Molly Johnson-Jones, CEO and Co-Founder of future of work experts Flexa explains how their culture attracts the right talent for the company.
I expect my staff to be contactable after hours. In an age where work-life balance is sacred, eyebrows often raise when I tell people this. They tend to assume it’s something I keep quiet.
Far from it. We’re deliberately very upfront about our working culture at Flexa. We don’t mind if some people don’t like it; it won’t be right for everyone, and that’s the point. We want to repel as much talent as we attract.
A big part of what makes our culture at Flexa unusual is that we embrace work-life integration over traditional work-life balance. We have core hours between 11 and 3, during which everyone is expected to be online. Outside those times, staff are free to fulfil the rest of their contracted hours when they want. We also work remotely, with an optional office space and monthly team meetups in London. This means work and life can co-exist.
But this flexibility comes with expectations. We require our team to be contactable outside of our core hours when needed. We also expect them to move fast, be adaptable, and take full ownership of their work.
Finding productivity
We’ve opted for this working style for two reasons. Firstly, because when and where people are at their most productive varies. We want to give our team the freedom to work in a way that works best for them. We know that when you give people trust and autonomy, they feel respected and will be more engaged as a result.
Secondly, keeping a rigid separation between work and home life à la traditional work-life balance is unrealistic for us. As a startup, sometimes we have early morning client calls or need to respond to urgent matters at the weekend. This is true for many workers, especially those higher up the career ladder. On the life side, sometimes you need to rush off to collect a sick child from school or attend a doctor’s appointment.
Our approach works because we’re upfront from the start. New hires share our preference for work-life integration, and like being able to start and finish early to catch a concert, or squeeze in a mid-morning gym session. They enjoy being able to live outside London and save on commuting costs and rent.
Not attracting talent
But our working culture won’t be right for everyone – and that’s a good thing.
Many employees don’t want to be reachable outside of work hours, while others will want more in-office time. This includes some Gen Z workers, who, according to our data, are the least likely among all age groups to want “remote first” roles.
We actively want to put some people off, and we do this by being really upfront with job seekers about what it’s like to work at Flexa. Other employers should do this, too.
Employers are currently in a lucky but challenging position. There is a huge amount of talent available: hundreds of applicants are applying for a single role. But this makes it harder to find the right people hidden in the mix. For us, our company culture acts as a filter.
We have fewer but more aligned applicants applying to Flexa, because only job seekers who like our way of working will apply. New hires are also far more likely to stay for longer because they know in advance that the work environment suits them. Our team shares similar working preferences, making collaboration easier.
So how can other companies do the same?
Being honest
The key is to create a strong, honest employer brand, and be upfront about the working environment you offer, whatever that is.
To do this, be really specific on your website, social media, and job adverts about your package. If you have a hybrid setup, state exactly how often staff are expected to be in the office. If you champion professional growth, list the programmes and policies you have in place to enable this.
Company cultures should repel as many candidates as they attract.
You want to show off your best bits: for example, we proudly talk about our 4.5-day working week, 45 days of annual leave, and a 45-day ‘work from anywhere’ scheme. But you also need to be realistic: the aim is to show prospective hires what your working environment is really like, beyond just buzzwords about perks and flexibility.
You should also encourage your team to share their experience on LinkedIn. At Flexa, we’ve found the authenticity of these posts goes down really well with prospective hires. We’ve hired for all our roles with no recruitment spend at all as a result.
There is more variety than ever in the environments, cultures and benefits different companies offer. This is a great thing for employers and employees, but only if employers own their brand and aren’t afraid to put some people off. Speaking from experience, being liked by everyone shouldn’t be the goal. Company cultures should repel as many candidates as they attract.
