Being your own flexible friend

Many years ago, I was astounded when a colleague used the quote “there are only two things certain in life, death and taxes” in a sales pitch. My astonishment was largely due to its use as an argument on the return on investment of an advertising campaign in young women’s magazines, a medium where death and taxes are rarely, if ever discussed. Personally, if the use of philosophical quotes in business is your thing, then I would much prefer everyone’s favourite 1st century BC Greek philosopher Heraclitus who said “Everything changes and nothing stands still”.

Change is most definitely a constant and in the last few years of economic challenges this has been ever truer. There is no doubt that the businesses that have thrived are the ones that have understood this and adapted to the market conditions.

The need for change and flexibility has in itself created new markets and industries. The growth of outsourcing for example is prevalent in most sectors. As a result Oxford Economics in their 2011 report for the BSA estimated turnover across all ‘outsourced’ sectors to be in the region of £207 billion, equivalent to 8% of total economy-wide output. In the process these activities directly support around 3.1 million jobs, equivalent to 10% of the UK workforce.

Angela Stringfellow of CODA Concepts writing for American Express, said “At the end of the day, it's flexibility that allows a business to completely shift its core focus to accommodate market demands”. If we take this to be central to success, how does a business balance flexibility into a business plan?

The answer does not lie in our aims, targets or success criteria but in the solutions we find within our business. 

Best use of Technology

Certainly the use of technology, particularly mobile and internet based applications has created an environment that allows businesses to be far more adaptive to client’s needs and requirements. This does of course require you to have good mobile and broadband connections which even in our semi-rural environment at Warwick Mill we have proved to be more than possible.

Flexibile working for better results

The same technology also allows for flexibility with staff. A report by McKinsey commissioned by Sir Win Bischoff of the Agile Future Forum, examined the  economic impact of what they describe as “agile working” on companies to see if there was a business case for less structured working patterns. The report "showed that in the areas the report reviewed there were benefits equivalent to 3% to 13% of workforce costs, with further potential to increase that by a further 3% to 7% and, in some instances, sales uplift to 11%. At the same time it allowed costs to be decreased with KPMG, giving the example that it saved £4.7m during the recession by offering flexible working hours to staff rather than making redundancies. 

Geographical flexibility

Agile working doesn’t just mean flexibility with working hours but also geography, be it the ability to work at or closer to home, the working environment and the physical conditions. Being in a semi-rural environment and in a listed building with modern facilities provides a unique benefit for the employees of the companies based here that goes well beyond their salary.

Flexibility or Customer Service

If, as Angela Stringfellow says, we need flexibility to accommodate market demands, sometimes flexibility means ensuring that outcomes happen now. In other words, good old fashioned customer service and none of us need external reports to understand the benefits this has on our business. Over Christmas a client in the mill had come to the realisation that the serviced office space he was using wasn’t meeting his requirements. We came up with the solution of moving him on site to one of our workshop spaces where internet and phone lines were possible. An agreement was struck and the client moved on Christmas Eve.  Delighted with their new workspace and the speed of delivery,  this provides the perfect example of how change creates benefits for all parties; for the client a better working space, for us a client with longer commitment to the site as well as the goodwill benefits and hopefully their own ongoing recommendation.
Given the fast pace that all businesses operate in, the Business Village model that Warwick Mill operates in provides a degree of flexibility that is uncommon. How ironic that our historic mill buildings provide potentially the best most modern environment for business two centuries later.