Clarkebond

Jen Jordan, HR Manger in Bristol

At Clarkebond we have a great flexible working culture and, since joining the company in 2016, I have been able to use my influence to build on this. We now have as many fathers working part time to care for children as we do mothers, we have grandparents sharing childcare and we have people who work variable hours to accommodate sports training schedules, rush hour traffic and school drop offs.  We would be equally flexible about any personal requirement that means a non-standard work pattern.  The benefits for the employee are obvious but there are so many benefits for the employers too. Apart from attracting a wider range of candidates to a position in the first place, employees show increased morale, engagement, and commitment to the organisation and there is better retention and reduced absenteeism. I don’t have any answers as to why there is not more flexible working offered in our industry.  What I do know is that to remain competitive, to attract and retain the best candidates for jobs and into our industry, we are ALL going to have to embrace flexible working to a much greater extent.