Family Friendly Working Scotland said the two organisations have shown leadership in creating an environment that supports a quality work-life balance
Two Scottish charities are among the best Scottish employers for flexible and family friendly working cultures, according to work-life balance organisation Family Friendly Working Scotland.
Young Enterprise Scotland and children’s charity Includem were joint winners in the Scottish Top Employers for Working Families Awards 2018 for the Best Third Sector Employer category.
The awards, run by Family Friendly Working Scotland, celebrate progressive employers that support staff to happily combine home and work life - and harness the business benefits this brings.
Young Enterprise Scotland offers guidance and entrepreneurship programmes to young people and is based in Glasgow.
Includem is a specialist charity working with vulnerable young people and their families on issues such as raising attainment, family breakdown and reducing youth offending. It is also based in Glasgow.
Nikki Slowey, joint programme director for Family Friendly Working Scotland, said: “Many congratulations to all our winners including Young Enterprise Scotland and Includem. They are leading the way in finding innovative and progressive ways of working that benefit both workers and the business itself.
“We’ve seen an increase in the quality and quantity of applications for our awards so we’re confident Scotland is making progress in shifting to a more flexible working culture.
“We appreciate this isn’t something that happens overnight but we hope our awards inspire more organisations including those in the voluntary sector to think about how they could improve work-life balance and want to stress that we’re here to help and advise them on their journey.”
The Scottish Government is a member of the Family Friendly Working Scotland partnership.
Minister for childcare and early years Maree Todd, said: “It is extremely positive to see so many of Scotland’s employers – both large and small – recognising the benefits of creating a family friendly workplace culture. Not only is it good for workers and families but it is also good for business and boosts productivity.”
The judges looked for clear examples of how organsiations support their people to have a good work-life balance. They considered the company culture, leadership and practical support provided as well as official policies.
They also wanted to see family friendly working as part of an organisation’s strategy and how this impacts positively on the business. The judges heard testimonials from employees as part of the process.
The winners embrace many forms of flexible working including part-time hours, compressed hours, flexible start and finish times, remote working, term-time working and/or more ad-hoc arrangements that help members of staff to balance their home and work lives.
Nearly half of Scots (46%) say they can currently work flexibly. Of those, 77% say they are more productive and the same number say they go the extra mile for their employer as a result.
