To start by stating the obvious – AI is changing the way work is done. Across diverse sectors, throughout admin positions and upwards, more employees are being expected to work alongside AI – if not being displaced by the technology entirely. The trend will continue as AI agents are implemented to take on more work and make more decisions within the workplace.

So if AI disrupts how work is done and the jobs available, what impact will this have on retention? By replacing certain positions with AI or by bringing AI in alongside those jobs will career paths and the promise of employee development continue to exist in the same way?

Pros and cons

Professor Nick Kemsley of Henley Business School believes AI has the potential to impact both positively and negatively: “On paper, increasing use of AI has the potential to be of benefit in a number of ways,” he says, “removing lower level or analytical work to increase human value, productivity and increasingly – although not talked about enough – helping leaders make sense of ever more complex and ambiguous environments.” This, argues Kemsley should help with talent management, supporting onboarding and career path relevant learning. It even offers organisations the potential to provide early careers and new joiners with higher value and value-adding roles than might previously have been the case.

The responsibility is on HR leaders to show how roles will evolve, reassure people about their value and invest in re-training to avoid unnecessary exits.”

But Kemsley also sounds a note of warning – the impact of AI will depend on what organisations are seeking to achieve from its use. “Leveraging the human benefits will require organisations to adopt a better balance between minimising costs and maximising shareholder dividends or improving work content and employee experience,” he says. “Ultimately, we must rely on leaders to decide whether AI is utilised to upgrade the whole work system or simply as a cost reduction tool.”

So can the introduction of AI deliver the best of both worlds – being good for employees and good for the bottom line? Kevin Fitzgerald, UK Managing Director at Employment Hero believes there’s good news for all as AI integrates into the workplace: “Despite negative headlines and speculation around AI-led job losses, the technology can enable employees to grow and develop new skillsets,” he says. Data from the company’s latest Work That Works report backs this up with employees who use AI regularly rating their own productivity as 17% higher. But again, this impact depends on how AI is introduced – the same report revealed a decline in employee productivity by up to 50% in organisations where the technology is implemented poorly.

The next frontier for business transformation

Interestingly Fitzgerald notes: “It’s important to reaffirm the human impact and purpose of AI by reassuring the workforce when the technology is being implemented and managing a smooth transition of processes – it’s ultimately a balance between innovation and inclusion. While AI is undeniably the next frontier in business transformation, businesses must avoid a one size fits all, top-down approach that alienates employees.”

While the technology may be ready, businesses must ensure that their employees are too.”

Fitzgerald pushes for what he call a ‘human-centric approach’ to AI implementation. Introduce the technology at a base level, integrate into the day-to-day habits of employees, and it will breed confidence among employees and allow them to do their best work. “Supported by ongoing staff training, the technology can also give employees the freedom to upskill and future-proof their careers,” he adds. “While the technology may be ready, businesses must ensure that their employees are too.”

Cathal McCarthy, CSO at Kore.ai warns about the risk of short-term disruption across the workplace and within career paths: “As AI takes on repetitive tasks, especially in areas like customer service and administration – where nearly three-quarters of UK enterprises are already deploying AI tools – employees in those roles may feel their jobs are under threat,” he agrees. Cathal can see how this may impact on early-career talent, creating uncertainty and thereby leading to higher attrition if organisations don’t provide clear pathways for progression. “The responsibility is on HR leaders to show how roles will evolve, reassure people about their value and invest in re-training to avoid unnecessary exits,” he says. 

But McCarthy also says AI can give HR the ability to make work more interesting and the workplace better for employees. He indicates that 70% of large UK organisations are already using AI to automate processes like operations, compliance and risk management with AI Agents being used as assistants to employees.

Through this implementation in some instances HR functions have been transformed. Cathal quotes AMD as having experienced an 80% reduction in time to resolve HR inquiries with 50% of employee inquiries deflected to self-service. In Canada an energy supplier company cut HR response times to just seven seconds, achieving a 90% containment rate. “These shifts not only make HR more efficient – they allow people to focus on work that feels impactful and satisfying, which is critical for retention,” McCarthy says.

With innovation comes disruption…. And disruption drives action.”

Alexia Pederson, SVP International at O’Reilly believes the impact of AI on jobs is nothing new and should be expected. She notes that all important innovations have changed the kinds of jobs that are in-demand across every technology cycle. “Web developers grew popular with the advent of tools and languages that allowed people to build their own websites,” she notes. “Cloud engineers were in vogue when the cloud became the ubiquitous way companies operated their systems. And with the emergence of generative AI, now prompt engineers have moved to the fore.

“With innovation comes disruption,” she says, “and I love to say that disruption drives action.”

Pederson says there will be even more new roles appearing as AI technology develops, but that doesn’t mean the old roles are going to be obsolete. “AI can be a huge productivity tool for any number of positions,” she says. “That’s why training is so important. Your employees need to understand what AI technology can do besides acting as an interesting search engine. Your teams have to learn to work with AI to enhance, and even expand upon, what they’re already accomplishing. Give them the learning tools and the context for how AI can enable their roles, and you’ll be rewarded with success.”

New skills, new careers

While the future may depend on how AI is used and implemented the need for human skills and human employees is not diminishing. A recent survey from Kore.ai found that with over half of enterprises already using AI in HR, the next wave of valuable skills required by businesses will be in areas like human-AI interaction (33%), data analysis (28%), and data management (27%). Cathal McCarthy is in no doubt that these skills will offer employees satisfactory careers and jobs in the future.

“AI allows organisations to personalise career development, learning pathways, and even day-to-day support,” he says. “For example, AI Agents can give employees instant access to HR services in multiple languages, or help design training that builds on an individual’s strengths and goals. AI can also help us spot gaps in diversity and inclusion, making it easier to create fairer, more representative workplaces.”

And it is these kind of impacts which can ultimately be harnessed in order to keep employees within the workplace: “When employees see that their employer is investing in their growth and shaping roles around their strengths, they’re more likely to stay,” asserts McCarthy. “In fact, research suggests companies that better match people to roles using AI are seeing higher retention and stronger cultures over time. For HR teams, this is a chance to move beyond process administration and truly design more attractive, engaging roles.”

Recruiting staff can be a resource consuming and frustrating affair. Competition with other businesses, market trends and global economics can all make attracting and securing the right people far from straight-forward. Generational trends are also at play. A recent report from Randstad found Gen Z’s average job stint is now 1.1 years, with individuals job-hopping in an attempt to satisfy their ambition in the face of a perceived lack of career pathways. Holding on to the right people when you’ve got them, is without a doubt, a job in itself.

Gen Z’s average job stint is now 1.1 years, with individuals job-hopping in an attempt to satisfy their ambition in the face of a perceived lack of career pathways.

While well documented, retention isn’t just about cost avoidance for organisations. Holding on to people – their talents, knowledge, and competencies – is key to realising consistency within an organisation and that can be particularly important for a business like iplicit, which is seeking to grow.

Iplicit’s Chief of Staff, Ed Gairdner, says his business’ profile means retention is extremely important. Sure recruitment is crucial but keeping people, nurturing them and aligning them with the company’s mission is just as important if sustainable growth is to be realised.

“The competition for talent in the UK remains intense,” he says – noting the 2025 Talent Shortage Survey which has identified tech and data skills as hardest to find for five years running. It cannot be forgotten either that iplicit, seeking to disrupt the tech accounting solution market, is in direct competition for talent with some very large businesses.

Find your selling points

Undeterred, Gairdner says being a remote-first company can prove a positive here: “Flexibility is a huge selling point for us – it’s helped us win awards, attract top talent nationwide, and allowed people to thrive without being tied to an office,” he explains. “But it also means we have to work harder and more intentionally on wellbeing, connection, and culture – all of which directly impact retention.”

Add to this the additional challenge of the multi-generational workforce and Gairdner is working to keep younger team members who may need more structured support and social interaction while also addressing the needs of highly experienced colleagues who are more self-sufficient. “Balancing those needs is an ongoing priority and something we seek to address through various policies and initiatives,” he says.

Culture and core values, wellbeing and connection with one another are all high on iplicit’s agenda. Managers hold regular one-to-ones with colleagues, not just covering performance and objectives but also to understand how people are doing and make sure colleagues feel truly supported. 

“Because it can be harder to pick up on body language and subtle wellbeing cues in a video call than in a physical office, we encourage our leaders to be more intentional and attentive in these conversations,” says Gairdner. “It’s identifying the ‘small triggers’ early to then provide the requisite support.” 

Reason for leaving

Hannah Ford, Founder and Managing Director at Maru Search & Consultancy says candidates who have left or are looking to leave their current role often deliver the same message: “Decisions are made that do not make sense, people feel excluded, and they feel that they are not important enough,” she says. “Other reasons for leaving also come up, such as salary, progression, lack of training and lack of inclusion. These issues can usually be addressed with the right approach. What matters most, however, is how valued employees feel overall. That is what truly makes the difference.

Ford agrees businesses need strategic objectives in order to succeed but they can’t survive on that alone: “A vision and a strategy are essential, but people must be at the heart of them.”

Jo Kansagra, Head of People at Virgin Incentives says retention is particularly important in her industry: “Our business is centred around connections,” she explains, “and this shows up in many ways. Through our products, where customers use them to deepen relationships through gifting, through the partnerships we build with suppliers, who trust us to represent their experiences, and through our internal culture, where we promote agile decision-making and execution by getting to know one another and valuing each other’s expertise.”

Employee turnover therefore means having to rebuild and reconfigure relationships. Business arrangements can be dependent on the individuality of the employees who create them, and such relationships may not be independent of those employees.

Formal development opportunities, and upskilling employees can help with retention offering employees the chance to engage with diverse projects while staying with the employer. “We also recognise the importance of creating an environment where the culture focusses on looking after our team members, encouraging moments of fun, and pushing for high performance to reach our potential,” says Jo.

The company’s performance reviews have been made engaging and focus on recognising talent. 360-degree feedback has helped to build a strong culture of growth and development. Their hybrid working model also ensures flexibility so employees can collaborate while balancing home life.

Our aim is to ensure they leave as ambassadors for the brand, not detractors.

Even with this approach, Kansagra acknowledges there will be always be some level of attrition: “Sometimes we can’t provide someone with their next career step, and that’s okay,” she says. “When this happens, we send them off with pride, knowing we’ve played a part in helping them move forward. Our aim is to ensure they leave as ambassadors for the brand, not detractors.”

Community and belonging

Hannah Lisby, People Director at construction company Holcim UK agrees the positive experience is paramount for employees: “What keeps people at Holcim UK is clear. We offer a family-friendly benefits package that supports work-life balance, and we nurture a culture of safety, respect and belonging,” she says. “Our career progression routes show the genuine opportunities for development within the organisation and offer the chance for individuals to connect their work to a bigger purpose through sustainability.” Despite the separate locations of their sites Lisby says the strength of community across the business gives some sense of cohesion for everyone.

“I believe that some turnover in any organisation is healthy as it allows for fresh ideas and creates progression opportunities for other employees,” adds Lisby, adding that although retention at the company is strong they are wholly committed to learning from every departure so the experience can be strengthened for those staying for the long-term. 

“Ultimately, success for us is not just based on achieving a low turnover, but ensuring that people who actively choose to work at Holcim UK stay, and build meaningful careers here,” she concludes.

Retention for reputation

For Capital Resourcing Group’s director Ben Beesley retention is about more than numbers – it’s about reputation. “When people stay, it reflects the trust, support, and positive culture we’ve worked hard to create,” he says. “That stability not only strengthens relationships with our clients and candidates but also shows that we practice what we preach as a recruitment partner. By focusing on retention, we’re proving that we don’t just place people – we keep them engaged, supported, and growing, which reinforces our reputation as a business that truly values its people.”

Certainly resources should be dedicated to keeping people within an organisation, but this is not a ‘keep them here at all costs’ deal. Employers should ensure their organisations are attractive and tick the right boxes for the people they need, but they also need to understand that things don’t always work out, and sometime people need to move on. Getting retention right is therefore almost an act of due diligence – this is the business we want to be and we show who we are – to ensure the right people stay put.

Inclusion at work is all about the human experience: how people feel when they show up, how they navigate your culture, whether they feel part of your values and yes, as overused as the phrase is – whether they can bring their whole selves to work.

Whenever I talk about the commercial benefits of DE&I, I always land on the biggest cost. Recruitment, talent acquisition, hiring… and ultimately retention.

I always kick off with a simple question:

Think back to a time you weren’t seen, heard or respected. Maybe you worked in a toxic environment. What happened to your mindset, your mental health, your commitment, your performance?

It’s the same story every time: inefficiency, quiet quitting, declining health and if you had the privilege, an eventual sharp exit.

I say privilege intentionally. Not everyone can afford their ‘stuff this’ moment and throw their office keys at the toxic boss. For many, circumstances keep them stuck. And for those with a marginalised identity, who probably fought harder than their majority colleagues just to get into the room, the risk of starting over can feel greater.

The grass isn’t always greener, and getting to those greener pastures can be a battle.

Great workplaces don’t happen by accident – why knew! 

They’re carefully curated: values, ethics, policies and behaviours all pulling in the same direction.

What do the best inclusive employers have in common?

Better tenure, higher levels of employee confidence, productivity, innovation and loyalty backed by engagement surveys consistently show that people recognise the culture is smashing it.

It doesn’t take a genius to connect this to DE&I and belonging, there’s a mountain of evidenced research to back it up:

• Belonging halves turnover risk. High belonging is consistently linked to around 50% lower turnover, better performance and fewer sick days.
• Where fairness and inclusion are visible, employees report less stigma when discussing mental health, higher trust and less burnout.
• Inclusion reduces chronic stressors (bias, microaggressions, unfairness, workload without control), which lowers burnout and improves intent to stay.

And it isn’t just about ‘the vibe’. It’s about the foundations: workplace wellbeing, flexible or hybrid working, family-building benefits, equal pay, policies that protect and benefits that create equity.

People stay when they feel respected.
People stay when they feel accepted.
People stay when they see a future.

FACTS and all of this is built through an organisation’s DE&I strategy.

Why aren’t employers joining the dots?

Because too many still treat DE&I like a couple of lunch-and-learns and a sprinkling of cultural-awareness days. Out-of-touch wellness webinars and ERGs with zero budget or authority have never shifted the dial on equity and equality, IMO.

Plus nobody is showing the money, now I am not one for maths, but here goes…

Company of 1,000 people, average salary £50k, annual voluntary turnover 20% that’s 200 leavers.

Conservative replacement cost at 0.5× salary = £25k each (recruitment, lost productivity, impact on team), that’s £5 million a year out the door.

If serious belonging and DE&I design cuts attrition by 25% (i.e. 50 fewer leavers), you bank £1.25 million, before you even count fewer sick days and better performance.

That’s the business case right there!

Six powerful actions leaders can take

So, what can leaders actually do beyond a token lunch-and-learn and a few rainbow-coloured LinkedIn posts? Here are six powerful actions that don’t just tick a DE&I box, they keep your best people from quietly updating their CVs.

Inclusion → psychological safety → better mental health → lower intent to leave → actual retention.

1. Listen first
Short term: run listening sessions or anonymous surveys to understand employee experience with a focus on inclusion, psychological safety and equity
Long term: use the data to build DE&I-informed people strategies that address barriers, create accountability and align with your goals

2. Make managers your DE&I allies
Short term: upskill managers in inclusive leadership, bias awareness and equitable decision making
Long term: bake DE&I into performance management and leadership frameworks, linking it to progression, development and reward

Review your career pathways
People don’t leave companies, they leave stagnant roles, unfair systems and poor line managers.
Short term: audit who is progressing, who isn’t and why, look at access to development, stretch opportunities and mentoring
Long term: build equitable progression pathways, address barriers such as bias in promotion processes and track outcomes by demographic

4. Centre belonging in your EVP
Short term: refresh internal messaging and onboarding to reflect inclusion, community and equity in a real, meaningful way
Long term: co-create and evolve your EVP with employees, showcasing stories about lived experience, benefits that reflect different needs and clear commitments

5. Track, measure and tell the whole story
Short term: set clear DE&I-linked retention KPIs, turnover by demographic, inclusion scores, exit themes and share insights internally – be bold!
Long term: regularly publish DE&I and retention data, and link it to business performance to show why inclusion drives results

6. Design policies and benefits that reflect real lives
Short term: audit existing policies, benefits and working conditions through a DE&I lens. Check for outdated language, gaps or one-size-fits-all thinking
Long term: co-develop inclusive policies and benefits that support different identities and life stages, from flexible working and parental leave to menopause support, neurodiversity adjustments and equitable pay

Final thoughts

Retention isn’t a mystery, it’s a choice. Build inclusion into the way you lead and the way you work or keep writing those cheques to replace the people walking out the door. And please, let’s stop treating DE&I like a side hustle, it’s the engine of performance and profit

There is an old Chinese proverb: “if you are planning for one year, plant rice; if you are planning for ten years, plant trees; but if you are planning for a hundred years, plant people”. For any organisation, whether in the private or public sector, the most important resource they have is their people, if they want to achieve any measure of success. Yet in difficult global economic times, many organisations seem to forget this most basic doctrine of ‘successful workplaces’, moving toward downsizing to keep their labour costs down in a survival mode stance. Moreover, with two significant wars, a global cost of living and energy crisis and various important world leaders pulling back into a protectionist and confrontational mode, the future of these organisations requires them to retain and develop their talent, and not dispense with them in a frenzied attempt to balance the books!

There are many things that organisations can do to retain and develop their staff. First, to provide them with a sense of purpose in their job, and a feeling of being part of something important, a sense of community. This is not easy to do but is fundamental to many people, a feeling of belonging to something bigger than themselves. 

Engaging work

Second, engage with them in more professional training and development of their skills. This means spending time with them to see what they might want to do in terms of upskilling. This is particularly important during difficult times when people are worried about their job security. 

Third, spend ‘quality time’ with them in terms of finding out how they feel about their job security, the organisations future and anything else that may be troubling them. This is difficult for many managers, but it is vital if you want to find out how people perceive and react to their job and the organisation more generally. A real problem we have in many organisations is: ‘many managers just don’t have effective social skills in relating to their staff’. This may be an opportunity to do something about this problem, in terms of providing the training for line managers to enhance their ‘emotional intelligence’ or social skills.

Work for meaning and for bread

Fourth, giving people more autonomy and control over their job, such as more flexible working and/or giving them more authority to take on more challenging work, in fact, anything that gives staff a sense of some control over their work. As Studs Terkel said in his book Working: “work is about a search for daily meaning as well as daily bread, for recognition as well as cash, for astonishment rather than torpor, in short, for a sort of life rather than a Monday through Friday sort of dying”.

Creating a healthy and engaging culture in the workplace is what most GenZ and young millennials want, so anything that gets people up in the morning ‘bright-eyed and bushy tailed’ and eager to get to work, is what young and old alike want from their employer.

Feeling great at work

Retaining talent at work is not very complicated, it’s about being sensitive to people’s needs, and what they want to get out of their job and life in general. This means engaging them, finding the right kind of work for them and making them feel needed and valued. As Mark Twain once wrote: “keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can somehow become great”. 

Management is not just about making just-in-time decisions and demonstrating authoritative behaviour, it is about understanding and meeting the needs of those you work with and making them feel you care and understand them and their contribution. 

Professor Cooper’s latest book is Healthy High Performance: Unlocking Business Success Through Employee Wellbeing (Routledge Books, 2025).

It’s obvious really – that the key to achieving our ESG goals lies firstly in looking after our people. You can teach the skillsets for each position, but you can’t fake the buy-in to a company’s culture. Without that buy-in, any ESG actions are just superficial box-ticking rather than positive action towards sustainable operations.

ESG commitments have increasingly become key differentiators in tenders for large-scale projects – whether it’s your Ecovadis rating (Gold, in our case), a science-based commitment to carbon emissions reductions, recycling and circular economy methods, or ethical practices and strong governance to eradicate Modern Slavery from a supply chain. Customers want to see this in action – in annual reporting, in terms of how it benefits their projects, and also in person should they visit your sites.

Eland Cables operates sites 24 hours a day, across three shifts. Our main site just outside Doncaster competes with the likes of Amazon to fill open warehouse positions: we’re proudly a registered Living Wage employer (one part of the ‘S’ in our ESG strategy) which helps attract people initially, but what’s different is our ability to retain that talent. Our staff retention rate sits at just under 90% year-on-year, with more than 270 employees. It’s not as simple to say that better pay leads to better engagement with our ESG journey… it helps, but there is so much more.

ESG as a recruitment ‘carrot’ in Talent Acquisition

 You need to find the right people before you can retain them. Talent acquisition can be challenging for industries not seen as sexy and exciting (and no one wakes up thinking ‘I want to work in cables’!). Increasingly, job seekers want to see their (prospective) employer as a positive force – in their local community and in making steps towards being more sustainable. Having a clear ESG strategy has undoubtedly helped us engage people at recruitment stage, showing them that our business can be the right fit for them.

Then it’s about keeping them. The emphasis when someone joins a new company is usually on training and competency; if there’s constant staff churn, all you’re doing is delivering the onboarding training and not building on that understanding. There’s no time to teach them new skills to develop and enhance their roles.

Tapping into talent 

Teams benefit from experience – from people who can lead by example, and who have bought into the culture of the business. Everyone goes through the repeated cycles of steep learning curves followed by temporary plateaus as learnings are embedded, but having confidence in the way we work, and exposure to the bigger picture of why we do it, also opens doors to other departments. We promote from within rather than hiring externally, wherever possible – but many companies will say that. Delivering the training to upskill is straightforward when it’s colleagues who already share our commitment to our customers, to quality & compliance, and know how we work. Yes, sometimes you still have to recruit talent from outside into specialist roles where you need a new set of skills, but it’s the exception not the norm.

There are numerous examples of current staff who have grown with the business: the office cleaner who as a busy mum fits work around parenting commitments, but who when they were more self-sufficient joined in a junior sales role and now manages a small team – she’s been with us for over 20 years now. The warehouse operative who worked his way up to shift manager, before retraining (through our in-house driving training school) to be an HGV driver delivering cables to our customers across Europe. There’s also extended families who work with us – husbands and wives on split shifts to balance childcare; adult children and their parents working together. We’ve become well-known in our local communities as being a ‘good’ employer who cares about our colleagues – it means our recruitment costs are significantly reduced when we do need to grow as many new employees come from staff referrals. The ‘Social’ in ESG brings tangible returns to the business.

So what sparks internal ESG engagement?

Internal communications channels, screens in communal spaces, and training in areas outside but complimentary to a person’s role – in our case, about a cable’s materials and applications, or explaining embodied carbon emissions – can give a broader understanding. Seeing solar panels installed, electric vans in the yard, HGV drivers talking about the use of HVO biofuels, and cable recycling equipment in use onsite will pique interest – if only in what is involved in other people’s daily roles to start with. It’s not a one-off but a series of works; people may not immediately see them as ESG actions, but it’s easy to help them join the dots. Yes, there’s some internal promotion and drum-banging, but we’re rightly proud of what’s happening so want to share that information.

Delivering success in ESG – your team are your champions

So how do you go from joining the dots to turning it into a successful ESG communications strategy that resonates with your customers?

The world of work is undergoing profound transformations, with a number of key trends and debates shaping today’s landscape. One that continues to sit at the top of agendas is around remote and flexible working, with many businesses holding different views on its effectiveness. 

Some argue that remote work boosts productivity due to fewer distractions and no commute, but the prevailing trend now seems to be around mandating a set number of days in the office – up to four, or even five in some cases – with the view that working from home hampers collaboration and creativity, and makes maintaining a cohesive company culture challenging.

Changing flexible working policies 

The onset of the Coronavirus pandemic has led to an exponential increase in remote working for employees and freelancers. Globally, 91% of workers hold a ‘positive’ view of remote working.

In 2019, before the Covid pandemic, only 4.7% of UK employees worked from home. By April 2020, this number had surged to 46.6%, with 86% of those employees doing so specifically because of the pandemic. It could be argued that the pandemic was a catalyst for establishing an entirely new trend.

In 2022, a quarter (25%) of UK employees worked from home at least part of the time. This trend was almost identical between 22 May and 2 June 2024, where 26% travelled to work and worked from home, reinforcing remote work’s durability.  

Most of these employees said that that working from home had become part of their regular routine, indicating they’ve adopted remote work for the long term. Conversely, the percentage of employees who worked solely from home dropped to 14% compared to 38% in June 2020.

Flexible working can refer to working hours or patterns, such as part-time, term-time work (during school terms only), flexitime, and compressed hours (the same total hours over fewer days, with longer workdays). At Homeprotect, we’ve been advocating for such measures for years, having implemented a hybrid working policy since 2019 – before flexible and hybrid working became more widely adopted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Benefits of flexibility 

Many companies are grappling with skills shortages and talent retention challenges. Adopting a flexible working policy can help address these issues. It offers numerous benefits for businesses, such as improved work-life balance, reduced staff turnover, higher productivity, and increased employee engagement. 

The demand for flexible work has grown significantly among employees. When considering a new role, 71% say having a flexible working pattern is essential, and 42% of employers stated that it has increased the ability to attract new employees. Furthermore, a study by ManpowerGroup Solutions found that nearly 40% of global candidates consider workplace flexibility among the top three factors when evaluating job opportunities.

Eighty-seven percent of people desire flexible working arrangements, a statistic that underscores a significant gap between what employees want and what organisations seem willing to offer. In today’s diverse and inclusive workplace, flexible working is not merely a perk but an essential tool for attracting and retaining top talent from a wider pool. An added business benefit is that a proactive, flexible working strategy can have sustainability benefits and reduce a company’s carbon footprint.

How Homeprotect implements flexibility 

As Homeprotect’s HR Director, I’m committed to creating a genuinely inclusive working environment and culture, accommodating various needs such as employees’ caregiving responsibilities, disabilities, and neurodiversity. Our flexible working policy is a significant initiative in making our workplace as welcoming as possible, ensuring we attract top talent who may require flexible arrangements to perform their best work.

Additionally, our flexible working policy has significantly aided in recruiting and retaining women across all business areas, including senior positions, by supporting work-life balance and facilitating career progression – in 2019, just 27% of our workforce was women, compared to 45% in 2024.

For us, flexibility extends beyond just the location of an employee’s work – it includes different working patterns like part-time schedules, compressed hours or even the option to spend time working overseas, especially for those with family outside the UK. We also promote flexibility in career progression, recognising that talent and potential can thrive outside of rigid career trajectories. 

By reimagining flexible career paths and embracing skills-based hiring and promotion, businesses can harness their employees’ unique skills and strengths while providing opportunities for growth and development. 

How companies can manage flexibility 

Establishing clear guidelines and boundaries is crucial, even when implementing a flexible working policy for the first time, so that both employees and their line managers have a clear understanding. Additionally, conducting regular pulse surveys and gathering feedback from line managers allows you to assess what is working well and identify any areas needing improvement.

Here are five ways to implement successful flexible working policies: 

• Regularly update company policies to align with changing work environments and employee needs.
• Establish channels for employees to provide feedback on flexibility initiatives and make adjustments accordingly. 
• Implement programs that support mental and physical health, which can help employees manage stress, maintain productivity and reduce feelings of isolation.
• Train leaders on how to effectively manage a hybrid team to get the best out of them, and to be adaptable and supportive of flexible work practices.
• Leverage data to monitor the effectiveness of flexibility initiatives and guide decision-making processes.

Flexible working means different things to different people. A good place to start is to listen to what your employees value and approach it with a ‘what’s possible’ mindset. As more data becomes available, adapt your strategies to see what is effective and what needs improvement. 

The future world of work 

The advantages of a flexible working policy for both employers and employees are evident, ranging from happier, more productive teams to higher engagement and a more attractive job market offering. While the debate around flexibility and remote work will undoubtedly persist, at Homeprotect our commitment to maintaining flexible work options remains. 

Businesses must address several critical success factors to successfully implement flexible working policies. These include proper training for employees and managers, continuous support, and the organisation of both virtual and face-to-face social events to foster connections and relationships across the company. By focusing on these areas, flexible working has the best chance of succeeding.

The role of training to enhance employee retention and engagement has been explored in a report from AI-based training solution provider Lingio. The report draws from a number of resources to investigate the state of frontline worker training and identifies challenges and opportunities among fast-paced industries such as social care and hospitality. The research resources which formed the basis of the report include webinar polls, a survey of 50 UK and US based HR and L&D professionals and conversations with learning resource users, professionals and experts.

Retention challenges

As Yashar Moradbakhti CEO of Lingio notes, finding talent is not the only challenge facing employers within these industries: “The hospitality and retail industries face staff turnover rates of 37.6% and 33.6% in the UK today,” he says. “Employers need to invest in the staff they have to stop this leaking talent bucket. Approximately 94% of staff say they would stay longer in their role if employers invested in upskilling, so it can clearly help solve turnover rates and boost engagement levels.”

The report identifies particular pain points for organisations seeking to offer their employees training. The main challenge is scheduling time for employees to complete training – cited by 75% of respondents. This is followed by time and resources spent on creating courses (40%), individual training needs and customisation (36%) and proving ROI on training to finance teams (34%).

Such challenges must be faced, however, since the need for training is non-negotiable. When asked for their training priorities, 52% said compliance, 68% leadership and 43% onboarding employees with customer service and soft skills. None of these areas can be considered anything less than mission critical for organisations.

One issue flagged by Moradbakhti is that many organisations deliver training but do so in an ineffective way. “Most traditional LMS systems are designed for deskbound workers and typically not created for busy frontline workers who require small, bite-sized, mobile-based learning formats,” he notes. “Traditionally, it has taken L&D departments a lot of time and resources to create a course for their employees. As such, one course is usually created to simultaneously cater to many different needs. This often makes the training unengaging and irrelevant for each role or person.” 

In this respect, AI based L&D resources can provide a solution. Used successfully, this kind of technology speeds up course creation and helps tailer content for each employee. 

Delivering a more diverse and individually focused roster of training means more engagement for employees and more impact for the organisation. It also offers a way of delivering what can be dry content in a more engaging way.

Engaging Content

“Typically, topics like compliance training aren’t exactly known for being popular amongst employees,” says Moradbakhti. “But, compliance training is necessary, especially for employees’ personal health and to avoid workplace injuries. However, this type of training is often more tedious than it has to be, leading to employees simply clicking their way through without learning anything.”

To counter this, Moradbakhti and his company are committed to making training fun – not least through using methods such as mobile-based learning games. 

“We can create compliance training in a format that employees enjoy,” confirms Moradbakhti.