Our flexible work ethic

The keys to being able to work flexibly are:

• Delivering great customer experiences,
• Working in a safe and healthy way,
• Setting reasonable and manageable work outcomes,
• Being fair and consistent in our approach,

Whilst we might not have a set desk or start and finish times, we do need to plan and agree what our work schedule looks like, so we know how to contact each other, and we can function as a team. We need to be able to separate our work and home lives and be able to agree boundaries with each other so we can maintain a balance, whilst meeting our clients’ needs.

As a team we need to talk about and agree the level of flexibility that suits the job and both client and employee need. Keeping an open mind is important as situations vary from person to person. Being open minded means considering the wider effect on:

• Being able to organise work amongst the rest of the team,
• Knowing where people are and what they are working on,
• Organising cover and/ or rotas,
• Performance and productivity.

Taking a more flexible approach to work can really improve performance; however, if performance issues occur, these need to be addressed. This could mean changes are made to the arrangements in place; the Capability and Performance Management policy has more information on the support that could be offered in these situations.

Finally, it is important that all employees embrace the spirit of this policy. Not all parts of the business are the same, so it isn’t always possible to adopt a “one size fits all” approach.