CareerMums Client Experience: HR Toolkits

We spoke to Kate at Career Mums in late 2009 having recently completed a project around assessing our flexible work practices and their implementation. The project identified that while our staff saw us as embracing flexibility in the work place (and being receptive to requests for it) there were things we could do to improve.

As a result we established a new flexible work arrangements policy, introduced an application process, appointed a 'flexibility coach' to manage the issue firmwide and put far more rigour and assistance for people in place, particularly for those returning to work on new working arrangements post maternity leave.

To assist us in bedding down our new processes and approach we purchased the Flexible Work Proposal Toolkit and have found it a valuable resource. In particular it has helped me (as the flexibility coach) plan and structure the conversations I have with staff about their flexiblity needs. It has also helped me to provide guidance to both our staff on how to go about building their case for a flexible work arrangement and our partners on how to assess the requests they recieve. It validated and has supported a lot of the work we had already done in this space and I think will help us take it to the next stage too in terms of the written resources we provide to staff.

I would recommend those thinking about putting a flexiblity framework in place (or over-hauling an exisiting one) talk to the team at CareerMums.

Just Knight, People and Development Manager
Henry David York Lawyers