Law firm Pinset Masons won The Centrica Best for Modern Families Award at the Working Families Special Awards. Now in their seventh year, the Top Employers for Working Families Special Awards showcase the UK’s most flexible and agile workplaces. HR magazine is media partner of Working Families.
We take a look at what made Pinset Masons stand out...
What they did: Kate Fergusson, head of responsible business at Pinset Masons, explained how they supported LGBT parents within their company. “In the last year, our Family Support Network has run events with our LGBT network focused on same sex parenting and organised webinars to support working parents with key issues like transition to secondary school,” she said.
“We’ve also taken a comprehensive review of agile working practices and family policies to ensure we are helping parents and carers to achieve a work/home balance. This award is fantastic recognition of the work undertaken by our diversity network and HR team to ensure we create a working environment that is not only inclusive of different family structures but actively supportive towards them."
In 2013, Pinsent Masons established Project Sky to address the gender imbalance within senior levels of the firm. They found that women fear they risk falling behind in their career when they take family leave. The company is now de-stigmatising working less than standard hours by promoting the concept that flexible working can be for everyone.
“This award also recognises the work we are undertaking through Project Sky to redress the gender balance at senior levels of our firm,” Fergusson said. “Project Sky aims to create a better workplace for all, engaging all our people, male and female, to truly achieve equality.
What you can learn: Fergusson advised other firms to ensure they have senior level support for and engagement in their initiatives to create a more family friendly and inclusive working environment.
“We have adopted a collaborative approach between our employee networks and HR team and have found that initiatives such as reciprocal mentoring which foster new relationships and an increased awareness of others’ circumstances and perspectives can be incredibly valuable in making sustainable changes,” she said.
