The in-office conundrum: why balance is the key to an effective workplace

Introduction: flexible working is still important

It’s easy for many of us to take our working arrangements for granted, but for actuaries working in the UK life insurance industry, work-life balance remains one of their biggest challenges. 43% name work-life balance among the top three biggest challenges in their role, with 15% placing it at number one. So as an employer, how can you get that balance right?

Juniors need collaboration

It’s easy to forget that many junior actuaries started their careers during COVID. So while they may be equipped with all the necessary technical skills for their job, having to work entirely from home meant they didn’t have the chance to build their workplace collaboration skills and client facing experience in the office environment.

Being able to access mentoring and immediate help when you need it is incredibly valuable when you’re starting out in your career. It also allows you to build a greater rapport with your team and network with people across the business. Being remote might aid focus when it comes to the more analytical tasks, but being away from the rest of the team can create a feeling of isolation. Coming into the office also helps junior professionals raise their profile in the organisation and learn about other areas of the business, which will help them develop a more rounded skillset.

Our clients are seeing that when junior people do come in, they often have an immediate impact, picking up new skills and integrating quickly with the rest of the team. But they have to be given that chance. If they’re free to come in when they want but they don’t have their team around them, you won’t feel the full benefit.

More experienced staff happy to be remote

Only 15% of actuaries say that more flexible working arrangements is their number one reason for moving, so on the face of it, it seems that organisations are generally getting this right. However, the fact that it was in the top three motivations for moving for 61% shows that it’s still very much in the backs of employees’ minds. Could pushing for more time in the office result in pushing actuaries away?

From our conversations with more experienced candidates, it’s clear that they prefer a hybrid or fully remote arrangement. As they’ve been doing their job for a while, they’re more confident in their ability to manage their work independently. They also have established relationships across the industry, meaning they often don’t feel as strong a need to integrate themselves. Those who have to balance family commitments with commuting really appreciate the flexibility of remote work.

At the same time, however, those with management responsibilities often tell us that they need to be able to spend time with their team, both for strengthening team cohesion and supporting more junior members of the team. Being a visible presence is important not just to managers, but to the people they’re responsible for. So even though more senior actuaries are more likely to demand flexible working, don’t assume this will apply to all of them.

Getting the balance right

Offering the right working arrangements for your people is so much more complicated than slapping a blanket hybrid working policy on it and thinking your work’s done. Flexible working isn’t a one-size-fits-all – it means something different to different people. You can only cater your working arrangements to your people’s needs by understanding their individual circumstances, their role and the point they’re at in their career, so keep in regular communication with them to make sure their current working arrangement is getting the best out of them.

Putting in place two or three anchor days a week – ensuring teams can all be in the office on the same day to aid collaboration – will give you a good basis to start from, and hopefully give everyone the best of both worlds without feeling under pressure to spend either more or less time in the office.

Find out more

Since returning to the office, people at all levels are noticing the benefits of being in person – better collaboration, stronger connections and more visibility. It’s clear that flexibility is still important, but it has to be structured and coordinated for your people, and your organisation as a whole, to feel the benefit. Early-career employees are happy to come in for learning, mentoring and career growth, while more experienced staff really value hybrid or fully remote arrangements.

These insights are derived from our Life Actuarial UK Workplace Attitudes Survey, based on responses from nearly 200 professionals working in the UK life insurance industry. For more on what’s important to actuaries in the workplace, you can request a download of our report here.

If you’d like more advice on offering a hybrid working environment catered to all your people’s needs, are looking to hire actuarial talent or you’re an actuarial professional looking for your next opportunity in the life insurance industry, contact our life actuarial team.