With the changing ways in which we all now work, and as a CEO, at times I have found it difficult to make the changes to allow my team the space to not only come and go as they please but also to come to work not so suited and booted.
In some ways, I’m still a little old school. I like to have the team around me, making sure they have what they need. I can hear what they are saying to clients and candidates on the phone so I can help where needed. If I’m brutally honest, I’m also a bit of control freak, I like to hear and see what is happening right in front of me, so offering the freedom to come and go as you please put me into a full sweat.
I had to compromise. As we are a sales environment I decided to offer the freedom of “come and go as you please” on employees individual results. You perform? I’ll see you at the end of the quarter. Kinetic runs a three tier system; the first being Home Base, for those who are new or need help. Second tier is when you hit the budget target set for you which gives you two days at home and lastly the top tier is when you hit the number set based on your ability, this target is a push and those who achieve it can come and go as they please.
This has been one of the best things I’ve done. No one wants to drop off top tier and it has created an even higher achieving team which has been great for everyone. At times, you do have to show leniency when we have kids in the mix of course, but overall it has worked very well and each quarter we send out where everyone sits for the following three months.
Does this apply for all non-billing staff? No. We have a different structure for them as we obviously can’t measure it the same. As for me, well I’m in four days. I still like to crank the music up, find out what is going on and I genuinely enjoy being in the office, it’s actually my happy place. To be honest so do the ones on the top two tiers and as it turned out more are in the office than at home, it’s way more fun!
