Firms such as American Express, Lloyds bank, EY and Deloitte have once again ranked among the top 10 Employers for Working Families in the UK.
The annual Top Employers for Working Families benchmark, run by work/life balance charity Working Families, assesses small to large businesses in the private and public sectors across the UK, and ranks them according to how flexible and family-friendly their policies and environment are.
Companies are assessed against four key criteria including: integration of family-friendly culture, attitudes and how embedded flexibility is in the business; policy, including the development and deployment of flexibility; consistent practice; and measurement and results of flexibility on the organisation.
The winners were announced at an event yesterday to mark the start of National Work Life Week.
This year's top 10 employers – in alphabetical order – are:
American Express
Barclays Bank
Crown Prosecution Service
Deloitte
EY
Intellectual Property Office
Lloyds Banking Group
Pinsent Masons
Royal Bank of Scotland
Southdown Housing
EY director of diversity and inclusiveness, Sally Bucknell said that being an inclusive employer is a fundamental part of EY's business strategy.
"The future of our business depends on our ability to provide innovative solutions for our clients, which can only happen if we can harness the most diverse range of thoughts, experiences and skills.
"To recruit and retain diverse talent we have a flexible working culture that encourages our people to decide how, when and where they work in order to achieve their own professional and personal ambitions."
Companies that adopted a flexible approach, she added, would be better prepared for the workplace for the future.
Acting director of people, places and services at the Intellectual Property Office, Dominic Houlihan, said: "There is a moral case for creating the best working experience for our people. However, there are also clear business benefits from having an inclusive culture where people can bring their whole self to work and feel empowered to deliver in a flexible way that supports their home life, while fulfilling their potential.
"Levels of engagement are generally higher in those staff who are able to work flexibly and we retain valuable skills in the workplace."
Kate Fergusson, head of responsible business at Pinsent Masons, commented: "We recognise that managing work and parental or caring responsibilities can be a challenge, and that is why we are committed to providing support to help our people find a balance. Our aim is to create an inclusive culture where all of our people, whether they have parental or caring responsibilities or not, have the opportunity to be themselves at work and realise their potential.”
The remaining 11 to 30 Top Employers for Working Families are:
Allen & Overy
Bank of England
Berwin Leighton Paisner
Citi
DWF
Hogan Lovells
Imperial College London
Independent Living Fund Scotland
LSE
Mayer Brown
Ministry of Justice
National Assembly for Wales
Oliver Wyman
Public Health England
Simmons & Simmons
UBS AG
University of Suffolk
Westfield Europe
Yorkshire Building Society
Working Families CEO Sarah Jackson congratulated all those that made the grade this year. "The annual benchmark provides a clear picture, not just of current practice, but also the evolving way in which organisations think about work/life balance and flexible working," she said.
"All the evidence shows that organisations where flexibility is properly integrated into the culture out-perform their peers. Those companies that want to be the best for their people and for productivity should benchmark their progress with us to move forward on their journey."
