The secret to recruitment success lies in the offering of a boarderless office, says Lisa Curry, co-founder of lifestyle and wellness brand Happy Healthy You.

Having established the brand (formerly Happy Hormones) in 2016 with Co-Founder Jeff Butterworth, Lisa says the decision to create a remote working model has paid dividends for the brand in more ways than just saving on rent and other overheads. “Jeff lives most of the year in Mauritius, and I travel between the Sunshine Coast and Melbourne, so when we established Happy Healthy You, we knew renting office space would be an unnecessary expense for us,” said Curry. “I’ve also personally spent much of my career in the swimming pool so being confined to four walls wasn’t really my style.”

Curry says that their digital structure has lead to many benefits, particularly surrounding their recruitment. Their remote office model has enabled them to attract the best of the best, despite where people are located. Their talent pool isn’t limited to Australia either. The company has hired consultants from around the world including Sri Lanka, South Africa and Ireland as well.

Curry says that it has also caused business to thrive operationally speaking with fewer and lower overheads, reduced sick leave, as well as it giving staff the access to a 24/7 working environment,  encouraging them to work whenever best suites them across different time zones.

Curry says she can see why many Australian companies are moving to this model of business as it leads to increased leisure time for staff, a respect for time, recruitment of the best talent and better productivity. “It’s not rocket science to create a flexible working model,” said Curry. “It really comes down to making sure you have a strong internet connection, the right communication and project tracking tools and a time-zone tracking app. There are coffee shops for client catch ups, co-working space for formal presentations and Zoom and Skype for long distance meetings.”

Paige Greacen, Naturopathic Consultant for Happy Healthy You, says rather than feeling isolated, the format allows for more connection than the traditional office arrangement. “Working online without a physical office hasn’t at all restricted our team from having an enthusiastic, supportive business culture or from developing tight knit relationships with our co-workers,” said Greacen. “We connect with each other at all times of the day and use instant messaging through Facebook to discuss our day to day duties, cases and goals for the day and week ahead.”

Happy Healthy You recognises every industry and business has its unique needs and that remote working isn’t suitable for everyone but says offering flexible working conditions is the heart of maintaining a thriving business.

Readers also enjoyed this story about female canopy pilots.