Hybrid working and homeworking proved a much-debated issue at the Aito conference, with views of panellists and delegates on how much freedom to give staff to work from home or remotely a key topic.

Speaking on a recruitment, C&M Travel Recruitment managing director Barbara Kolosinska said 80% of roles in travel were now hybrid, adding some businesses were struggling to fill five-day-a-week office roles because candidates wanted the balance between home and office.

“You cannot replace face-to-face,” said Lindsay Garvey-Jones, national retail manager at Holiday Extras. “That collaboration over the water cooler. It’s paramount we get people together.”

Exsus Travel head of sales Neil Sealy said that although Exsus had been forced into more of a homeworking model, it had improved company culture: “It means we can recruit from all over the UK, even Spain, and it’s made our team more diverse and more talented than ever.”

However, he said it had also meant the company’s recruitment strategy was now more focused on attracting those with more experience under their belts, given the challenges of training and nurturing new starters remotely.

Kolosinska, though, said there were ways to mitigate this: “You could onboard new members of staff by going to a hotel or hiring an office space for a week,” she suggested.

Shared learning

Ted Wake, managing director of Kirker Holidays, said his company had taken on 15 graduates this year. Countering the perception that younger generations are less inclined to work exclusively in an office, he said the opposite was true.

“We’ve found they insist on having an office open five days a week because they live in flat shares where they don’t have the space to work from home,” he said. “We’re imbuing them with the Kirker ethos. Training, mentoring, nurturing… how can you do all that remotely?”

He added existing staff were given one day a week to work from home.

Travel Shop owner Bridget Keevil shared Wake’s view: “How can we teach new staff the Travel Stop way if they’re at home?" she said. "You learn so much from your more experienced colleague sat next to you.”