2 April: Registration opens for the definitive annual benchmark on all aspects of employee work-life balance and organisational effectiveness.
The search is on for 2013’s ‘Top Employers for Working Families’
Now in their 5th year, the Top Employers for Working Families Benchmark and Awards identify progressive employers who recognise and leverage the powerful links between flexibility, emotional engagement, wellbeing and high performance. To enter, organisations complete a unique and robust benchmark survey which examines in detail their work-life policies and practices.
The Top Employers for Working Families Benchmark – The Top 10 and Top 30
The final published A-Z lists of Top Employers for Working Families are compiled by taking the entrants with the highest scores in the benchmark survey. Organisations from the private, public and voluntary sector made the final Top 30 list last year: - 2012 Top Employers for Working Families
New for 2013, small and medium sized businesses with up to 250 employees can enter a tailored SME benchmark. The top scoring SME benchmark entrants will be announced as the Top 5 Small Family Friendly Employers.
Also new for 2013 is an optional three minute employee poll which entrants can circulate to their staff. Designed to be light touch, the quick poll will offer employers another layer of understanding into the success of their work-life policies and practices.
The Special Awards
Benchmark entrants can opt to enter Special Awards which are judged anonymously by the judging panel.
In 2013 the Special Award categories are:
• Best for flexible working
• Best for all stages of motherhood
• Best for all stages of fatherhood
• Best for carers and eldercare
• Best for engagement
• Best for career progression for flexible workers
• Best for innovation
• Best for childcare
Comments from 2012 winners:
‘Being able to benchmark against other firms nationwide, gives us the opportunity to ensure we remain an employer of choice and benefit from the ideas shared by others’ – Henmans LLP
‘Top Employers for Working Families has helped us showcase our commitment to offering flexible working to accommodate the lifestyles of all our employees, attracting a diverse workforce that connects with our broad spectrum of customers – central to our success’. McDonald’s Restaurants Ltd
‘We’ve found the benchmark very useful as it affords us a unique opportunity to compare our working practices with other leading organisations’. Wales & West Housing
The benchmark and awards are open until 28th May. A shortlist of the Special Awards entries will be announced in June 2013.
The Top 10 and Top 30 Top Employers, the Top 5SMEs and the Special Award winners of Top Employers for Working Families will be announced at a ceremony during National Work-Life Week. (23rd – 27th September 2013)
Judging Panel
The final winners of each Special Award category will be judged by the following panel: Sarah Jackson OBE, Chief Executive, Working Families; Professor Cary L Cooper, CBE, Professor of Organisational Psychology and Health; Mary Mercer, Principal Consultant, Institute for Employment Studies; Val Stevenson, Coach, VS Coaching and Jonathan Swan, Head of Research, Working Families. The judging process for the Special Awards is anonymous - none of the judges knows the identity of the companies which they are judging.
Please click for more information www.topemployersforworkingfamilies.org.uk
