IT HAS been one year since a recruitment company implemented its unlimited holiday strategy.

Sceptics feared it was making a huge error.

But 12 months on, has Expand Executive Search, at Edge House, Bond Street, Brighton, revolutionised working norms?

Expand began by introducing flexible working in 2013.

It introduced the strategy after claiming to have understood the imperative needs of employees and said it offered people more control over their lives.

Then last year came unlimited holiday, an extension of flexible working.

This started after a member of staff took a month off work.

Appreciating the opportunity, the individual worked hard before and after while still hitting annual objectives. Operations manager Ella Tugwell said: “We wanted to offer colleagues the freedom to make a responsible choice that ultimately allowed for a better work-life balance.

“We were confident in our approach that trust and accountability was already ingrained in our people to act responsibly.”

Expand’s success has demonstrated these practices can work.

In 2016 company growth hit an all-time high and bosses think implementing strategies that provided flexibility and trust among colleagues was a major factor in the success.

On average only 28 days’ holiday was taken across the company in 2016, yet staff churn and sickness were at an all-time low.

At the same time the business achieved 52 per cent growth in sales. After opening a new office in New York in May last year, the company is looking to stretch the employment norms in the US.

Every new employee at Expand is enrolled immediately on to both initiatives as everyone is entitled to the benefits.

Marketing co-ordinator Poppy Willard said: “I feel Expand has got it right with the freedom and responsibility we get with time management.

“Everyone feels grateful that they have more control over their lives.

“The employees reflect the company and the work they do.”

Managing director Samantha Maxwell-Reed said: “I am enormously proud of the culture and performance of our business.

“Allowing our team to grasp responsibility, making their own attendance decisions, has delivered the most amazing business performance.

“It’s a culture of fun and success that is unique.”

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