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Twenty-six of the most progressive employers and their representatives have been shortlisted for this year’s workingmums.co.uk Top Employer Awards.
The employers have been shortlisted across eight categories ranging from SMEs to Family Support and Best for Dads. The Awards will be announced at a ceremony in London on 7th November, which will involve a keynote address by Ann Francke, Chief Executive of the Chartered Management Institute, as well as networking sessions and a Q & A with a panel of experts.
The ceremony is the eighth annual Top Employer Awards and celebrates companies who are leading the field in developing innovative ways of smart working suited to today’s world.
The Awards recognise employers of all kinds who are progressive in their flexible working practices and proactive in seeking to retain talented staff, particularly working parents who want to combine successful careers with being a parent.
The sectors represented in this year’s shortlist range from technology, law, banking, retail and housing to the performing arts and the veterinary sector.
The shortlisted companies are:
Category: SME Award (split into sections for companies with up to 25 employees, and up to 250 employees)
For small companies who demonstrate a real commitment to work life balance practices which specifically help working parents, such as flexible working, support on return to work from maternity leave and career development for women.
SME 1-25
Shortlisted: Footdown Limited, Cuttsy and Cuttsy, Hireserve.
SME 26-250
Shortlisted: Brand Learning, iwoca, Genie Ventures, Turn IT On.
Innovation in Flexible Working
To be eligible employers needed to demonstrate specific policies and practices related to flexible working which are truly innovative and break new ground, whether that be in a particular industry or in general.
Shortlisted: Alexander Mann Solutions, Enterprise Rent-A-Car [European Contact Centre], Ford of Britain, McDonalds, Lloyds Banking Group.
Best for Dads, sponsored by M&G Investments
For organisations showing specific policies targeting dads, such as inclusive parenting networks, publications and outreach targeted around dads’ rights, shared parenting initiatives and innovative policies on parental and paternity leave.
Shortlisted: Berwin Leighton Paisner LLP, Ford of Britain.
Family Support
For organisations who demonstrated policies and practices which aim to make it easier to balance work and family life.
Shortlisted: Berwin Leighton Paisner LLP, EY, L&Q, Mercer, M&G Investments, WH Smith, Sky.
Talent Attraction, sponsored by CA Technologies
For organisations who demonstrate that their recruitment process openly promotes flexible working.
Shortlisted: Cuttsy and Cuttsy, Lloyds Banking Group, Enterprise Rent-A-Car [European Contact Centre], Civil Service HR
Career progression, sponsored by AT Kearney Ltd
To be eligible employers should demonstrate initiatives aimed at developing women’s leadership potential, including women’s networks, mentoring initiatives and return to work programmes.
Shortlisted: Bank of America Merrill Lynch, CBRE, Enterprise Rent-A-Car [European Contact Centre], Fidelity International, Macquarie Group, Sky.
Working Mums Champion
This Award is for stand-out individuals whose efforts have made a big difference to working mums in their workplace.
Shortlisted: Vicki Nicholls and Lucy Grieve, co-founders of MumsVet at the British Equine Veterinary Association; Dawn Moore, Director of Human Resources at Morgan Sindall, Cassie Raine and Anna Ehnold-Danailov, founders of Parents in the Performing Arts; Dana Denis-Smith, founder and CEO of Obelisk Support.
An overall Top Employer will be chosen from the winners of each category.
Gillian Nissim, Founder of workingmums.co.uk, says: “We are delighted at the broad range of sectors represented in this year’s shortlist and the diversity in terms of innovation. The aim of these Awards and our Best Practice Report which features our winners is to spread the word about the innovative practices these businesses employ so that others can be inspired by them. It is not a question of whether organisations should adopt flexible working. Those that don’t will find it hard to survive in our turbulent times. What is important is to ensure that flexible working is mutually beneficial so everyone prospers from it. The shortlisted employers fully understand the business case for good flexible working and provide strong examples for others looking to benefit.”
The Awards will be judged by an expert panel made up of Gillian Nissim, founder of workingmums.co.uk; Andy Lake, editor of Flexibility.co.uk; Jennifer Liston-Smith, Director/Head of Coaching and Consultancy at My Family Care; Dave Dunbar, Head of Digital Workplace at Nationwide Building Society; and Clare Kelliher, Professor of Work and Organisation at Cranfield School of Management.
The judges will take part in the Q & A Panel, sponsored by Morgan Sindall, and there is also a networking session for attendees.
*A copy of the Best Practice Report based on the 2017 Top Employer Awards is available here .
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