Last week as I was waiting outside my son’s classroom a friend asked me what she should write on her resume.  Did employers view time away to have a family unfavourably she asked.  My instant response was that if an employer looked upon her unkindly because she had taken time off to raise a family then they weren’t the right employer for her.

In the first two weeks of this year, I have met an accountant, project manager, PR consultant and engineer – all highly qualified, experienced parents who are considering how they can return to the workforce, in what capacity and how it can fit in with their family commitments.  The provision of flexible working arrangements is a key factor in determining which organisations will attract these people.

The provision to allow employees to request flexible working arrangements form part of the National Employment Standards, and the Labour government announced earlier this month that they would extend this provision in new legislation.

Fortunately, the need for providing flexibility in the workplace is moving beyond the domain of policy makers and into the lexicon of employers.  Many businesses already provide flexibility to their employees, but it is often ad hoc and manager dependent.

Creating policy and practice around flexibility is a smart move for organisations on many levels.  For both existing and potential employees it demonstrates you care for the wellbeing of your people, that you understand how people’s circumstances can change, and that you value them enough to make change to retain them.

Benefits to the organisation include higher levels of employee engagement, increased trust and confidence, improved productivity, reduced absenteeism, and an increased ability to attract and retain talent.

Following these 5 steps will help you shape and implement a policy on flexibility.

Step 1 – Talk to your people

Communication is essential in developing flexible work practices that will meet the needs of your organisation and your employees. Talk to your employees individually, hold staff meetings or focus groups, use tools such as staff surveys and conduct exit interviews. Talking about flexible work practices with your employees will help develop and decide what practices are most suited to their needs and the needs of the business.

Step 2 – Consider which flexible work practices will work

Step 3 – Negotiation

Work with your employees to find flexible work practices that suit both of you. You should talk about:

Step 4 – Implementation

When implementing flexible work practices, commit to:

Step 5 – Monitoring and evaluation

Monitoring and evaluating the effect of flexible work arrangements means you can track progress and make changes as needed. Plan to evaluate the flexible work practices on a regular basis:

Flexibility at Checkside has created a diverse team – we have an AFL player working one day a week, a parent who works full-time with the flexibility to leave early to pick up children, and a part-time parent working ‘school hours’. My personal experience is that a flexible employer engenders loyalty, commitment and a mutual respect between employee and employer with benefits flowing beyond the workplace into the community. As people transition back to work in a tight labour market, a flexible workplace will be a key factor in determining which employers attract and retain this talent.