Employers beware - high salaries, bonuses and perks alone won't cut it any more with the modern Irish worker - work-life balance is where it's at. Money may still be a very high priority, but time is now the employee's most precious commodity.
That's the message coming through loud and clear from the results of a recent O2 Ireland survey. If the 1,000 survey respondents across the State had their way, the workplace of the future would be a less stressful environment, with shorter, more flexible working hours.
A resounding 42 per cent were emphatic that flexi-time would improve their work-life balance. Flexi-time is, as the name suggests, a flexible working arrangement that allows employees to vary their start and finish time in the office (eg 8am-4pm or 10am-6pm), and is a simple but effective method of helping employees to avoid rush-hour traffic.
One-third of all respondents said that reducing their commuting time would make the biggest difference to their working day, and over a quarter would like to have the option to work from home.
Another key finding of the survey was that almost 70 per cent of respondents believe the workplace of the future will be something of a multicultural melting pot, and more than a third believe that it is beneficial to have diverse nationalities and cultures in the workplace.
"Employers must make it a priority to develop a work environment which adapts as society changes," says Theresa Murray, human resources director with O2 Ireland.
The telecoms firm has been actively hiring a number of non-Irish people because it wants its workforce to "mirror the demographics in Ireland".
The company said it has also put together a "bespoke diversity awareness training course" that all of their managers must complete.
Murray's key piece of advice to employers is "listen to your people".
"Try to get that balance between the needs of the business versus the needs of the people," she says.
"Our research shows that people in Ireland want to see more flexibility and more of a work-life balance in the future. A workplace which recognises and creates a good work-life balance will ultimately reap the rewards through a content and highly productive workforce."
O2 Ireland, which is the "Best Company to Work For in Ireland" according to this year's Best Companies Awards, says it offers a host of flexible working options to meet the needs of its workforce, 40 per cent of whom now live outside the greater Dublin area.
"Initiatives such as flexi-time and job sharing can contribute to a better working environment," says Murray. "It's important that we continue to look to the future with regard to what the workplace-needs of our employees will be."
Over the next month, the company will be rolling out a "compressed working hours" scheme on a pilot basis. This arrangement will give workers the option of squeezing their total weekly quota of hours, eg 39 hours, into four days instead of five. "It means you're not taking a hit on your pay," explains Ms Murray, though she acknowledges that this arrangement is only suitable for certain roles, such as those that are non-customer facing.
So have Irish employers been responding to the needs of their workforce? To be fair, 42 per cent of those surveyed said their companies did offer flexi-time arrangements.
However, overall less than a quarter of the individuals surveyed strongly agreed that their employer had helped them to achieve a healthy work-life balance.
Only one-third have the option of job-sharing, just 11 per cent are currently offered formal working from home arrangements while barely 5 per cent can avail of on-site childcare.
Around 13 per cent receive subsidies to avail of public transport, though that doesn't seem to match expectations with 43 per cent of respondents saying that parking near their workplace was extremely important in making their work life easier.
Employers take note: a little less work, a little more life, please.
