Work - Life Balance

Case Studies

'We all should have a choice of how to balance our work and life'

Below are four Work-life balance case studies

• Early Years Schoolwear
• John Lewis Partnership
• NEC Group (Birmingham)
• Whale Tankers Ltd
• Real Point
• Ove Arup and Parnters Limited
• Beiersdorf UK Ltd

Early Years School Wear

From their retail shop they supply school uniforms to over 60 schools in Solihull and the surrounding areas. From their warehouse they supply uniforms directly to schools and also offer an embroidery service for schools, sports clubs and private customers. The warehouse also serves as the administration offices. They employ 23 people; 3 full-time and 20 part-time.

Why did you become involved in Work-Life Balance?

Being a working mum means you really appreciate the challenges of balancing work and life. The retail sector generally has a high turnover of staff, therefore introducing Work-Life Balance policies and culture means that we keep out staff. Our low turnover means that our staff know their customers and our customers have a familiar face to deal with; this is good for business.

Key Best Practices

Early Years are delivering great ways of working that retain staff. They have put in place:

• Child-friendly flexible working, other flexible working to.
• Extended holiday
• Phased retirement (reduced hours to suit)

Out of everything you have put in place what are you particularly proud of?

We are a family business and we see the staff as part of the family. I am proud that our staff stay a long time; one member has been with us for nearly 30 years and we are just about to have her retirement do! She has enjoyed flexibility throughout her career. Until recently, we also had 2 members of staff who were with us for 25 years and many can boast 15 to 20 years; this is unusual in retail.

What advise would you give to others?

Don't get despondent, not everything works all the time. You won't always be appreciated by everybody, just preserve and keep on with it. If you are flexible with your staff they will be supportive and assist you when you need it.

Anchor Point:2John Lewis Partnership

Winner: Large Business Category

John Lewis employs over 670 employees (known as partners because each one has a stake in the company). It sells over 700 different product lines and delivers excellence built on values and behaviours that are core to the company's success and history.

Why bother to get involved in Work-Life balance?

Because the retail sector is very competitive, John Lewis knew that they needed to do something else additional to attract and retain their staff.

What are the key elements of flexibility on offer?

• Part Time/Flexi-Time/Job share
• Part Year Working
• Working From Home
• Ticket to Ride/Passport to the Sun- work more in the winter when it is busy, less in the summer when it is quieter!
• Home/Tele/Flexiplace working
• Extended holiday leave - up to 6 months
• Compressed Working Week
• Study Leave - up to five days plus paid leave for exams
• Career breaks - after 25 years service. Claim 6 months paid leave
• Career Leave - 12 months

What about Work-Life Balance in Practice?

Through the Golden Jubilee Trust employees have the opportunity to apply to spend up to 6 months working for a charity, with their pay and benefits not affected. John Lewis are proud to have had one successful result this year and look forward to two more in 2006.

John Lewis run an annual 'Partner Survey' with a 94% return rate. Through this they were able to analyse just how employees felt about working for the company. Two key indicators scored very highly 'my working hours suit my personal needs' and 'I would recommend John Lewis as somewhere to work'. In January 2006 the store ran a 'benefits' week for partners where local advisory groups came along to provide information to employees about their benefits packages.

Have there been any unexpected surprises along the way?

I decided to apply for the flexible working to reduce my working week to 4 days enabling me to spend more time supporting the RDA (Riding for the Disabled Association) and combining my passion for riding and working with disabled children and adults. I am so delighted with the result and have realigned my work to suit. Also, we decided to allow all partners to self-roster their time this Christmas. I must admit we were all holding our breath in case it didn't work and we didn't cover the late nights and weekends. We needn't have worried it worked fantastically! Employees Were happy and management were happy because they didn't need to get involved; thus freeing up their time to manage!

What advice would you give to those just getting started?

Don't be afraid just try it! Don't talk yourself out of doing things because they sounds scary or up in the clouds. Most of all learn from others, find out what works and just do it!

NEC Group

The NEC Group comprises of the National Exhibition Centre (NEC), The NEC Arena, The International Convention Centre (ICC), The National Indoor Arena (NIA) and Symphony Hall. Every year the NEC Group brings 4.5 million people together at its world-class Birmingham based venues; together they generate £1.3 billion of business and visitor expenditure and supports the equivalent of 22,000 full-time jobs. The NEC Group aims to create the ultimate customer experience and provide everything the customer needs for a memorable visit. They employ 1046 people, 959 full-time and 87 part-time, as well as 3000 casual workers supporting the business.

Why did you become involved in Work-Life Balance?

In recent times, we have had a lot of changes to senior management positions; we now have a lot of female managers, which has helped to open up the whole discussion about Work-Life Balance. In addition, we wanted to retain skilled people; our people make the difference and our new approaches have resulted in much higher percentage of women returning to work after maternity leave. Flexibility means that we retain all generations and this has had an impact on our customers who enjoy seeing familiar faces.

Key Best Practices

The NEC offers a number of current Work-Life Balance practices;

• Time off for voluntary activities
• Respect and Faith at Work - bullying, harassment and faith friendly.
• Health and Wellbeing at Work - attendance management, occupational health, private healthcare, healthcare cash plan, healthy eating.
• Gym membership ad EAP scheme
• Parents at Work Scheme - stress relieving fun events, dress down Fridays, annual events.

Out of everything you have put in place what are you particularly proud of?

We are proud of lots of things and the results of the staff survey sum it up, it refers to the NEC Group as 'a family'. I enjoy the flexibility, Summer Gala Day and the Christmas Party, which makes it feel more than a job. I value the inclusive environment, the fun stuff, the free meals and fruit. People often say that they 'feel like they are coming home' - that makes us proud!

What advise would you give to others?

To publicise the successes you have, then build on that. Tell your employees all about it, get suggestions from them and openly advertise what you are doing. Also get your managers involved in the implementation and best practice sharing.

Anchor Point:4Whale Tankers Ltd

Winner: Medium Business Category

The company manufactures large vacuum tankers. High standards of build and attention to customer needs within a culture of continuous product improvement have ensured that Whale has grown steadily to its current highly respected position in the world market.

Why bother to get involved in Work-Life Balance?

For Whale Tankers it has always been part of our culture and lead by example.

What are the key elements of flexibility on offer?

• Part-Time
• Flexi-Time
• Home Working
• Compressed Working
• Job Share
• Term-Time Working
• Staggered Shifts
• Holiday Bonus - all employees receive a holiday bonus if they take 5 days or more of holiday in a block. Paid at top rate of fitter's pay. Profit related Bonus
• Sickness Bonus
• Retention Related Sickness benefit

What about Work-Life Balance in Practice?

Employees have been involved in the modernisation of already generous benefits packages like setting pay levels, sickness absence and holiday entitlements. We are a 'single status company'; both the Directors and Board members believe that to build trust and retain good people, hierarchies should not exist. All employees are involved in the decision-making processes especially on employee related topics. Every month the Chairman spends a whole day handing out pay slips, and taking time to chat and thank people for their contribution. He sees it as the most important thing that he does and makes sure that he doesn't miss the chance to be there for everyone - after all they are there for him the rest of the month.

Each year employees are given a pot of money for their pay rise; they then decide whether they want it in cash or in extra holidays. We also have a profit related bonus scheme.

Finally, our retirement system recognises that people often cannot cope with the transition from full time one week to retired the next, so we have introduced a system of support for employees that are approaching retirement. The system includes reduced hours and wind down to suit employee needs. This allows employees to pursue other interests and pastimes whilst still being able to work as well.

Have there been any unexpected surprises along the way?

We would not have believed that empowering the Works Council would have such an impact in driving through changes, decisions and freeing up management time. They are so empowered, often coming up with different solutions and ideas than we would have. It is important that we support their ideas and decisions.

What advice would you give to those just getting started?

Try it and see! Employees are the most important part of your business. Listen to them, take their ideas on board and just try them out!

Real Point

A design and technology business that serves the SME sector with technology solutions, web design and print. They employ 7 people in total: 5 full-time and 2 part-time.

Why did you become involved in Work-Life Balance?

What is working at Real Point all about? The answer is 'Fun! Honesty! Excellence!'. The MD Ian O'Donnell, has a personal interest in Work-Life Balance and suggests 'our work takes up an awful lot of our waking hours, if we would rather be somewhere else, then there is something wrong. ' he sees himself as being personally accountable for Work-Life Balance and relies on his team to let him know if there are issues.

Building on the success of last year, Real Point has further consolidated its Work-Life Balance practices and added some new and innovative approaches to ensure a good quality of working life for all employees. At the core is a passion for good communication, listening to employee needs and a reason neutral approach.

Key Best Practices

Real Point believes that work should be fitted around personal needs and have implemented:

• Flexible working from home and office - Flexi-time and staggered time - anytime, any place anywhere, but not long hours.
• Extended holidays 30 days excluding statutory
• Charity support and community projects - commitment to Fair Trade charities.
• Employee away days and communication sessions.
• Breakout Zone area with a playstation, relaxing chairs, drinks and country premises.

Out of everything you have put in place what are you particularly proud of?

In truth, I am proud that we have made it work for everyone, not just for some. By creating flexible working, providing everyone with laptops and phones to enable a flexible workplace, and increased the holiday entitlement to 30 days, we have created a more balanced working environment.

What advise would you give to others?

Talk to your team, THEY know what they need. Do everything in your power to make it happen.

Ove Arup and Partners Limited

A global firm of designers, engineers, planners and business consultants who provide a diverse range of professional services to clients around the world. Their innovative and fully-integrated approach brings a full complement of skills and knowledge to bear on any given design problem. They are the creative force behind many of the world's most innovative and sustainable designs. Arup has three main global business areas - buildings, infrastructure and consulting - and their multi-disciplinary approach means that any given project may involve people from any or all of the sectors or regions in which they operate.

The firm has over 9,000 staff working in 75 offices in more than 33 countries. At any one time, we have over 10,000 projects running concurrently. In Solihull they employ 589 people; 562full-time and 27 part-time.

Why did you become involved in Work-Life Balance?

Work-Life Balance has evolved since the company was formed over 60 years ago. In 1970, Sir Ove Arup, delivered a keynote presentation addressing the then leadership. It underpinned the philosophy and values that the company stands by today. He said "….To make your work interesting and rewarding, you enjoy both your work and your leisure. We opt uncompromisingly for this option. " The organization rewards itself as 'human and friendly', where every member of staff is valued, individuality and caring about the wellbeing of staff are how we live today.

Key Best Practices

Arup Work-Life Balance practices are many, however, the following provide a flavour for current initiatives:

• Reduced hours for many reasons - for example, pre and post retirement.
• Flexible working - wide and varied
• Work-Life Balance is included as part of performance management systems.
• Local initiative is workplace message and stress management initiative.

Out of everything you have put in place what are you particularly proud of?

Firstly, we moved from 73 to 37 in the Sunday Times Best Companies. However, it's not what initiatives we have put in; it's the positive response from employees that makes us proud. In the global employee survey, 92% of our employees said they were proud to work for Arup and 93% would recommend the firm as a place to work. Our people tell us that what we are doing is working. We want to attract and retain the best people therefore we must keep up to date with the changing expectations of employees. For example, we are just about to introduce flexible benefits.

What advise would you give to others?

Engage as many people as you can as early as possible. Seek to understand what is important to them and do not compromise the values of your organisation, aim to compliment them.

Beiersdorf UK Ltd

They market and sell skin & beauty care products, including; NIVEA, EUCERIN, ATRIXO and ELASTOPLAST. They employ 222 people; 202 full-time and 20 part-time.

Why did you become involved in Work-Life Balance?

One of our core values is "We respect the dignity of the individual whilst at work and the fact they have a life outside of work." People's lives change throughout their working career and we believe that when the balance is right for the individual then they are more productive and engaged at work. They can enjoy their home life and leisure pursuits. This has a direct impact on relationships inside and outside of work, which is of benefit to the company and the broader community.

Key Best Practices

• 5 days paid emergency leave - which can be extended.
• Wellbeing initiatives
• Core values linked to working practices, e.g. no long hours culture linked to values of trust and respect.
• EAP scheme.

Out of everything you have put in place what are you particularly proud of?

Because we take into account the fact that lives change throughout an employee's working career we recognise that an ambitious employee may choose to work more than their contracted hours but this is a choice, we do not have a culture of long hours. Our Board of Directors sets a good example by working in ways that enable them to enjoy time with their families and their own leisure pursuits, so we'd have to say we're very proud of this. Pride is another of our core values; we take pride in our work and always do the best we can.

What advise would you give to others?

Value your people, establish the kind of culture you want, establish your core values, involve people in what the core values mean to the organisation, why they are important and then make sure they live and breath within the organisation.