Kristal, tell us a bit about yourself; your job role and your career background?
Along with my business partner, we launched Flexology in early 2017. Flexology is a recruitment consultancy specialising in professional level roles, after identifying a lack of professional roles offered with flexible working options.
With Shelley, I co-run the business and we both work flexibly ourselves. We are passionate about the benefits for employers of flexible working and want to improve flexible work opportunities across the South West. We help our clients attract and keep talented and productive employees.
With a background as a senior leader, with many years experience in Financial Services, I’m qualified and experienced in Change and Programme Management. I’m an accomplished people manager experienced with hiring, establishing and managing large teams and ideally placed to understand the needs of hiring managers.
What’s a typical working day for you?
Like anyone running their own business I’m not sure there’s a typical day! It may include interviewing candidates, headhunting, managing our team, working with clients to understand their challenges and usually a lot of social media!
Can you tell us a bit more about Flexology and your vision as a company?
Flexology is dedicated to improving flexible work opportunities in the South West, we provide recruitment, training and consultancy services.
The benefits of flexible working are compelling and there are now evidenced links to improved business and financial performance. Despite this, the availability of flexible roles is limited and a large and growing talent pool is being overlooked. We are bringing a fresh approach that will challenge the way companies think about recruitment and their people strategy and help them shape roles that work.
If you want to attract and retain staff plus get great results in your business, diversity is key,
Our 2017 Business Skills and Training Survey showed that 68.5% of businesses blamed not being able to fill vacancies on not having enough applicants with the relevant skills and qualifications. What is your perception of the skills gap in the West of England, do your own clients struggle to fill vacancies?
Your survey results aren’t a surprise and back up research we have seen that a large proportion of business struggle to recruit.
Clients often come to us as they have tried to fill a role themselves, or with other agencies and they aren’t getting the applicants they need. We go back to basics and delve deeper into the skills and talent they are looking for, take the time to understand their business and team and how offering flexible working can help them attract fresh talented candidates, who otherwise wouldn’t consider the role.
You've mentioned flexible working – how do you think this helps to fill skills gaps within a business?
The demand for flexible working does not come from parents. even though that is perhaps some people's perception. There is recent evidence that shows that 87% of employees want to work flexibly, and in fact, it is more important than a pay increase! Put simply, nearly 90% of employees want flexibility but less than 1 in 10 roles are offered with any. A large proportion of these staff won't apply for a new role unless flexible working is an option.
Nearly 90% of employees want flexibility but less than 1 in 10 roles offer any!
Diversity is also important within a business – how do you think businesses can ensure they recruit a diverse workforce?
If you want to attract and retain staff plus get great results in your business, diversity is key, and not just the obvious need to recruit from diverse groups including Gender, Ethnicity, LGBTQ, Disabilities, etc. But also the need for thought diversity. If you recruit people just like yourself, you will only get what you expect, and you won’t be able to understand the needs of all of your clients/customers. Employing from different diverse groups increases the engagement, creativity and ultimately your profit. McKinsey’s reports shows that improved diversity increases profit.
What are your top tips for businesses to try and improve their staff productivity and retention?
- Ensure communication is a priority – talk but also ask and listen too!
- Give teams purpose, clear goals and share your vision for the company
- Make flexible working an option
- Remember that socialising matters – it’s not all work, work, work
- Make room for personal development and growth
Kristal McNamara Bio:
Kristal, alongside her business partner, launched Flexology in early 2017. A recruitment consultancy specialising in professional level roles, they are passionate about improving flexible work opportunities across the South West. They help clients attract and keep talented and productive employees.
With a background as a senior leader and many years of experience in Financial Services, Kristal is qualified and experienced in Change and Programme Management. An accomplished people manager experienced with hiring, establishing and managing large teams, she is ideally placed to understand the needs of businesses
- Log in to post comments
Would you like to win £200?
To be entered into the prize draw, take our Business Skills & Training Survey 2018 which explores your organisation's recruitment, skills and training needs.
Do you want to join the conversation?
Sign up here
Business Skills Workshops
Our Skills West team is running a series of workshops throughout the Autumn, covering topics from recruitment and flexible working, to apprenticeships and developing your workforce.