Happy to talk flexible working
19 Jun 2019
Recruiting managers encouraged to consider whether roles can be undertaken flexibly when advertising new posts
We want to encourage the best possible people to work here– as well as encourage our existing people to develop their career.
We know that many job applicants seek flexible working opportunities, so during recruitment we will now be asking our managers to consider whether a role can be undertaken flexibly and, if it can, to include the statement ‘happy to talk flexible working’ in their recruitment advert.
Flexible working can take many forms. It can include working fewer hours than a standard contract, compressed hours, job sharing, flexible start and finish times or term time only working. Recruiting managers may choose to be specific about the types of flexibility they would consider, or leave it open for discussion during the recruitment and selection process.
This will help to open up our job opportunities to the widest possible internal and external talent pool.
Using the statement will be entirely optional and the aim is to:
Indicate that the recruiting manager is open to discussing a variety of working patterns
Encourage candidates to apply for roles and engage in a conversation about flexibility.
Recruiting managers will indicate if a role is suitable for flexible working on the Post Contract Management (PCM) form. If the statement ‘happy to talk flexible working’ is used, it does not commit recruiting managers to offering flexible working or any specific working pattern.
If you have any questions about flexible working during recruitment or Working Families, please contact Gemma Dale.
Working families campaign
In November 2018 we asked for your suggestions on how our family policies could be improved via The Hive.
The campaign received:
- 50 ideas
- 163 comments
- 2,112 votes
Following this campaign we have also:
- Doubled our bereavement leave in the event of a member of staff losing a child
- Updated our maternity leave and paternity leave policies to provide staff with more time off in the event of a premature birth
- Increased our guidance and training on flexible working
- Launched new guidance for pregnant staff and their managers, along with e-learning
We continue to work on embedding more of your suggestions.