What I got wrong (and right) about flexible working

From April this year, UK employees can request flexible working arrangements from day one in their job.?

This is great news. It helps set the expectation that a healthy work-life balance benefits everyone.

The new rules mean:

• Employees can request flexible working from day one of employment.
• Employers must respond to requests within two months.
• Employees can make two requests every 12 months.
• No justification is needed for the request.?

If you’re an employee, you don’t have to wait until you've been in a role for six months before making a request. Great!

If you’re an employer, it’s time to update your policies to reference this, at a minimum.

Read the new rules in full here: https://helptogrow.campaign.gov.uk/flexible-working/

This is a learn-out-loud moment for me, and I’m looking to connect with others on a similar journey of embedding flexible working practices beyond the legal minimum into their teams.

For us at Platypus, this is something we will continue to work on. Clear communication, thorough documentation, and being open to challenges while setting realistic expectations have proven crucial as we've developed our approach.

With that said, I used a hook to interest you in my thoughts on flexible working, so I will try to deliver on that hook below. ??

What we got wrong

I’d be the first to acknowledge that we have had to learn from our mistakes over the years.

For instance, we had to set limits on working from abroad due to the complexities of working across different time zones and the need for us to understand the impact of different tax and data-sharing agreements the countries team members travelled to had with the UK.?

Rather than a blow-by-blow of every mistake or edit to a policy, the main themes are:

1. We should have produced more detailed guidance earlier on.?

We clarified some expectations verbally and didn’t always document every detail for future use.

For example, as our team grew, differing interpretations arose around our vague remote working guidance post-pandemic.?

We realised a hybrid model, not fully remote, suited the agency’s needs.

Some of our reasons were to ask the team to attend monthly in-person team days, monthly socials and client sessions such as planning and retrospective sessions, and also:

• Team members' feedback indicates that some in-person learning was beneficial, and a physical setting is valuable for new starters.
• Meeting clients in person has also proven beneficial when both teams prefer it.
• Past remote-only team members indicated a desire for in-person interaction, but travel time and cost were prohibitive if this hadn't always been part of the expectation.

Clarifying these expectations and adding them to our handbook has helped set everyone up to understand the reasons for the connected guidance and processes.

2. We should have communicated these guidelines to potential new starters earlier in the recruitment process.

Continuing with our hybrid working example, while we did then have documented expectations for in-office and working-from-home for internal staff, we were often asked for further detailed clarifications, such as how many days of the week and confirmation of which days were expected in the office.

The truth was and still is that ‘it depends’ - it depends on what works across multiple team members would like, as much as the person we are recruiting at the time, and we should have been more upfront about this in earlier recruitment rounds.

Because of this, we now have this expectation documented in job descriptions and explained in offer letters so that it is clear that some in-person work is required for all roles.

When pushed for a figure, I have a calculation we have shared that pins it at no more than 30% in person, but this depends on demands from the team and our clients rather than from the agency directly, so for some roles, it might be lower than this.

I expect this will change when we have a new permanent office space again because some team members want 2-3 days in the office, some would like more, and others as little as possible - all of which is okay!

3. We should have fully documented connected processes so managers could follow the guidance sooner.

Explaining the detailed steps to take after a request comes in is just as important as explaining the intent of a decision.

At first, we didn’t quite understand how many interconnected processes were across different decisions. Until we need a process, we often don’t know exactly how to document it. This means new processes are still popping up all the time.

For example, we still ask for formal requests for other forms of flexible working, such as job sharing or part-time hours, because coverage across core hours is critical for most of our roles. While we have found part-time roles beneficial and are looking to increase flexibility until we go through this process, the steps will be very top-level, and we will have to document them as we go for the next time they are needed.

We have found that the best approach is to be upfront with the team when doing something for the first time. In this situation, we have found documenting decision trees really useful in helping those making requests understand the reasoning behind any decision.?

What we got right

It hasn't all been bad on our journey to improve our approach to flexible working.

Some of our embedded ways of working have really helped make these changes, such as the expectation that policies and guidelines are written in plain English and that we trust our team to do what needs to be done when needed.

So, with (hopefully) clear guidelines and that trust, we can try to offer flexibility and still ensure that our team and clients can work effectively together without fuss in several ways:

1. We state clearly that all of our roles are hybrid.

We now simply ask team members to identify their primary work location - home or office.?

We also ensure that this is discussed in interviews and that a job offer comes with a phone conversation to clarify the expectations of our interpretation of hybrid working and share what other team members are doing to help align expectations.

This approach aims to support our in-person client sessions, team days, and quarterly full agency get-togethers, so hopefully, there will be no surprises later on.

We’re currently onboarding several new team members using this approach, and even though we are more geographically dispersed, early feedback seems positive.

2. We encourage team members to choose working patterns.

We support flexitime through a simple agreement with a line manager.

This allows for flexible start and end times while ensuring core hours (10 am to 4 pm) are covered for client communication and team collaboration, whether in person or online.?

For those who prefer to work on bank holidays for whatever reason, we offer the option to take time off in lieu (TOIL) on a 1-to-1 basis within 30 days. This arrangement benefits the agency by providing coverage on these days and offering flexibility for team members, should they wish it.

Additionally, we accommodate religious holidays by tailoring working hours to meet personal commitments. We have found that this flexibility works best with open discussion within teams to ensure everyone understands the adjustments rather than just an agreement between a manager and the person arranging the adjustment.

Setting these expectations means the most common requests have clear guidelines and processes attached to them, without the need to submit a long request and wait for it to be approved.

3. We communicate the agency’s needs openly.

We still ask for formal requests for other forms of flexible working, such as job sharing or part-time hours, because coverage for most of our roles is critical.?

This might be slightly preemptive, but I hope our clear communication of what the agency needs from team members and a commitment to communicating this openly will promote flexibility and trust.

Tips if you're new to flexible working

I hope this is something you are already thinking about and doing. If not, think there are a few takeaways for you to consider:

Tips for managers

1. Encourage open communication so team members feel comfortable discussing their needs and challenges.
2. Engage with your team to discuss flexible working needs and preferences. This will help you understand unique circumstances and find mutually beneficial arrangements.
3. Be transparent about available flexible working options and the process for making requests. There’s a great template from ACAS here: https://www.acas.org.uk/example-flexible-working-policy-template
4. Lead by example by adopting flexible practices yourself.
5. Regularly assess the effectiveness of flexible working arrangements and make adjustments as needed.

Tips for team members

1. Plan and coordinate with your team and manager to ensure smooth workflow and coverage during flexible working hours.
2. Communicate changes using tools like Slack/Teams/OOO messages to update your status and availability. Add your schedule and block times outside of working hours in your calendar. Update your email footer to include your working hours, availability, and upcoming leave. This helps make the changes visible to everyone who might need to know when you are available.
3. Try to be flexible with other team members; they may have different working patterns or needs than your own.
4. Be proactive in sharing feedback and suggestions on how flexible working practices can be improved to benefit everyone.

Of course, if you're already embracing flexible working practices - well done! I'm sure many organisations have gone even further down this path, and I'm really keen to hear about your wins and not-so-wins.

Next on our list is to update our guidance to follow the 'Happy To Talk Flexible Working' recommendations. I hope this standardisation will make our expectations even easier to understand. Find them here: https://workingfamilies.org.uk/employers/happy-to-talk-flexible-working/

If you have your own lessons or approaches to share, I'm here for it! Hope to chat with some of you who made it to the end about #FlexibleWorking and #TeamWellbeing