As part of our campaign to deliver #FairFlexibleFutures for everyday jobs, we’ve been looking into how some organisations have changed their approach due to the pandemic. Here, two colleagues from Rowlinson's Knitwear share their stories.
Rowlinson Knitwear is an employee-owned supplier of high quality schoolwear and corporatewear, employing 58 people. Despite the barriers to flexible working in the manufacturing industry, Rowlinson offer a variety of flexible arrangements to suit employees’ different needs, and aims to be an employer of choice.
Nicola Ryan is Rowlinson Knitwear’s Colleague Support Director. She is responsible for ensuring the wellbeing of colleagues and removing any barriers to enable them to work better.
Life before lockdown
Three years before the pandemic, Rowlinson relocated to new and larger premises, using the move as an opportunity to review working practices. One key issue which the review revealed was the lack of communication between the day and night shift production teams. In response, the decision was made to alter work patterns and create an early shift and a late shift. This meant no one had to work through the night and created a fluid, more inclusive handover between the teams. They also offered a two-day mental health training course, in which 40 members of staff took part.
An additional decision was taken to reduce the working week by two and a half hours across the whole company, with no reduction in pay. This increased employee wellbeing, without reducing service output.
Reacting to the crisis
With good flexible working practices already in place, Nicola acted quickly, by shifting vulnerable colleagues to full-time home working with flexible hours. Those that needed to shield and were unable to work in the warehouses were put on furlough; at the height of lockdown, 80% of the workforce were furloughed.
During this time, the team’s biggest concern was loneliness and mental health; they supported this by ensuring that every colleague received a weekly phone call to check in. The leadership team also volunteered to reduce their pay by between 10 to 50% to support lower paid colleagues. This meant furlough pay was topped up to 90% of normal earnings.
For those that couldn’t work from home, the priority was to make the building COVID-19-compliant. Nicola helped ensure all hygiene regulations were met and created video tours of the building to share the changes. Following individual and team conversations, a skeleton rota was created for those in the production team who could work, along with new shift times to reduce cross over.
The warehouse team managers also reviewed their working arrangements, and realised parts of the job, such as processing customer orders, could be done remotely. The resulting hybrid working pattern gave them greater flexibility in where they worked.
Supporting colleagues to keep working
With regular catch ups, resources for guidance and open communications, Nicola and the wellbeing team supported their colleagues in a number of ways.
Firstly, they were more flexible about where and when roles were delivered, shifting their focus from hours to output. This involved trusting managers to work and communicate more closely with their teams, so that the arrangements met individual needs.
Secondly, the team invested time and resources to equip staff with the knowledge and skills needed to work in different departments. This highlighted the importance of multi-skilling colleagues, enabling redeployment rather than furloughed; a real benefit for a seasonal business.
Lastly, the wellbeing team’s priority was to diminish worries and anxieties around work as much as possible. They frequently checked-in on an organisational and individual level, encouraging open conversations.
Learning from the experience
Lockdown has taught Nicola and the team that roles that they previously thought couldn’t be done from home, often can be. A concrete example of this is Rowlinson Knitwear’s core customer care team. Before the pandemic, they were all office based. But during the crisis, they’ve learnt that only one member of the team needs to be present at a time. This learning has given them greater flexibility by rotating which colleague goes into the office.
Another key learning has been the importance of communication. Having honest conversations at team and individual levels allowed colleagues to contribute to finding appropriate flexible solutions, rather than having company-wide decisions imposed on them. This openness has also helped overcome some of the loneliness caused by remote working, and contributed to a well-being focused culture.
Moving forward, when recruiting for new vacancies, all roles will be advertised with flexible working. The team have already seen the benefits, reaching a new talent pool of candidates.
Shane Banham is one of two warehouse team leaders at Rowlinson Knitwear and is responsible for ordering, receiving and processing all the goods.
Life before lockdown
When Rowlinson reviewed working practices three years ago, production workers were given the choice between early or late shifts; 6am-2pm and 2pm-11pm. Shane chose to work the early shift from 6am-2pm. This allowed Shane to balance his work with caring for his three young children; collecting them from school and spending time with them in the evening. But the shift had its drawbacks, with early mornings in the winter taking a toll on Shane’s mental health.
Working through the crisis
Working in production and overseeing the warehouse team meant that Shane couldn’t work remotely during lockdown. The introduction of a skeleton shift at the end of March involved a review of which team members would be furloughed; Shane considered vulnerability, location and skillset, and choose a team of four to continue working.
While the warehouse team could have continued with the pre-COVID-19 6am-2pm shift, it didn’t meet client needs. Instead, Shane consulted his team and initially decided on a 7am-3pm shift. Additionally, following the realisation that parts of the role could be done remotely, he introduced the option of working from home for part of the week. This meant Shane could focus solely on the physical tasks while on site, and allowed him to spend more time with his family at home.
Ironically, improved team communication meant that those who were still working became frustrated by the extra time their furloughed colleagues were getting with their families. This was raised with the wellbeing team and led to the introduction of flexi-furlough, allowing staff to rotate on and off furlough. This freedom allowed Shane to go on furlough in May so he could take a much-needed break and his partner could return to work.
Support from employers
Shane noted a high level of support during this time, with frequent phone calls and occasional visits to the site from the wellbeing team. Weekly updates and clear communication helped to ensure he and his team felt cared for. Shane felt trusted by leaders to find a solution that worked for him on an individual and team basis.
Learning from the experience
Shane has been able to find opportunities within the crisis, with a positive impact on his personal development and responsibility over his team. The process highlighted the importance of listening to individual needs and being open minded to different ways of working.
Moving forward, the warehouse team leaders have decided to work at least one day a week from home, with the freedom to choose which day. In the longer term, Shane would be keen to explore greater flexibility in shift patterns, but given the logistical restrictions of production, appreciates the family time the current pattern allows him.
This case study is part of a series supported by The National Lottery Community Fund, as part of their Emerging Futures Fund
Click on the links below to read the other case studies in the series:
