The Working Families Innovation Award
Whether it’s a major initiative or one small action that has
made a difference, we are looking for examples of innovation in taking
the work-life agenda forward. You may be just starting out in this
field or be trying to win wider buy-in. Tell us about your breakthroughs:
initiatives that have helped encourage wider debate, more take-up
of policies or commitment from senior management. Work-life balance
is an issue for everyone in today’s competitive market place
and this is your opportunity to show just how creative you can be
in putting this message across.
We are hoping to find an employer who has devised and implemented
leading edge work-life balance policies and practice. We will be
looking for exciting, fresh ideas or initiatives, not covered by
any of the other awards, and/or fresh thinking which will take us
all forward.
The Working Families and NSPCC Family Friendly Award, sponsored
by Norman Broadbent
Are you the employer who can demonstrate your practical assistance
for employees who are parents, and particularly those who are parents
of older children? We are looking specifically for employers with
an understanding of the needs of employees who are parents. In particular,
we would like you to demonstrate your awareness of the need to balance
parenting and work commitments by parents of older children.
The criteria for this award have been directly informed through consultations
with young people. We ask them to identify what they think employers
can do to support working parents that want to work and look after
and spend time with their children.
Young people will be involved in the judging of the award. Therefore
we would like you to complete the entry form in plan, jargon free
English, which is ‘child friendly’.
The Working Families Public Sector Award, supported by The Times
Public Agenda and CAREER
Public Sector organisations have championed the development of family
friendly policies over many years, but the most far-sighted of these
have also used work-life balance and flexible working options to
improve and extend their services. We will be looking for evidence
of on-going improvement in this area and, in particular, we will
be interested to hear how people at managerial level are showing
leadership about work-life balance – either through their own
take-up of policies, or demonstrable support for them.
We will be seeking information about initiatives that benefit whole
teams and their performance, both in terms of customer satisfaction,
employee morale, and business indicators like sickness absence and
turnover.
The Working Families Silver Service Award
Life for older people in this country is changing – they stay
healthier and live longer, but may be involved in the care of partners
and other older relatives and friends (not just parents), and looking
to supplement their pensions and maintain their interest in work.
For this innovative new award, we are looking for organisations whose
work-life policies clearly embrace the need of older workers who
may want to work more flexibly in order to balance work with changing
family commitments, to avoid busy commuter times, to plan for retirement
or extend their working lives beyond statutory retirement age. Pre-empting
the Carers’ Right to Request legislation and putting flexible
retirement options in place, will be on the winning organisation’s
agenda.
We are hoping to find organisations who, far from discriminating
against older workers, see them as a valuable resource of experience
and wisdom and use them for training younger employees. We are seeking
employers who actively recruit from older age groups and understand
that the flexibility of those in later life can be used to offset
the needs of younger workers with different family responsibilities.
The Working Families and Institute of Directors Small Business
Award
This award is for businesses with up to 250 employees. We understand
and work with small businesses, so don’t expect you to necessarily
have all your policies and processes on paper. In fact, we are well
aware that smaller organisations are often able to be the most creative
in their use of work-life balance initiatives and have much to teach
larger employers about this.
We will be looking for initiatives that have changed people’s
lives, not rafts of paperwork and policies – but you will need
to show us that you have a culture that supports work-life balance.
There may be an individual story to tell or interventions that impact
on everyone in the business. We’ll be looking at how you take
the pressure off and support managers / owners, and how your business
results have improved as a result.
Tell us why you are a winner in work-life balance and let us showcase
what you have done to the wider world.
The Working Families Wellbeing Award
Work-life policies are not just about helping employees care for
children or adult dependents. They are about helping people to
care for themselves so that they stay fresh, motivated and empowered
to bounce back from life’s brickbats.
Tell us how you take a holistic approach to work-life balance, what
you do to maintain wellbeing in your employees and how you promote
your message. It might be a special health initiative, a fitness
facility, a green policy, coaching or some other employee assistance
programme. Creative initiatives we have come across include allowing
dogs in the workplace and a futon room where sleep-deprived parents
can take a nap.
In today’s increasingly virtual workplaces, we are especially
interested to hear how you help your staff to manage work-life spillover
and encourage them to manage their time sensibly, so this benefits
the individuals who work for you and the business/service itself.
The Working Families and UKRC Women in SET Award, sponsored
by Jaguar and Land Rover
This award is specifically designed for employers in science, engineering,
technology and the built environment, who understand and are addressing
the issues and work-life balance barriers faced by women, who are
under-represented in this sector. We are looking for employers who
not only have the policies in place but those who can demonstrate
that these are underpinned by real culture change. We would like
to see how practices and initiatives are working effectively through
real-life examples: ones that show that you are actively working
towards promoting and progressing the position of women in technical
roles at all levels in your organisation.
