This week I had my facilitator hat on. A team in the manufacturing sector that I’ve been working with for the last year had their second annual whole team meeting. It was primarily a follow up on the top ten list we created when the team was asked what would make it a better place to work. The top of the list was Flexible Working Hours.

A few of the people who were now on Flexible Hours shared with the group what that was like for them. One of them was working 3 ten-hour days so he could spend more time with his faith community. He wanted to make sure it was clear that he saw it as a privilege not to be abused and that he was now more organised to ensure the work got done in the days he was in the office. After 4 days off he finds he comes back to start his work week far more refreshed.

Another was now a single father as a result of losing his wife to cancer earlier this year. The energy in the room changed when, choking up, he admitted how difficult it was to talk about. Being able to work different hours enabled him to be there for his 3 year old daughter. Clearly there are some very personal reasons here for having flexibility and making the job work for them. This is a growing trend where we make work work for us, providing greater balance in our lives.

This is the kind of initiative that goes a long way in building staff loyalty. I spoke to a man who was fairly new to the team afterward. He’d never worked for a company that had flexible working hours before, nor had he been part of a whole team meeting that went for half a day. He was very aware that it would cost the company thousands of dollars to have that many people in the room, away from their project work, and that didn’t include my fee either! He expressed his appreciation of the commitment the company had made to the team.

Trend from skills to fit — manager insights

Afterward I was speaking with my client about the meeting and recent staff changes. They’d been struggling to find skilled people for the senior roles that would properly resource the projects they were working on. He talked about the question in his mind during the interviews: how well would they fit into the team? There was a situation where a candidate was the better fit but not the most skilled. She was hired over the more skilled person with the knowledge that there was simply no point in trying to get a square peg to fit into a round hole.

This makes me think of life before working for myself and all the jobs I didn’t apply for, thinking I wasn’t what they were looking for. It also reminds me of a friend who had a background in government and in an interview with a prospective employer at a medical institution was asked if he had any experience with the industry. He answered honestly that he didn’t. This didn’t stop him from getting hired. His ability to get people to collaborate across sectors was what they were looking for and he got the job.

So if you’re reading this and are currently looking for work, let this be an opportunity to widen your search and think more broadly about what you have to offer. Look for jobs that light you up, something that will keep you engaged. With statistics flying around of 80% of the workforce being disengaged, you can stand apart from the rest and have a positive influence on the workplace culture despite the limited experience or skill you bring. Managers hire for fit more often than you think, the rest can be taught, and if you have a demonstrated willingness to learn, you might find yourself being offered roles you never imagined.

“this article was originally publish on Tathra’s Medium“