Staggered hours

“Being offered this kind of flexibility has meant that I am able to be part of the workforce and still meet some of my caring responsibilities. This is very important to me – intellectually, emotionally and financially.

In offering flexible working, companies can cheaply access an experienced and enthusiastic talent pool. There are millions of people who are unable to commit to a conventional, full-time job, and yet who are skilled, experienced and keen to work. Companies who can offer them employment will build a loyal, productive, efficient and diverse workforce. We know that there is a positive, measurable correlation between teams who embrace cognitive diversity and teams who exhibit high performance levels.

The successful company of the future will clearly be a company with a wide range of working patterns worked by a wide range of individuals.”

“My wife works full time and has little flexibility during work hours. I start in the office early and finish early in order that I can get home at a reasonable time to help with after school activities for our children.

I also work one day a week from home so that I can be available to pick up from school and get the children fed before they have to go on to other activities so that my wife can have at least one day working later at work if required.

This flexibility in my working arrangements is a great help to our family; cutting back on commuting time and costs, plus the environmental benefit of less mileage means it positively impacts both my engagement with the business, but also my overall feeling of wellbeing.

Performance in the business is not measured by hours in the office so such flexible arrangements are in no way a barrier to success.”

“I start early and finish early, work remotely and work from home one day a week. This allows me to pick my daughter up from nursery every evening. On the day I work from home I take her in a little later and pick her up earlier.

We have collaboration hours between 10am and 4pm – try not to schedule any meetings outside of those hours, our clients know this and respect it (where possible).

It’s important that as a Director the other staff see that this is something we’re genuine about, it’s not just words on a page.

People are measured on output, not the amount of hours they spend sitting at a desk (we had one project manager working with us who was based in Southampton).”

“I considered going part time after my daughter was born, but technology and a culture of trust and openness at Willmott Dixon have enabled me to work flexibly and stay full time. Being able to start earlier and finish earlier means I have more time in the evenings to be with my family. It gives me a chance to catch up on my daughter’s day before she goes to bed. Also working from home now and then allows me to drop my daughter off at Nursery so that I can be involved with her education and development too.

I admit that I felt a little guilty about leaving early at first but after a few weeks it became the norm and now others in my office are starting to work similar patterns.

I think agile and flexible working are moving in the right direction and that different ways of working are becoming more accepted in construction. Since my return there is now a structured return process in place that eases parents back into the work environment and culture. I believe more can be done in the way of peer support from other parents through potential parent networks.”