Flexible working in recruitment

Stephen Linley, consultant in our Leeds office, discusses the power of exercise and the benefits of flexibility in the workplace.

I recently read an article written by Jim Citrin of Yahoo! Finance where he set out to study the daily routine of 20 FTSE 100 CEOs. There was an unexpected similarity between the 17 who responded that got me thinking. Over 70% all shared one common trait; exercise.

"Exercise is the single best thing you can do for your brain in terms of mood, memory, and learning," John Ratey, Harvard Medical School Psychiatrist

Anyone working in recruitment will be aware, and no doubt have vociferously informed their friends and family that the hours are tough! To catch candidates before they start their own working day and similarly when they finish has resulted in the industry standard being 8am – 6pm. With many of us either starting earlier or extending our working day into the late evening.

As such it’s often difficult to find a way to fit exercise into our busy schedules, but knowing that some of the most successful business leaders do so begs the question; should flexible working become the industry standard?

Marks Sattin has recently introduced such flexibility in the form of 90 minute lunch breaks. This allows those of us who already do exercise, and enables those who don’t, to spend an hour in the gym and still have time to eat away from our desks. The time is of course added on to the end of the day, hopefully that elusive candidate you’ve been chasing for a week will pick-up at 7pm!

I can only speak for myself of course, but the approach Marks Sattin has taken in relation to flexible working has resulted in an increase in my productivity and an improvement in my general mind-set. After trialling this for four weeks it will be good to see the increase in revenue which is sure to follow!

Food for thought for other employers in the industry and indeed other sectors where long working hours are the norm?