When my business partner and I first sat down to discuss launching our own recruitment agency there were lots of things we wanted to do differently.

First and foremost was to offer flexible working. Having both held senior positions within leading recruitment agencies we knew first hand how a typical 9-5 job doesn’t suit everyone, or even exist for that matter.

Some people can’t get going until 11am whereas others need to finish at 3pm to pick their kids up from school, fall into parent mode and then switch back on in the evening.

Secondly we wanted to offer remote working so that each of our partners could spend the time they needed to get the job done in an efficient and professional manner, wherever they are in the world.

Thirdly, we wanted to empower our partners to go forth and conquer without the micromanaging that is all too often experienced in big corporations.

Essentially, we wanted to give them the best of both worlds; work at a time and from a location that suits them, just get the work done!

Some see it as a bit ‘out there’ and a bit too left field to be successful, so when we saw an article recently on the Huffington Post about how businesses need to take a more ‘feminine’ approach in order to survive we knew we had to read more (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/claudia-chan/take-a-feminine-approach-_b_9021278.html)

In a nutshell, the article looks at how employers attract and retain key talent and how this needs to go beyond offering healthy lunches, car subsidiaries or cheap gym membership.

Claudia Chan, author of the article and CEO of S.H.E Global Media Inc., states that many workplaces are based around ‘masculinity’. They’re competitive and aggressive, you’re not to show weakness or vulnerability and you’re certainly meant to leave your problems at the front door.

To be successful, she says that workplaces need to embrace being more ‘feminine’. They need to be more flexible, communicative, collaborative and empathetic. And this isn’t just to feed the needs of female employees it’s to help male employees too.

Have a read of the article and let us know how you feel about the workplace becoming more ‘feminine’ and how this may help to enhance your career.