Best for flexible working

There has been a lot of movement on the flexible working front since Covid, but most of it has been focused on one form of flexible working – working from home. The Government has brought in a day one right to request flexible working in April, but some companies are far ahead of the game.

One is design, engineering and project management firm AtkinsRéalis, which won this year’s WM People Best for Flexible Working Award. 

Flexibility is one of the five themes of its People and Culture Strategy and it has taken deliberate steps over the last 12-18 months to make flexible working a reality for all, regardless of how long someone has worked at the company, the level that they operate at or the reason they want to work flexibly.

In 2019 it brought in a day one right to request flexible working. People Partner Jodie Catton says: “We have always championed flexible working and a day one right seemed a sensible and reasonable thing to do rather than make people wait.” The company also allowed employees to make more than one request in a year, again years ahead of government policy. “We know that people’s circumstances change,” says Jodie, “and it seems limiting to say they can only request a change once a year. That may be the difference between them staying or going to work somewhere else so it matters.”

The policy changes are also part of AtkinsRéalis’ attempts to detach flexible working from parenting so that everyone has an investment in it. The point that a flexible working request can be made for any reason is emphasised in the policy.

The 2019 changes meant the company was already prepared for different working patterns ahead of the Covid pandemic, even though working from home had been mainly informal up until then.

Explaining people’s rights

AtkinsRéalis has also been very proactive at explaining employees’ rights when it comes to flexible working. Jodie is co-chair of the group’s parenting network and she was hearing that parents were sometimes unclear about the legislation about the right to request flexible working, for instance, the need to consider the impact on colleagues. She decided to hold a webinar which was open to everyone in the company and where they could explain things clearly.

Since Covid, company policy has become more informal and is about conversations with line managers and there are no core hours and no early or late meetings. Instead flexible working is agreed on a team basis, ensuring decisions taken work for the whole team. Trust is at the centre of how the company works, says Jodie, with a lot of autonomy over when people work, as long as the work gets done and clients are happy.

The webinar was so successful that they are doing it again; already 150 people are signed up to the next one. “It’s still a hot topic,” says Jodie, “even though people have a lot more flexibility. The webinar helps us to keep in touch with what people want and means they can ask questions. I think the interest comes because people’s circumstances are always changing over time.” 

She adds that more dads are working part time to balance work and childcare and that the company promotes the role of dads as caregivers through encouraging them to talk about the benefits of working flexibly.

Hybrid working

Asked about the challenges of managing more remote and hybrid working, Victoria Crew, HR Operations Partner, says that during Covid line manager training was developed around managing remote teams and balancing various people’s needs – those who like working in the office vs those who prefer to work from home. The company has also updated its home and hybrid working principles, having created a framework during Covid. The principles are business rather than HR-led and the aim is to help people to think through where they work best and what kind of work they do best in certain locations.

AtkinsRéalis is not enforcing a return to the office, but there is an encouragement to collaborate and an emphasis on making time in the office meaningful. By bringing the home and hybrid principles together there is also an attempt to simplify them and make them more easily accessible on the company intranet. 

The company has plans to redesign its employee handbook with hybrid working front and centre. The handbook is sent out at job offer stage so new recruits understand the company’s flexible culture from the beginning.

Flexible holidays

Other flexible benefits offered by the company include flexible bank holidays which have been in place since January 2023. While the Christmas shutdown is mandatory, employees can choose when to take their bank holiday allowance throughout the rest of the year. Jodie says the policy supports the company’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion practices as it allows those from different faiths not to take Christian bank holidays. Take-up has been good.

The HR team also works closely with the company’s employee network groups who help them to identify trends and changing needs and it does a regular staff survey. Employee networks are consulted on policy changes to ensure everyone is on the same page. It all embeds a flexible culture which is based on teamwork and trust. Victoria says: “We don’t make any assumptions about what will work for a team. It’s down to individuals’ needs and what will work for their team.”

*AtkinsRéalis features in the WM People Best Practice Report 2024. More information here.

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