YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED

DARREN BUCHANAN MANAGING DIRECTOR, HAYS QUEENSLAND

There is the occasional instance of candidates willing to accept a lower salary for greater flexibility, but in general, the trend is to offer flexibility to compensate for the sedate salary increases of recent years. Both employers and employees are looking at what else can be offered to reward high performers. Flexibility can take many forms, from starting and finishing earlier or later to a condensed working week, part-time employment or job sharing, working from a satellite office or alternative location. Flexible working policies can help reward top performers when salary increases are restrained.

SINEAD HOURIGAN BRISBANE DIRECTOR, ROBERT WALTERS

Although many people are keen to seek out more flexibility in their roles, unless someone is earning at a level where they have the capacity to take a step back financially, it is difficult for people to consider a role which offers more flexibility but pays less than they are currently earning. Realistically, when competition for talent is becoming increasingly more evident, employers should be considering flexibility as part of a standard employment contract for most roles and employees should be able to gain that flexibility without having to take a step backwards in their remuneration.

JULIE BARR SENIOR EXECUTIVE CONSULTANT, McARTHUR

While there is a slight shift to some candidates accepting lower pay for increased flexibility, money is still important to most workers. The minimum wage is mandated by law, so businesses are compelled to pay no lower, however, there are also unpaid benefits that can be offered, such as flexible work arrangements and the ability to work from home, that addresses the work/life balance for busy families. Other unpaid benefits could include extra superannuation, professional development, access to health and fitness services and Employee Assistance Programs.

DR NERIDA HILLBERG DIRECTOR OF PSYCHOLOGY, FERRIS MANAGEMENT CONSULTANTS

While remuneration is still important, it has slipped down a few notches on executives’ priority lists. Flexibility has taken over the number one spot. As a corporate psychologist, I support this wholeheartedly. Flexible work arrangements help prevent “negative spillover” from one domain to the other. Current research shows that flexibility reduces employee stress and offers positive organisational returns in the form of increased commitment and productivity. In our digitised age, employers are increasingly able to offer alternative work arrangements.