MFA EX: 'Generation Now' have work options, don't lose them

Industry Contributor 21 Oct 2019 - 4 min read

MFA EX: 'Generation Now' have work options, don't lose them

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At last week’s MFA EX, a session titled “Why ‘the whole self’ is greater than the sum of all parts” provided an interesting and, quite honestly, a refreshing view on working in our industry, from four of our industry leaders.

The Royals creative partner, Nick Cummins, REA Group CMO Melina Cruickshank, Diageo marketing & innovation director, Andrew Oughton, and Publicis Groupe chief talent officer, Pauly Grant, gave their perspective on work-life balance and the positive impact this can have on the commercial success of their respective businesses, an individual’s wellbeing and on society as a whole.

The panel discussed the age we now live in where employees can login at any time of the day, from anywhere around the world, slipping into an always-online mentality. Many people let work become all-encompassing, and they unknowingly wave goodbye to their social lives.

Offering flexible work hours for all employees is one way to lessen the impact of this “always on” attitude, the panel explained. Flexible working can provide a sound balance of switching off from work, having and enjoying other things outside of work, and giving employees the option to work at times that best suit them.

By offering this, businesses will ultimately get the best out of their employees and ensure that the job and tasks at hand are still achieved, but achieved at the highest standard.

The traditional 9-5 working day was almost deemed outdated, with the panel highlighting the importance of knowing what works best for each individual employee.

As Andrew Oughton told the audience: “For people to perform their best, they need to be at their best.”

The requirement of leaders within a business and, more importantly, the specific managers of teams, was to understand what individual team members wanted and what works the best for them to perform at their highest and “get the job done”.

Each individual will have a different preference and if it meant one of their team members was their most creative and effective late in the evenings, then to provide them the flexibility to work at these times and have time off the next day or throughout the day.

The panel were clear that there will always be times where work is fast and requires longer hours, but that it’s important to acknowledge this and reward employees and teams for their efforts during these times and with flexibility when it allows.

I personally agree with this strategy and sentiment. As an industry, we have made and are continually making steps in the right direction. However, in this digital age and the continuous mounting pressures for the highest performance of work to be achieved or service levels provided in the most efficient of ways, the flexible working hours and work-life balance can be more of an ideal situation rather than reality.

Importantly, REA Group’s Melina Cruickshank pointed out that today’s “Generation Now” coming through the industry has an abundance of choice when it comes to work. “You don’t want to turn them to other industries,” she cautioned.

Overall, this was a great session highlighting that individual and company success could not be achieved without a high standard of work, but achieving this from your employees can be through understanding what works best for them!