NOT working 9-5: how flexible working can transform your business
As much as we love Dolly Parton and if we ever do karaoke for a Neo PR social, I’m sure we’ll be belting out her much loved hit – as a business, we’ve actually said goodbye to working 9-5!
From our website and our blog, and if you’re lucky enough to meet our team and visit our office, chances are you’ll quickly sense the importance Neo PR places on our culture. Did we mention it’s actually our ‘award winning’ culture? (And something we’re extremely proud of!)
A major part of our culture has been to promote a work-life balance – to the benefit of each and every one of us, plus our families and the business itself. Cue flexible working hours! So, if you fall into any of the below categories (or into any others you can think of) we’ve pretty much got it covered!
✔ An early riser who likes to get a head start on the working day (I mean emails)
✔ A lie-in lover (and not just at the weekends)
✔ A ‘let’s take the dog for a long walk before work’ motivator (where’s my Fitbit, I’m going to smash 10,000 steps today!)
✔ The weather is perfect this week to fly my microlight (speak to our MD!)
✔ A social butterfly in the evenings (did you say new restaurant opening?)
✔ A gym before or after work HIIT maker (bend and stretch)
✔ Have a need to work around childcare or a family member’s working hours (oh how we juggle)
✔ Have an evening flight or a gig to get to (actually, you could combine the two here..)
✔ A BBQ sizzler (as soon as the sun is out – get me in the garden ASAP with a G&T!)
✔ And the sometimes annoying but necessary doctor’s / dentist appointment (yes, we have to remember these fall within 9-5 too)
With research suggesting that companies offering flexible working have a happier team, it’s been a win-win initiative at Neo PR. The team can better plan each week and as we all know, the list of benefits of flexible working for businesses is long (and we love a list at Neo PR – doesn’t everybody?) – from better employee engagement, improved wellbeing, increased productivity, reduced absenteeism and improved loyalty, to attracting great new people to join us… I could go on.
We recognise that the demands and needs of our employees within their personal lives will continue to evolve and we want to make sure we can support them as much as we can. To help everyone find that balance between home life and work life, we’ve chosen to have the option of kicking off our working day between 8am and 9:30am and signing off between 4:30pm and 6pm.
I think I can safely say that over the past year or so, the whole team has enjoyed having more flexibility and that this new way of working is here to stay!
Right team, past me a mic and let’s get this new social idea of mine arranged! If we all finish at 4:30pm, we can squeeze in dinner before the singing commences…
