The number 1 request from candidates is Work Flexibility. We, Acumen Executive Search, have been interviewing and placing Director-level through C-Level candidates since 2007, and this has been the case for 13 years. Today, with unemployment so low and top talent in high demand, it makes more sense for employers to be creative.
Many business owners, executives, and leaders talk about “work-life integration”, meaning that when they are on vacation, they check emails in the morning, play with the family in the afternoon, and return to work in the evening. If employees can practice this while on vacation, why can’t more businesses offer work flexibility to their employees? I know that there are industries that cannot offer work flexibility, but many organizations can!
I read a Harvard Business review article titled, Bill Gates says This 1 Employee Perk is Most Important. A New Harvard Study Backs Him Up. I find the statistics amazing. When the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office implemented work-flexibility, they saw 13.5% increase in production from their workers. But what was interesting was that the work-flexibility did not require workers to work from home or from work 100% but allowed them to decide where to work. We know that with technology, we can work anywhere, including when we are on vacation.