Flexibility Matters: Founder and Director Emma Cleary

Flexible recruitment consultancy Flexibility Matters was set up three years ago, but Founder and Director Emma Cleary has been championing flexible working for eight years.

Emma’s passion and ambition to bring flexible working to all is driven by her personal experience of trying to find a job in newspapers and media, which allowed for anything other than the traditional 8-8 24/7! This sort of working practice was just unfeasible with three children under the age of five. The only option was to start a business dedicated to flexibility, to work around family needs and support others in finding a better work life balance. 

Fortunately, now the situation is very different – thanks in part to Emma’s offering bringing flexibility to the fore, and certainly aided by the pandemic, which has enabled so many businesses to experience the benefits of flexible working. 

“The pandemic has shown us that flexible working brings huge benefits to businesses and individuals alike, and the good news is it looks set to continue long after Covid,”comments Emma. 

Flexibility Matters specialises in finding professional talent from all disciplines, with the USP being firmly anchored in recruiting flexibly. Emma continues: “Talent is at such a premium in the South East, and by championing flexible working, we are able to help businesses grow and develop their culture with flexibility at its heart.”

Post-pandemic, culture is so important in ensuring that businesses not only recruit but retain their talent, and are not simply paying lip service to flexible working.  Emma is finding the emerging trends in hybrid and flexible working fascinating, and says “by recruiting professionals flexibly through Flexibility Matters, businesses benefit from the huge bank of high quality, experienced, professional candidates on our books, built up over eight years – we are the leading specialist in our field.”

And Flexibility Matters is about is helping businesses grow and succeed through flexible recruitment. Emma continues: “The benefit of having experienced individuals joining your team cannot be underestimated. Where senior team members on a full time basis may be over-budget, recruiting flexibly can be a cost-effective way of gaining quality talent. Testing the water a little by taking on an experienced consultant, is another way we can help.”

There is certainly an appetite for flexible working, as, since inception, Emma and her team have built a network of over 6,000 businesses, placed candidates in over 100 South East based businesses, have over 3,000 registered candidates, over 4,500 followers on LinkedIn and 3,000 followers on Facebook. 

Emma is a constant figure on the networking scene. Warm, friendly and approachable, she is well known to businesses and a regular at networking events in the South East, through the Gatwick Diamond Business Group, where Emma sits on the executive committee. In this role, Emma has been involved in the new membership structure and the stronger links with the Manor Royal BID, Manor Royal. 

Additionally through, Gatwick Diamond, Emma has been an Inclusion and Diversity sponsor at the 2020 career conference at Canon. Flexibility Matters are also active members of the Haywards Heath Business Association, the Burgess Hill Business Parks Association, and Emma is an Ambassador for the Brighton Chamber of Commerce. 

As part of their mission to help businesses access new talent in 2019, Flexibility Matters created three discussion groups on Best Practice in Flexible Working, piloted with 25 companies, based in Brighton, Crawley and Surrey. The resulting White Paper on Best Practice in Implementing Flexible Working was delivered to the local Chambers of Commerce, the Gatwick Diamond Business Group and the Task Force on Flexible Working. 

Since then, Emma and the team have developed conversations much further, launching a series of “Action Learning Groups”, supported by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, Pfizer and Thales, the aim being to help businesses make flexible working successful. Emma says: “We are delighted to be bringing the 6th Action Learning Group session, supported by a team of experts, to businesses on May 13th, where we will deliver peer to peer practical support on how to implement successful hybrid working”. 

It’s little wonder then that Flexibility Matters is a Finalist in the Gatwick Diamond Business Awards 2022. Emma says: “We are so delighted to be a finalist in these prestigious awards. The winner will be announced on March 17th and we have our fingers well and truly crossed!”. 

To find out how flexible recruitment could help your business grow, contact Emma at Emma@flexmatters.co.uk, on 07810 541 599 or visit www.flexibilitymatters.co.uk.