The programme was the perfect vehicle to bring together the right people at the right time to deliver lasting change, and I’d strongly recommend it.
Having followed our flexible Accreditation Programme for public sector organisations, Manchester City’s local authority are now officially a Timewise Council. Find out why they chose to work with us – and what they’ve learned.
There’s a lot of work going on in the Greater Manchester area around delivering quality jobs that fit with people’s lives. The region’s ten local councils are working with the mayor, Andy Burnham, to shape a plan for good jobs and growth that leaves no one behind. And one of the councils, Manchester City, has taken things a step further by signing up to the Timewise Accreditation Programme. As Sam McVaigh, the council’s Head of Workforce Strategy explains:
“Emma Stewart came to speak at a Council Scrutiny meeting just over a year ago. When she talked about the programme, we were struck by how well it would integrate with much of the work we’re already doing. We felt sure that our drive for equality at work, our employee health and wellbeing strategy and even our carbon reduction agenda would all be enhanced by a stronger focus on flexible working. Most importantly, it also resonated with the kind of place our staff were telling us they wanted to work.
“We were also aware that, as champions of the plan for good jobs within our region, we needed to be the change we wanted to see from local employers. And it was clear that Timewise had the knowledge and experience to help us come up with robust, practical, flexible solutions. So we signed up to the programme, and have been working with Timewise ever since.”
The programme saw Timewise deliver a series of workshops and training programmes, including a bespoke session with over 60 senior managers and the authority’s chief executive. It threw up a number of challenges, which Sam sees as an important part of the learning experience:
“To start with, there was a perception among some managers that flexible working is all about giving employees what they want. So there was a real lightbulb moment when they got their heads around the Timewise concept of two-way flexibility – that is, solutions which benefit employers as much as employees. That was a real turning point in how well managers engaged with the programme.
“We also came across a mindset that flexible working can only really work for office-based staff. Some managers started off by saying “Flexibility just isn’t for us”. But through the work with Timewise, it became clear that there’s much more to it than standard part-time hours or remote working. So, for example, although call centres do need to be staffed between fixed times, options such as compressed hours or nine day fortnights are worth exploring for these teams.”
The programme was the perfect vehicle to bring together the right people at the right time to deliver lasting change, and I’d strongly recommend it.
This point is at the heart of one of the key learnings that the programme delivered for the Manchester team. As Sam explains, “We learned a great deal from the programme; these are probably the three most important concepts that we’re using to drive our next steps.”
The last stage in the programme was to create a detailed action plan for continued development and delivery of their flexible working strategy. Following this, Timewise have awarded the Manchester team formal accreditation as a Timewise Council, which means they are recognised as a beacon for flexible working. And they, in turn, would recommend working with Timewise, as Sam explains:
“Timewise are known as the experts on flexible working, so they brought a credibility to the process that we wouldn’t have had if we had done it alone. The concepts, case studies and examples they worked through with us really shaped our thinking. And they gave our managers the confidence to explore and develop workable solutions.
“It’s also been incredibly helpful to have an external viewpoint in this kind of process. Timewise were able to challenge our status quo much more effectively because they weren’t part of our internal team. I don’t think we would have got to this point without that rigorous and robust approach.
“Overall, the programme was the perfect vehicle to bring together the right people at the right time to deliver lasting change, and I’d strongly recommend it.”
To find out more about the Timewise Accreditation Programme for councils, email info@timewise.co.uk.
Published January 2019
