Wessex Institute (WI) came to us in 2019 with an ambitious aim of taking their well-established flexible working practice to the next level.
The organisation had carried out an internal survey in late 2018 to explore the appetite for and barriers to flexible working. 83% of respondents stated they already worked flexibly on a regular basis, with 43% describing themselves as part-time. And although over half of respondents said they worked off-site on a regular basis, 80% wanted to do so more often in future.
However, the survey also revealed that the main barrier to flexible working was management and culture. And it also became clear that a lack of IT expertise among staff was preventing some from off-site working.
Experience has shown that getting managers on board with flexible working is a critical factor in its success. Furthermore, flexible cultures don’t happen by accident; they require strategic thought and careful planning.
So we proposed a structure that allowed the team at WI to think about the issues more holistically, and then created a process for bringing managers up to speed.
We began with an action planning session, in which we worked with WI leaders to assess their strengths and weaknesses in five areas and identify their aims in terms of flexible working practice and culture.
We used the insights from this to create and facilitate a series of masterclasses for managers. These focused on upskilling managers in how to assess flexible working options and respond to requests, and how to manage flexible teams confidently.
64% of all line managers attended the flexible working masterclasses and 53% attended follow-up sessions. Those line managers who did not attend were provided with the masterclass materials and access to members of our team.
We carried out a mini survey for managers before, immediately after and six weeks after the masterclasses, to evaluate their impact. Six months later a survey was carried out with all staff to assess the overall impact of the programme.
In addition to the masterclasses:
By Cathy Halstead, Editor, Timewise
Here at Timewise, we are keen to share our flexible working expertise as widely as possible. But as we all know, the peer to peer viewpoint is also a highly useful resource. So we asked Justine Campbell, EY’s Managing Partner for Talent, UK and Ireland – responsible for attracting and retaining talent – to share what the firm has learned, and how it has benefitted, from the journey to a fully flexible culture. Here are her insights.
As our recent Power 50 awards highlighted, flexible working is no longer about people juggling caring responsibilities. People of all ages, from all sorts of backgrounds, are choosing to work flexibly for a wide range of reasons. The result, Justine believes, is that flexible working is no longer a nice to have; it’s becoming an expectation from prospective employees.
“In a 24/7 global culture, backed up by supportive technology, flexibility is becoming the norm. So any employer that wants to be truly competitive needs to have flexible working as standard. It’s a business imperative.”
It seems obvious, then, that making flexible working available to potential candidates should be part of a future-focused firm’s recruitment strategy. But being willing isn’t enough, says Justine.
“If you want to attract the best talent, you need to be prepared to shout about your approach to flexible working, not wait to be asked. And given the number of hires we make each year – over 2,000 experienced candidates in 2018 – this is something we take seriously.
“We state clearly that our roles are open to flexibility, and empower and challenge our hiring teams and line managers to deliver on this. For us, the key question is not ‘Can we make it work’ but ‘How can we make it work?’”
Similarly, flexible working has a big impact on retention; by offering people what they want, you’re more likely to keep hold of them for longer. And it doesn’t end there, according to Justine.
“We often say that you can’t put a price on flexible working. Speaking personally, I wouldn’t trade my flexibility for a salary hike; it’s worth too much to me. But at a firm-wide level, being able to hang on to talented employees is about more than just retention rates.
“For example, Michael Heap, who was a 2019 Timewise Power Climber, now works for us three days a week, to free up time to develop his own tech business (Tmup). This is teaching him new skills and developing his entrepreneurial abilities. EY and our clients will benefit from that as much as we do from his day-to-day experience.
Proactively offering flexible working to potential and current employees is also likely to lead to a more diverse workforce. And that has been shown to have a positive impact on the business as a whole, as Justine notes.
“It’s easy for businesses that don’t have diversity of experience to get stuck in their ways. In our world, we need a degree of professional scepticism, which we wouldn’t get if we only had identikit employees. Successful workplaces reflect the outside world, whether that’s in terms of gender, age or ethnicity, and flexible working has a key role to play in making that happen.
Clearly, formally defined arrangements such as part-time or annualised contracts need formal contracts. But Justine has found that incorporating informal flexibility into EY’s culture is also part of the solution.
“We think of it in terms of outputs – that is, what needs to be delivered by when – rather than focusing on how long people are sitting at their desks. So if one of my team wants to go for a run before starting work, or drive home before making a call to avoid the rush hour, that’s fine by me.
“As long as you trust your employees (and if you don’t, perhaps you should question why you employ them), you should be happy for them to work in the way that suits them best. In my experience, it makes people more productive, as well as having a positive effect on their wellbeing and loyalty.”
However, to make all these elements work together, there’s one factor that can’t be overlooked: the role played by an organisation’s leadership. As Justine explains:
“There are so many factors involved in making flexible working a success, from investing in technology and job design to championing role models and training line managers. It’s not just an add-on or a written policy; you have to embed flexible working into your company culture. And that’s not going to happen unless it comes from the top.
“We have members of our leadership team working part-time or flexing their hours in a variety of ways, and they’re very open about it. That kind of visibility is worth a huge amount; our leaders are not only setting our flexible strategy, they’re also showing by example that it can be done.”
As EY’s experience shows, a lot of work goes into creating a successful flexible working strategy. And, as Justine and the team at EY have found, it’s well worth getting expert support.
“We’ve been collaborating with Timewise on our flexible hiring strategy since we started on this journey and their support has been invaluable. They have set the standard for flexible working and will ensure you make a success of it.
“The fact is, if you want to be competitive in the future, you need to be flexible. The future of work starts now; get some support, make a start and make it happen.”
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.”
In 2016, as part of a revaluation of their working practices, Westminster City Council decided to remodel their City Hall base. Their aim was to make it a better working space for their own staff, and to make part of it available to rent, as a way of generating extra income.
From a practical point of view, this required them to reduce their desk-to-person ratio, by encouraging more employees to work flexibly. But the team at Westminster quickly realised that they needed to tackle their workplace culture if flexible working was to be successful. So, having spoken to their colleagues at Camden, who had been on a similar journey to become the first accredited Timewise Council, they contacted us for support.
As Aruj Haider, OD Advisor for Westminster explains, “We soon worked out that the office move was an opportunity to transform the way we work. We wanted to find the best way to build flexible working into our strategy, and knew we’d do a better job if we had some expert advice.”
The Timewise programme lasts around four months, and aims to help the council create a flexible working improvement plan, through which they not only become more flexible themselves, but also use their experience to influence other local employers.
The team at Westminster were keen to get input from across their organisation, so they set up an agile working group that was led by John Quinn, Executive Director of Corporate Services, and had representatives from different departments, who were tasked with getting involved. And critically, the programme also involved engaging the top team. As John explains:
“We knew if we were going to make flexible working a success, we’d need to ensure that any culture change was implemented across the board. The leadership workshops were particularly valuable as they’ve made sure that the focus on flexible job design starts right at the top.”
So what has changed at Westminster since they started the programme? The answer is, a great deal.
Today, ‘agile working’ (the term they use internally) is at the heart of their strategy. They’ve developed a clear leadership vision around it that encourages trust and focuses performance management on outcomes, not inputs. They’ve created principles and protocols so that everyone is clear about what agile working involves, and developed an agile working hub where everything agile sits together, including a tech toolkit to support staff who are out there doing it.
And that’s just a snapshot; the change is being led from the top but is cascading down through the council at every level.
But the team know that this isn’t the end – it’s just the beginning. As Aruj points out:
“Understanding the issues around flexible working and culture isn’t a quick fix. We need to make sure everyone in our organisation remains clear about the benefits of working flexibly, so they are aware of, and take advantage of it; it’s a case of repeat repeat repeat.
“Flexible hiring is obviously critical, so we need to continue our work in this area too. We’ve already created resources to support flexible hiring, and are planning a workshop on flexible job design for our HR leaders. “This is all part of our drive to ensure that Westminster is a fair, inclusive and diverse place to work”.
So, what advice does John have for other councils or organisations who are considering a similar move? “Start as early as you can. It does take time to change mindsets and it’s worth making sure you don’t have to rush the process.
“My other piece of advice would be to get some expert help; Timewise’s support has been invaluable. They have helped us to think differently about how to make jobs truly flexible, got the senior team really engaged and have brought the concept of flexible working to life in a way that helps everyone buy into it. I’d definitely recommend the accreditation programme for councils.”
To find out more about becoming a Timewise Council or the other ways that Timewise could support your organisation, please call 020 7633 4432 or email info@timewise.co.uk
Published March 2018
Karen Mattison, Co-Founder
Following the government’s requirement that employers publish details of their gender pay gap by April 2018, some employers are already on the front foot. Step forward Diageo, the global beverage company and Timewise Partner, who published their report in November 2017. It’s a detailed report, which makes interesting reading for anyone who believes in the drive for better workplace equality.
Firstly, we’re delighted that Diageo have acknowledged that flexible working is central to closing the gender pay gap. Indeed, they have noted that designing jobs to be more flexible is a key part of their solution going forwards, confirming that they “…will continue to partner with Timewise, with whom we run flexible job design workshops… to ensure roles can be delivered flexibly.”
Interestingly, the work we are doing with Diageo isn’t specifically gender focused; as our recent research has revealed, in today’s workplace, flexibility is for everyone. But experience has shown us that if you get flexible working right, you can’t help but narrow your gender pay gap. As the 2016 Women and Equalities Committee Report into the issue stated:
“A large part of the gender pay gap is down to women’s concentration in part-time work which doesn’t make use of their skill…. Old-fashioned approaches to flexibility in the workplace and a lack of support for those wishing to re-enter the labour market are stopping employers from making the most of women’s talent and experience.”
Secondly, as Diageo know, tackling the gender pay gap through flexible working requires a hands-on approach. As they say in their report “We are proactively identifying roles across the business that are particularly suitable for part-time, job share and flexible job design, to help break down barriers for applicants who do not wish to work full-time.”
So if, like Diageo, you’re looking to close your gender pay gap, and agree that flexibility is part of the solution, here are some suggestions:
Our research has shown that almost 9 in 10 of the UK workforce either work flexibly already or wish they could. However, fewer than 1 in 10 jobs are advertised as being flexible, which means these candidates have a limited pool of jobs to apply for.
Diageo have stated up front that they are open to a conversation about how they can make their roles work flexibly, but this is still all too rare. There’s a big opportunity here for progressive employers like them to scoop up talented flex-enthusiasts.
If the people in your organisation don’t approach flexible working positively, it’s doomed to failure. In particular, senior leaders and line managers need to understand the benefits flexibility can bring to the business, and be trained in how to support their flexible employees.
This is something that Diageo is rightly proud of. As Louise Jones, their part-time Head of HR, explains:
“The environment that Diageo fosters and my commitment to the company makes my part-time role achievable. The level of trust is exceptional and it is also normal for employees to flex where they work as and when it makes sense to do so. What matters at Diageo is what you deliver, not where you sit.”
Flexible working is far more likely to succeed when a role is designed flexibly, rather than just having elements of flexibility shoehorned in. However, some organisations still try and take shortcuts, such as expecting a part-time employee to squeeze a full-time job into fewer days.
As Diageo have stated, they take a more proactive approach, working with us to deliver workshops on flexible job design through our training and consultancy service. One of the initiatives they are hoping to implement is an internal job share portal, which will help their employees find a job share partner.
With these kind of well-planned processes in place, organisations will be able to reduce their gender pay gap, not to mention improving career progression for flexible employees and creating a fairer, more inclusive workplace. And with April 2018 looming, there’s no time to waste.
Diageo deliberately invite flexible talent into their organisation, saying: “If you’re looking for a flexible role, come and join us.” We’d like to issue a similar invitation to employers: if you’re looking to tackle your gender pay gap through flexible working, come and talk to us.
To find out more about our consultancy and training services, please call 020 7633 4444 or email info@timewise.co.uk
This article has been written in association with Diageo, one of our Timewise partners. Published February 2018.
By Stephen Smith, HR Director at Lloyds Banking Group
I’ve been with Lloyds Banking Group in all its evolving shapes and forms for 43 years. I started when I was 18 years old when people had a job for life and climbed the career ladder with one organisation. Things have certainly changed at Lloyds Banking Group over the years. We’ve moved from a largely clerical environment to become a multi-faceted organisation, where around a third of our colleagues work in an agile way today.
Leaders still have work to do though. The world is changing. Society is changing and importantly technology is creating new opportunities for us to work in different ways. All these changes impact how we engage with both our customers and colleagues and we are facing a huge shift in the regular 9 to 5. We need to be ahead of the curve and be open and adaptable to our changing society. We need to look at what is possible when a candidate or employee requests reduced or flexible hours, otherwise we face a real risk of losing good people.
At Lloyds Banking Group, we call it Agile Working. We need to be agile in our approach to hiring and staff retention, whilst, increasingly, good candidates want a more agile and flexible way of working. For women, it was once a case of giving up your career to start a family, but now it’s about making both work so that the individual, and the organisation, are getting the best situation for their needs.
We’re all different and we all have different needs. Agile working reflects and responds to the diverse needs of our customers and colleagues better and that is why I always try to think beyond the formal process for flexibility. In response to this, I recently made an appointment for Group Operations HR Director, but instead of looking at a traditional, full time role, I brought in Charlotte Cherry and Alix Ainsley as a job share. To really mix things up, both Charlotte and Alix are based in Bristol, whilst we are based in Central London. They were strong candidates for the role, so I approached this hire – as I do with all hires – with a mindset of how we can make the situation work and not how it can fail.
Charlotte and Alix worked together as a job share in their previous organisation and have become very symbiotic in their approach. So much so, colleagues and the senior management team don’t even notice they’re working with two different people.
With that in mind, I would argue that if we can make a senior level job share work, then why not the same approach with our customer-facing staff? We have some good examples of branch managers job sharing too. With the right communication, I think we can leverage job sharing further across every part of the business
At Lloyds Banking Group we are taking the future very seriously. We are increasingly seeing a younger generation of millennials who do not want a full time job, opting instead for a portfolio career. This is something we are looking to address, which makes our Agile Working policy even more important than ever. HR Directors really need to look at what can be achieved with every hire.
It is not always easy to embrace change but think about the benefits an agile approach can bring. With a job share, for example, you have two heads and two opinions. By offering flexible hours you are retaining talent that might otherwise leave the job market. I only wish I’d had this insight 10 years ago. At Lloyds Banking Group we are committed to building a culture that encourages innovative agile working policies and practices. We recognise that embedding these are essential if we are to truly benefit from the business advantages and employee benefits that different ways of working can bring. We owe it to our colleagues to give them the best opportunities possible.
Published May 2016
Small businesses lead the way in flexible working in the UK – often out of necessity. After all, if your staff roll is still in the 10s, do you really need (and can you afford) a full-time Finance Director or a full-time HR Director? And smaller businesses often need to be more adept at ducking and diving the highs and lows of customer demand.
To celebrate the successes of small businesses when it comes to flexible working, Timewise set out to find the ‘UKs most flexible small business’. We were looking for a small organisation that allowed all staff to work flexibly if it suited them. We also wanted to see the successful use of a wide variety of types of flexible working. And we wanted to showcase an employer where flexible working made a huge contribution to the smooth running of the business.
We found a worthy winner in Broad Lane Vets of Coventry.
More than half of the 40 employees at this vets’ practice work flexibly in some way. Company Director Elly Pittaway says that flexible working helps to cover the long shifts at the practice’s three different sites. It also helps to attract and retain staff in what is an increasingly feminised sector.
Published March 2015
