Why We Had to Rethink the Way We Hire

A while back we had a situation at TRS that made me stop and think.

We had an incredibly good person who had been with us for years. Sharp, reliable, the kind of team member you build your business around. And she needed to change the way she worked. Not because she wanted to work less, or because she was stepping back from her career. She needed to change because she had a family, and the model we had been running was not going to work for her anymore.

So we had a decision to make. Hold the line on how we had always done things, or figure out a way to make it work.

We figured it out. And I am glad we did. Because what we got in return was even more effective than ever. That experience changed the way I think about how we structure roles at TRS, and how I advise our clients to think about theirs.

The Old Model Is Losing Good People

I speak to business owners and managers throughout a lot of industries. The complaint I hear constantly is that they cannot find the right people. What I hear less often, but what I think is closer to the truth, is that the right people are out there, but the way the role is designed does not work for them.

The workforce has changed. There are more dual-income households than ever. More phttps://www.trsresourcing.com/article/balancing-baby-and-recruitment-my-story-as-a-recruiter-heading-into-maternity-leave/eople who are primary carers, whether for children or ageing parents. More people who have decided, after a few years of the pandemic era flexibility, that they are not going back to arrangements that make their lives harder for no good reason.

If your business is still designing every role the same way it was designed ten years ago, you are cutting yourself off from a significant part of the talent pool. Not because those people cannot do the job. Because they will not take a job that does not fit their life.

What Flexibility Can Cost You

I know the concern. You worry about accountability. About coverage. About what it means for the rest of the team if one person gets a different arrangement. These are legitimate things to think about.

But here is the other side of that calculation. The cost of losing a good person, recruiting their replacement, training them up, and getting back to where you were is significant. More significant than most businesses account for when they are making decisions about flexibility.

When you do that maths, a four day week or a school hours arrangement starts to look very different. It is not a concession. It is an investment in keeping someone you already know is good.

Designing Flexible Roles That Work: A Practical Guide for Employers

It Starts with How You Design the Role

The biggest lesson I took from our experience at TRS is that flexibility is not something you bolt on at the end. It must be built into the role from the start.

That means being clear about what the role requires. Which responsibilities are time-sensitive, and which are not. What the core hours need to be and where there is genuine flexibility. What success looks like in this role at three months, six months, twelve months.

When you have those answers, you can have a real conversation with candidates about how the role can work for them. And you end up with someone who is set up to succeed rather than someone trying to make an incompatible arrangement work.

The Business Case Is Straightforward

At TRS, the decision to restructure that role gave us back a high performer we would otherwise have lost. It also changed the way we talk to candidates and clients about what is possible.

If Anthea’s return has reminded us of anything, it’s that the people you want most are usually the people with the most going on. Designing roles that work for them is not a favour. It is good business.

And if you want to talk to Anthea about your hiring, she would love to hear from you. Get in touch through the TRS website and we will connect you.

Anthea Triandafyllakos