The British Retail Consortium has identified that flexibility is one of the main reasons why people choose to work in retail. But, as retailers are only too aware, the number of people working flexibly at management level is a fraction of those in customer-facing roles.
So when we asked the retail community whether they would be interested in being part of our Retail Pioneer Programme, we were delighted by the response. Five major retailers immediately spotted the potential value of the programme to their business, of which John Lewis Partnership was the first to sign up. As Lesley Ballantyne, John Lewis Partnership’s Partner Proposition and Experience Director, explains:
“We had seen how the work Timewise had carried out on a previous pilot programme had deepened the retailer’s understanding about how to incorporate flexible working into a retail business. So we took the opportunity to go on our own flexible journey through the Retail Pioneer Programme.
“We had a hunch that the lack of flexible working options at management level was preventing our partners from progressing their careers. So we agreed to focus the programme on making first-line management roles work on a flexible basis, to allow non-managers who need flexibility to move into these roles.”
The first stages of the programme involved looking at the business case for flexibility, and assessing the firm’s capacity for change. We conducted a series of focus groups and a staff survey, with the aim of identifying the level of satisfaction with current flexible provision, the latent demand for flexibility, and whether career progression on a flexible or part-time basis was considered a realistic possibility.
And their insights were revealing to say the least, says Lesley:
“It was really useful to get input from an external agency with specific expertise in flexible working. The resulting research certainly opened our eyes to our partners’ perceptions, as well as challenging our assumptions.
“For example, while we were aware of the impact that general pressures on the retail industry are having on line managers’ workloads, the fact that this would make flexible working feel even less achievable was a barrier we hadn’t anticipated.”
Based on the insights revealed by the research, we recommended several options for implementing flexible working at a first-line management level. And we were delighted when the John Lewis Partnership team opted to pilot a team-based approach to designing and rostering these roles across five of its stores. As Lesley explains:
“Our stores operate on a 60+ hour week, so no one really works ‘full-time’ in a traditional sense. That should make it possible for our first-line managers to decide together how to staff their store, based on the flexibility each one of them needs, rather than have rosters imposed on them.”
And she is hoping that the pilots signal the beginning of a new flexible era for John Lewis Partnership:
“If we can demonstrate that this level of flexibility isn’t just possible, but preferable, and create role models who are doing it successfully, then we’ll be able to incorporate this into our hiring practices too. So, when we have a vacancy, we’ll be able to invite candidates to bring their own flexible preferences into work. That’s a powerful incentive to come and work with us.”
So, what advice would Lesley give to other organisations who would like to develop their own flexible working approach?
“We knew that we couldn’t just wave a magic wand to make flexible working a success, so it has been really helpful to have Timewise supporting us on the journey. Their independent and professional approach applied a laser-like focus to the issue and gave us a much richer insight than we could have achieved alone.
“I’d advise other organisations to be open-minded about the barriers to and effects of flexible working, and to be prepared to have their assumptions challenged; the programme has brought issues to the surface that we previously only had an inkling of. We thoroughly enjoyed working in partnership with the Timewise team and feel that we understand our business better as a result.”
If you would like to know more about our flexible consultancy services, or discuss how you might benefit from working with Timewise, please call 020 7633 4444 or email info@timewise.co.uk
Published January 2018
