Moving towards a more flexible future

Here's another excellent article by our guest blogger, Arnab Datta. Flexibility is one of the key attributes that companies look for in prospective employees and so learning to adapt to new situations quickly is crucial in your new graduate job. This is especially important in the current climate, but does this signal a temporary cultural shift or will there be a more permanent trend in the future?

Recently, a research agency has discovered that over 50% of companies will desire more flexibility from employees during the next two years. Also, some international companies are focusing particularly towards hiring more flexible workers such as freelancers and remote staff. Therefore, this is something at the forefront of companies’ agendas, since they want to reduce costs and respond to changes in the economic environment. Still, this is bound to have implications on employees and especially graduates who want to make a favourable impression in their new jobs.

So, what exactly does flexibility mean in a practical sense? This essentially implies that employees have more choice over the amount of hours worked, the location and which areas to particularly focus on. This type of discretion from companies may give employees a broader experience of work. For example, travelling overseas to work on projects will introduce you to new cultural experiences and perhaps even create a greater global mindset. Also, being flexible may result in you accepting a more senior role that will improve your project management abilities. This could help develop skills like mentoring team members, which no doubt will help you to rise up the career ladder.

You may think that having more freedom to make decisions in shaping your career has many benefits, but there will also be more responsibility. If you decide to work flexible hours, then you will effectively be ‘on-call’ to answer any queries from senior staff and give advice to junior team members. Although it is rewarding to help others, the demanding nature of such an arrangement will inevitably create more pressure. Also, flexible workers need to carefully manage their own workload in addition to attending the necessary meetings, so the importance of time management and responsibility go hand in hand. In a way the unpredictably of greater flexibility is exactly what introduces further risk into the career path.

Overall, it is important to have some flexibility during your career, but you need to find a balance between managing your own workload and following a structured development programme. Flexible working means you can work the hours that suit you, but remember that you are still part of a team, so you need to participate in the main meetings with others. In the end it comes down to your personality. If you want to gain some new experiences and challenge yourself, then try to be more flexible, and after some time you can see if it is a sustainable way of working in the future.