer? To me, flexible working isn’t just about the hours you put in at the office. Yes, it is a real benefit to candidates to allow them to alter how many hours they do or change start and finish times to suit their needs. But some businesses are going the extra mile and giving employees even more flexibility. Take the Growth Company for example... they introduced agile working in March giving their employees the flexibility to choose where they work, when they work and the way they work. Agile working can be anything from mobile working, remote or home working, hot-desking, or just more flexibility around the times of your working day. Being agile helps to create a performance-based culture which promotes trust, outputs and efficiency. As part of implementing agile working, The Growth Company introduced flexible working hours, giving employees the flexibility to manage their own working day between the hours of 7am and 7pm subject to business need. This was huge cultural change for the organisation and required significant planning to upgrade equipment and prepare employees, but six months since launch they are reaping the benefits with employees being empowered to manage their working day and attracting the best candidates on the market, like Sally Little. This flexibility was one of the reasons Sally accepted her role so she can work around her commitments at home. Talking about the policy Sally said: “We can work between 7am to 7pm from any location. We have the flexibility to choose the way we work but this is around work priorities and is managed locally in teams how often you are expected to be in the office, as some of our teams are client facing. It is expected that I will be in the office 3 days a week on average however others have much lower expectations to attend the office.” For flexible working to work it needs to suit the needs of employees of all kinds. This could mean starting and leaving the office earlier or working from home a few days a week. While speaking with Sally I was delighted to hear how popular the initiative has been. She added: “Everyone has engaged with this, very few employees are in the office 5 days a week now. The ability to hot desk allows you to meet people you wouldn’t normally sit with and to work in your own preferred style (i.e. desk, multiple screens, café tables, large group meeting tables)”. It is this type of flexibility that is giving some companies a real competitive edge and is becoming the key deciding factor when experienced candidates are accepting a role. Giving prospective employees an alternative to working the normal 9 to 5 allows businesses to recruit from a much wider geographical talent pool. Flexible working requires trust to be a success There is no question that the demand for flexible working is huge and is continuing to grow, which makes me wonder why there are still businesses and some sectors that are refusing to adapt and change with the times. Although quite rare, we still speak with some employers that are not equipped or able to offer any forms of flexible working for their staff, which often puts them at a disadvantage from the offset when recruiting. But why are some businesses and managers still hesitant to offer something that is so widely well received? When speaking with Sally she told me that she believes that trust is the basis of making flexible working a success. She said: “Some managers worry that if you can’t see your staff you don’t know what they’re doing. This comes down to leadership not management and trust within a team.” I found this a very interesting point and find myself agreeing with what Sally is saying. Many of the organisations that I see that are still hesitant to offer flexible working are very performance and KPI driven, so them not having trust that the work will be done fits. However, I think this is a shame as there are plenty of sales businesses such as ourselves at Sellick Partnership that have proven that flexible working can work in a highly pressured sales environment, and these businesses that are hesitant should take stock and follow suit, otherwise they risk falling behind and will likely struggle to recruit. Successful businesses can reap the rewards Flexible working however is not just a fad, in fact it has a huge number of benefits for employees and employers alike. Benefits such as employee satisfaction, motivation, increased productivity and even financial benefits have all been linked to successful flexible working policies. At the Growth Company they believe agile working: has improved business performance and customer satisfaction helps to attract and retain talent provides a more responsive and competitive service supports better work-life balance and health and wellbeing enhances productivity and has helped achieve cost efficiencies in their estate that has been reinvested into the business Introducing agile working also helped The Growth Company make changes to improve the way they work which has contributed to being awarded Investors in People Silver. The future of flexible working What does the future hold for flexible working? Personally, I only see the appetite for it increasing. I agree that trust and respect of colleagues is the basis of making anything work, but if an employer can ensure they have this I do not see why flexible working can’t continue to evolve, especially as digital developments continue to make remote working even easier. I personally take advantage of flexible working in my current role at Sellick Partnership. As a mother I needed to be able to work my hours around my commitments at home and being able to do this has greatly assisted in my development and career as a recruitment professional. Without this support I may not have been able to achieve what I have, so I know first-hand how important flexible working can be. Sally agrees… “On the days I’m not in the office I work when I would otherwise be commuting and the lack of interruptions from office noise keeps me focussed and allows me to increase my outputs. I am a happier person as the guilt of wanting both a career and motherhood is reduced and I feel I am a more rounded person as a consequence”. Can we help you? We have helped numerous businesses implement successful flexible working benefits with great results. If you would some advice on how to approach flexible working, and what types of policies will attract the candidates you need, get in touch. Alternatively, you can engage with this article, or others like it on the Insights section of our website or on Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook.

Key skills candidates need to be successful within Finance & Accountancy

Are you interested in finding out what skills are in demand across the Finance & Accountancy sector? Senior Consultant Liam Cox spoke to one of his clients who told him what skills finance candidates should be concentrating on, and offered his insight into what hiring managers might be looking for in the future. It can be hard to build a successful career within any sector, not least a sector that is becoming increasingly caudate-led. As a result, candidates looking to secure a job within Finance & Accountancy need to set themselves apart. A good way of doing this is by ensuring they develop and showcase the key skills many hiring managers look for across the sector. Finance professionals that continually build on their skills and react to the market are always the most sought after, and generally do very well throughout their career. But what skills doe hiring managers within the sector look for? Senior Consultant Liam Cox spoke to one of his key clients to find out the skills he is looking for, how candidates can showcase their experience during the application process and also what skills he thinks will become increasingly important in the future. What are the key skills you usually look for in candidates joining your team? There are a number of things we would normally look for, especially in junior candidates joining our team. One of which is confidence and how they come across. This is becoming increasingly important because of the direction that the sector is taking. The Finance & Accountancy sector is moving towards more of a “business partnering”, so we look for candidates that have a higher commercial acumen that we did previously. Candidates that have excellent communication skills, and that are able to relay financial data to stakeholders at varying levels is also highly important. We also want to try and test their team fit; how they will operate in a close knit environment and if they’re willing to help others. This is especially important to us as we have a small team and everyone we employ needs to get stuck in and help where possible. We tend to do this by asking scenario questions throughout the interview process. Experience is also a bonus. It isn’t always essential depending on the role but we can teach them what they need if they demonstrate they’re flexible and willing to learn from us. How have the skills of Finance & Accountancy candidates developed in recent years? The main difference tends to be that candidates nowadays lack “qualification skills”. We tend to find that candidates have a broader, more varied skillset rather than specific knowledge that you would likely gain through qualifications. This can swing both ways, it can be a bonus for a role that is likely going to have a lot of variety as they will have generally already had some good exposure. However, the higher up the ladder you go can have a detrimental impact as senior candidates generally need to be qualified and have some specific, niche training and experience. Having said that, I do think that the personality of some new accountants has definitely developed over the years, which is great to see. I think there is a much greater focus on soft skills now than there was when I first started my career, which will stand people in good stead moving forward. What skills is your team/the industry lacking the most? I don’t think my team is lacking a huge amount of skills, as I tend to ensure I hire junior candidates that I can develop and ensure they learn the skills we need them to have. We assess their capabilities of picking things up quickly and how open they are to learning from the interview stage and generally try and hire candidates on that basis. In terms of the sector as a whole, the biggest shortfall is the lack of qualified accountants on the market. My peers across the industry often talk to me about the struggle they have finding qualified candidates that are the full package, and have the right mix of technical ability and soft skills that they need. When looking at a CV to shortlist a candidate, what are the main things you look for? I generally look at a CV and score each section out of four in-line with the person specification and job description. This gives me a really good understanding of if the person is right for us, and usually helps me come up with a strong shortlist of suitable candidates. In terms of specifics, experience is the main thing I tend to look for, but the level of experience varies depending on the role. I then look for someone that I feel has the right personality and will be the right cultural fit for our business. To decide this I usually look to see if they have added any extra-curricular activities to their CV as this can give you a different perspective and can make one candidate stand out over another. I also appreciate that some younger candidates may not have achieved as much at work, so it can be nice to see candidates mention why they are looking to move on and what they are looking for in a new role. Generally it tends to be for progression, but it’s good to see. Are you looking for some support on writing your CV? Check out our CV guide and downloadable CV template here. What would you ask a candidate at interview to find out if they have the relevant skills/experience for your business? We would try to see if they’d done any research on both us as an organisation and the sector before the interview. With the financial pressures within the Public Sector at the moment, we need to know that a candidate is sure this is the right move for them and that they show a willingness to join us. Also, if we’re going to be investing in their long-term future, we need to know they’ve made an effort to show us they want the role. The kind of questions we would ask to find this out are: What do you know about us as an organisation? What kind of pressures do you feel the sector is facing at the minute? Who would our clients or customers be apart from the obvious? We would also ask specific personality and scenario questions related to the skillset of the role. As I’ve said, team fit is a big part of what we try to operate so we would definitely be asking about how they would see themselves working in a team environment when the pressure is on. Still not feeling prepared for your next interview? Why not head over to our Candidate Resources page for interview advice and common interview questions to prepare. What do you think the future holds in terms of skillsets and candidates joining the market? I think we will continue to see a drop in the number fully qualified candidates on the market, which is why we are trying to put more emphasis on training people who show an interest in becoming qualified. The training and programmes we provide are really beneficial for all parties. Hiring finance professionals in this way also means that we get qualified accountants that know how we work. Candidates are also going to want to work for businesses that will invest in their future, something that has become synonymous with the sector. So although I think the number of qualified candidates may drop, I think the number of candidates that will want to pursue a career in the sector will continue to increase. Employers will therefore need to be able to show candidates what they can do to invest in their future in order to continue attracting the best talent on the market. Do you think you have the skills required to pursue a job opportunity within Finance & Accountancy? If so we would love to hear from you. Get in touch with our team today, or check out our latest live vacancies here. Alternately, you can find more advice, blogs and resources specifically written for Finance & Accountancy professionals on the insights section of our website.