When Jo Sellwood and Sharon Mullen co-founded Strategi Search & Selection they were determined to create a business that was not based on a culture of `presenteeism’. They had learned first-hand that long hours in the office do not necessarily lead to increased productivity or job satisfaction.

Work/life balance

From the outset, a key objective for the business has been to offer individuals the best of both worlds. A successful career with prospects for promotion combined with the other things that are important to people like work/life balance or time for other responsibilities or interests.  Essentially, they set out to build a company that delivered the service it promised to clients with an adult environment where staff can decide what their work life will look like.

Flexi/part-time/full-time

For some the choice has been to divide their time between home and office, for others to plug into the Strategi office network as appropriate. This menu of options is key to offering a flexible choice of working according to Strategi. “It’s important to highlight that we are in a highly client focused business and our consultants travel extensively across the UK and internationally so home working is only one element of the role. The most effective choice is usually to combine local office, home office and regional or international office depending on where you need to be on a particular day.  Also, by working flexibly and only travelling when client or company meetings require people find that they can get a lot more done”, says Sharon.

The company is equally flexible about part-time or full time working and it is not unusual for a member of staff to move from part-time to full-time or vice-versa depending on their circumstances.

300% increase in turnover - business results

It appears that Strategi’s flexible working model has proved a real success with very low staff turnover and a substantial business growth rate as illustrated by a 300% increase in turnover over the past five years.

Sharon continues: “Crucially as an employer we get immeasurable return in terms of loyalty and commitment. Flexible working has become a massive retention tool for us, although that wasn’t the main reason for doing it initially.   For example, we have talented people with family responsibilities who need to spend some time at home and cannot find the same flexibility they get with us from other employers.

“It’s not just about a job either – we offer significant career development opportunities for those who have other responsibilities or are simply at a point in their careers where they just want a bit more flexibility. It’s also good for people to know that the flexibility is there for the future even if they are not interested in that option at the moment.”

Overcoming challenges  - communication

As the business grew and the model expanded, one challenge has been to create a culture where people are encouraged to communicate and feedback to each other on a regular basis. Many critics of flexible working highlight that it is impossible to mimic the informal but valuable discussion that takes place around a water-cooler or over lunch when everyone is based on the same place.

For Sharon, the key is communication, communication, communication. Strategi consultants combine regular telephone contact with text, email and teleconference support on a daily basis. By using a wide range of communication tools speed of response across the team is instant.  Crucially, a `real-time` feedback loop also takes place after all key contact.

“This is one of the things that we have taught people that works really well”, says Sharon. “If I have just spoken to a client who has mentioned something to me that I think would be useful for another member of the team, I will immediately pass this information on through a text, email or voice message. In fact, it is my obligation to pass on that communication. That way we are always constantly in the loop. It has to be this way if you want to make a success of flexible working. “

This approach is supported by a significant investment that Strategi has made in its IT support systems. The current platform again offers `real-time` access to company information through its IT system. This means that wherever the consultants are, they can log onto the system and get up-to-date data.

Creating a high performance culture

The high performance culture at Strategi encourages people to work as teams. “Our motto is work as one team and perform as a team. It quickly becomes evident if a consultant is not closing the loop or communicating effectively. Continual communication and peer pressure from others in the team will normally ensure that this is highlighted quickly”, says Sharon.

Building relationships

Another contributor to the success of Strategi’s approach is an understanding of how you build relationships on a remote basis. This is especially important when some staff choose to base themselves predominantly in the office whilst others use flexible working more extensively. In order to help the Strategi consultants bond as a virtual team, they have developed a number of different tactics to help with relationship building. This ranges from individual one to one’s and mentoring sessions to regular social events where everyone on the team can enjoy meeting up more informally. 

It could be argued that it is harder to self motivate whilst working flexibly and/or home working especially as Strategi does not monitor what people do on a daily basis. So how do they identify the sort of people who can operate in this type of environment?

“The flexible working competency base needs people who are self motivators, driven and very bright. They also need to be willing to work hard. Our consultants all tend to be at a more experienced senior level and thus at a different stage in their careers. There is not the same need to socialise and to validate themselves with their peers which would be more true of those in the younger generation X and Y groups who tend to prefer our office working option”, says Sharon.

“It is also important to set a clear expectation of the delivery of services and of each other as individuals”, regardless of where they are working from she adds.

Working smartly

Flexible working is not a cop out – far from it according to Sharon. “We have to be careful to ensure that people do not work too many hours as you don’t have the obvious cut off point of leaving the office at the end of the day.  The types of individuals we employ are extremely driven and very high achievers and the temptation is to continue working in the evening.  Whilst we discourage this, working in search and selection is not a nine to five job.  As long as consultants make up the time during the day and the job gets done, it’s up to them how to balance their lives and successfully handle the assignment. By working smartly you can deliver a top notch service to clients and achieve the results.”

The company balance sheet highlights the dividends of properly implementing a flexible working model. In fact, since the recent acquisition of Strategi by GW Group, this flexible working model is now starting to be rolled out across the two other recruitment companies in the Group – FSS and Crone Corkill.

Walk the talk

Sharon herself `walks the talk` and is an excellent example of the benefits of flexible working. As a mother of triplets (two girls and a boy) who turn three in September she is able to juggle the responsibilities of being a Director of Strategi where she manages the whole of the consultancy team (who operate on a national and international basis) as well as being a mother. Her four day week gives her the flexibility of being able to undertake her family duties before returning to her office to turn her attention to work matters.