the way
we work
best practice
Meet the
part-tiMers
skilled employees are more demanding than ever and in shorter
supply. could the flexible approach to working patterns shown
by companies like atkins help attract the best talent?
when it comes to keeping today’s workforce atkins recently commissioned its own Learning curve
happy, it seems the one size fits all approach to research to identify best practice in this area and Kemp’s experience at atkins is far from unique.
employee incentives is outdated. the 21st century to benchmark its practices against the rest of the it’s clear that some in the industry have already
employee is an individual, with needs that go industry. according to the survey, 63 per cent of made great strides in offering flexible working,
beyond the traditional pay and pension package, companies in the built environment now consider and it’s high on the agenda of many more. of
and traverse the boundaries between work and flexible working to be a fact of life, almost half those surveyed by atkins, 88 per cent said that
home. placing greater emphasis on work-life already offer flexi-hours, and 40 per cent allow they offer, or are planning to offer, specific career
balance, today’s professionals expect more. staff to work from home. some companies are development support for flexible workers.
while the shift may have been a societal one, going further still and adding generous holiday however, in some respects the industry may
the trends have been facilitated and accelerated by entitlement – up to 40 days leave in some cases – still be playing catch up. the atkins survey found 19
technology. having grown up with email, internet as a sweetener to attract recruits. that 17 per cent of firms in the built environment
and wireless and mobile devices, generations considered accommodating flexible working to be
leaving college in this decade understand that Stop the gap very challenging, compared to only six per cent of
there are now few jobs for which they need to accommodating flexible working patterns is companies from all sectors. for any firm, the
be shackled to an office or a nine-to-five lifestyle. likely to prove increasingly useful, not only in transition to flexible working patterns from long-
in sectors such as the built environment, encouraging new people through the door but established practices will require a degree of
companies face a shrinking talent pool and fierce in holding on to existing staff. compromise and perhaps some teething problems.
competition to recruit skilled staff. a commitment “we have nurtured a lot of talent over the years. “trust can be an issue and it’s important that
to meeting employee needs can help ensure the it’s essential that we retain as much of that talent as employers focus on output rather than time spent
very best people are on the payroll. possible,” says alun griffiths, group director of in the office,” says willmott. “in order to motivate
“employers are increasingly offering work- human resources at atkins. that, he adds, doesn’t people in this modern, knowledge-intensive
life balance opportunities in an effort to be an just mean finding a role for a flexible worker, but economy, that’s something all organisations will
employer of choice, and to recruit and retain the giving them real opportunities for career develop- have to work at.”
most talented people,” says ben willmott, ment. “women, in particular, often feel they have faced with an uncertain economic
employee relations adviser at the UK’s chartered to choose between having a family or progressing environment, some companies may back away
institute of professional development (cipd). their career, but this doesn’t have to be the case.” from these challenges. however, employers that
the most recent cipd survey of flexible working anne Kemp has been on a flexible contract are committed to flexible working, like atkins, are
(2005) showed that 40 per cent of employers in since she joined atkins in 2006, starting out on likely to find that the skilled staff they attract gives
the UK go beyond what is legally required of them between two and four days a week, and later them and their clients a valuable advantage.
and offer flexible working to all their employees. working full-time during term-time, when her “we’re on a learning curve and it’s important
“employers are trying to develop workplaces three children started school. Under her leadership, that we don’t swap one kind of inflexibility with
where staff are motivated and committed, more the geospatial team at atkins has grown from another,” says griffiths.
likely to recommend the organisation to others 11 to 70 employees in the last few years, and “employer and employee have to understand
and less likely to quit,” says willmott. “flexible built a considerable reputation within the industry. and accept the needs of each other,” he adds.
working is a key element in that positive Kemp is proof that it isn’t only the employee that “if we can make it work, experience shows it’s
psychological contract.” can benefit from such an arrangement. well worth the effort.”
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