Royal Bank of Scotland believes a diverse workforce is key to the success of its business. One way this is reflected is in the creation and development of policies that help more women succeed in the workplace and in establishing a working environment they will want to remain in for the long-term.

Awareness of what is on offer is key. The aim is to keep all its work-life balance initiatives at the forefront of employees’ minds. It is important that everyone has a good knowledge and understanding of the opportunities that are available,so that as many as possible benefit.

RBS's corporate banking division launched back-up childcare for its working parents three months ago and it has been a tremendous success. Interestingly, according to the statistics that the bank has seen to date, 50% of the registrations for back-up childcare are men in the division. The organisation is now launching a nationwide back-up childcare plan by providing access to a network of 500 nurseries and play schemes across the UK.

In April 2010, RBS ran an initiative to promote flexible working within its corporate banking risk function. Through this scheme, it established that of the 845 employees in the function, 25% already had flexible working arrangements in place. In the course of the pilot initiative, a further 76 applications (9%) were received from employees. Of these, 73 were immediately accepted. While the three remaining requests couldn't be accommodated due to operational business needs, alternative solutions were provided, which were acceptable to those members of staff.

These are the flexible working policies Royal Bank of Scotland offers:

Leave

• Adoption leave
• Dependants’ leave
• Holidays
• Long term employment break
• Maternity
• Parental leave
• Paternity leave
• Short term employment break
• Special leave
• Time off for training
• Winding down to retirement

Flexible working

• Part time working
• Job sharing
• Home working
• Compressed hours
• Variable working hours
• Term time working
• Excess hours for part-timers
• Maternity and adoption phase back

Working from home

The company is able to provide….

• Laptop connectivity
• BlackBerrys

Childcare

Back-up childcare scheme has been rolled out in Corporate Banking Division (CBD), GBM & Wealth Management. The service offers each permanent employee up to 20 days of free back-up childcare per year

Launched in London, the figures from the first three months within CBD are:

• 59 children registered
• 53 uses of the service

Three main reasons for use:

• Usual carer ill, on vacation or unavailable
• School not in session
• Usual carer family illness or emergency

Success has meant the organisation is rolling out nationwide later this year

Successes of flexible working

• Flexible working is seen to add value in terms of motivation for the team
• Significant motivational factor for individuals
• Considered to be a significant factor in attracting and retaining staff
• Improved work-life balance – for example, staff can get home earlier and travel when transport is less crowded
• Initially a sense of ‘feel good factor’ and now accepted as business as usual
• The operations teams have successfully ensured that logistics have been reviewed to allow for people to be more flexible in their working hours

Challenges of flexible working 

• Remote working is challenging due to paper files having to be transported and limited availability for line managers to be able to provide face-to-face feedback and coaching to staff.
• Impact on team dynamics and difficulties for staff who thrive in a team atmosphere
• Recognised that there is a cultural hurdle to overcome.
• Can be challenging logistically when high numbers of staff are involved.

Wendy Butler, HR director for RBS’s Corporate Banking Division, which has just under 17,000 employees.