The UK Government has unveiled its plans to give every employee the right to request flexible working from their very first day of employment. The proposals have fuelled debates across all sectors with some claiming bias against a labour workforce, others calling it a logistical nightmare and some questioning whether it goes far enough with organisations still able to say no.
At Agreus however, we thought we would bring the conversation back into Family Offices and explore whether the national rules will have any impact on these intimate and unregulated entities that require loyalty, trust and control. Three things arguably not achieved on day one and perhaps three reasons why the legally-backed requests could be met with a no.
The legislation, if passed, would grant workers in every field the right to request to work from home from their very first day of employment. Current legislation limits an employee’s application for flexible working to one year which will be unpicked as part of the proposal to question whether it best represents individual needs. The proposal also sets out to reduce the consultation period currently granted to organisations to make their decision from six months to three and asks employers to look for innovative and creative solutions outside of working from home if they cannot accommodate a request.
The proposals set out in a bid to create a more productive workforce looks at a range of flexible working methods including job-sharing, flexitime, compressed, annualised and staggered hours and phased retirement. Its aim is to create balance, attract talent to British businesses and reduce staff turnover but will it trigger change in Family Offices?
According to the professionals who work for them, absolutely. We asked our Family Office network of candidates if the national rules could ever work for Family Offices and overwhelmingly they said yes. Of course, in any scenario professionals would be given the right to ask for flexible work but the question we asked is could the request ever be granted for first-day employees in Family Offices.
68% of our candidates said yes, the rules should lead to flexible working within Family Offices. Just under a third however said no, citing flexible working as a disaster for Family Offices. This is of course the candidate perspective whereas the ultimate decision sits with the Principals in charge.
While ample studies have proven just how successful flexible working policies can be for organisations, Family Offices follow an entirely different structure, boast a very different culture and have an enormous amount of idiosyncrasies which can make the likes of flexible working incredibly difficult to achieve, especially on day one.
Family Offices require trust. While all organisations of course require trust, Family Offices are entities that manage extraordinary amounts of wealth and host an array of confidential information relating to both the wealth creation and also the sensitive matters belonging to the family behind the office. Professionals who sit in this position have a huge amount of responsibility and as a result, finding the right people to fill the position can take a considerable amount of time. It can take even longer to onboard these professionals as they are required to prove themselves before Principals can fully trust them with their fortune. This trust can be a lengthy process and not something gained overnight. It is certainly not something that is easily achieved through a screen either and something many Principals prefer being developed in person.
This is not just about trust of the professional either. Cyber Security is a huge concern to most people but for Principals whose extraordinary wealth is accessible at the click of the button, it is vital. Allowing an employee to work flexibly can mean an enhanced risk of a breach, either intentionally or accidentally and it is a risk perhaps not worth taking before embarking on a comprehensive training and development programme with the new employee.
While these are all important considerations, remote working can work for Family Offices tremendously well. It can unlock exceptional talent who live outside of a commutable distance away, it can broaden investment opportunity and appeal to the next generation of workers who are accustomed to flexibility. This time, it would not require too much of a change either.
91% of Family Offices moved to remote working for the first time during the pandemic with 50% forced to implement new technology to facilitate the move. While it was not perhaps a welcomed transition to begin with, Family Offices are now set up to allow remote work and so logistically speaking, there is no reason why Family Offices cannot cope brilliantly and in fact welcome the new legislation.
One question remains however and that is, will Family Offices approve the request for flexible working?