It is designed to identify the lived experience of employees and provide a platform for organisations that want to move onto the next level in their people strategy.
Kirstie Axtens, head of employer services at Working Families, said the benchmark celebrates best practice but also helps employers identify their next steps for improvement.
“It looks at integrating agility and work/life policies and practices into strategy; senior buy-in; how to communicate for maximum effect; and how to monitor, measure and gauge impact,” she said. “It will help employers identify the progress they’ve made and pinpoint the next steps to make sure culture and policies marry up to the lived experience for employees.
“Taking part in the benchmark is for organisations who want to progress on their journey to being the best – for people and for productivity.”
Read what representatives from last year’s Top 10 Employers for Working Families said:
Tabitha Brufal, deputy director of criminal courts policy at the Ministry of Justice, said: “The Working Families Benchmark is an excellent opportunity to measure MoJ against other organisations across both the public and private sector – to celebrate what we do well, but also to learn from good practice elsewhere. Being named last year as a Top 10 Employer was a great achievement. MoJ is proud to be at the forefront of this agenda to deliver better work/life integration: this enhances staff engagement and wellbeing, and generates significant business benefits.”
Janet Casserley, HR manager at Southdown Housing Association, said: “We strive to be the best employer we can. Entering the Top Employers for Working Families benchmark has been useful to check we’re keeping pace with what other companies are doing. It has also provided ideas on what more we can do to support our staff. Being a family-friendly employer is an important part of our culture as it has helped not only attract but also retain good employees. We support them through their careers offering the flexibility to balance their work and home lives. In return their commitment and contribution is invaluable and enables us to grow and develop the care and support we provide for vulnerable people across Sussex.”
For more information and to register visit Working Families’ website. The closing date for submissions to the Top 30 is 31 July 2017.
