Cardiff Council – flexible working
| Company name | Cardiff Council |
|---|---|
| Sector | Local government |
| Number of employees | More than 18,000 employees |
| Type of workforce | Public servants |
What issue was the organisation facing?
Cardiff Council wanted to enhance the delivery of its services and improve efficiency. Their vision is to develop as an organisation where they are proud, capable, engaged, well led and work together to deliver high-quality services.
They also wanted to reduce sickness absence, improve employee morale and engagement.
What action did the organisation take?
Cardiff Council set up a Work-life Balance Project group to deliver a 3 year WLB Strategy. This included representatives from:
- a range of council service areas, including People and Organisational Development, Culture, Leisure and Parks, Housing and Neighbourhood Renewal, Highways and Waste Management, Social Care – ad hoc specialists joined relevant sub groups as required, for example, ICT and Health and Safety specialists on Homeworking sub group
- trade unions
- Chwarae Teg, a professional agency for the economic development of women in Wales.
The Strategy operated on the basis of two key principles: finding win-win-win solutions and working in partnership
The three main strands of work included:
- systematically reviewing the existing Work-life Balance provision across services
- developing new policies and initiatives, reviewing existing policies and procedures to ensure that all employees benefit from improved Work-life Balance
- communicating with three specific groups – mangers, trade union representatives and employees – to raise awareness of developments and policy changes, manage expectations and promote the ethos that WLB is an opportunity for all Cardiff Council employees and not just those with family or caring responsibilities.
Having reviewed existing Work-life Balance provision, they had a better understanding of the work required to embed flexible working across all council service areas. They also used the review data during the communication programme to inform and discuss new ways of encouraging changes to working arrangements.
In taking forward the strategy they implemented a wide range of activities.
Communication and awareness raising
This included:
- a Work-life Balance section on the council’s intranet with links to Work-life Balance-related policies
- a web email address that employees can use to ask questions about any aspect of Work-life Balance
- a manager’s guide to Work-life Balance
- leaflets for employees distributed via payslips including guide to WLB policies, updates on strategy and policies / initiatives being piloted.
Piloting a revised Flexible Working Hours Scheme
Cardiff ran a 12-month pilot project testing a revised flexible working hours scheme for approximately 3,000 employees across a wide range of services.
The piloted arrangements included:
- removal of 'core hours'
- lengthening the hours of the working day to 7.00 am to 7.00 pm
- offering more flexible work break times – including lunch
- extending the number of accrued 'flexidays' to two.
When formulating these arrangements, they were careful to discuss them with each service area to ensure there would be no adverse effects on their service delivery and users. Manager and employee guidelines, FAQs were developed and briefings and Q & A sessions were held to ensure all parties understood how the pilot scheme would work and that at all times service delivery needs were paramount.
Piloting ‘Team-Based Solutions©’
In recognition of the fact there is no one size fits all when it comes to WLB, Cardiff Council piloted ‘Team-Based Solutions©' (TBS), a process developed in partnership with Chwarae Teg, to ensure all occupations including, for example, Manual Workers have the opportunity to explore flexible working.
TBS provides the opportunity for teams, working with their managers and People and Organisational Development, to develop a flexible working pattern that suits their Work – Life Balance needs, the needs of the organisation and the needs of customers – ‘Win, Win, Win’ solutions. Teams are required to produce a business case to support their proposals and demonstrate that they have taken into consideration business service needs. Pilot teams included, Street Operations Highway Team, Educational Psychologists, Children’s Intake and Assessment Teams. Flexible workings solutions included:
- occasional home-working
- compressed working patterns
- greater flexibility in taking leave
- flexible start and finish times.
What has been the impact of implementing health interventions?
Evaluation of the Flexible Working Hours pilot showed:
- 95% of employees reported improved WLB "A more elastic work day allows a work life balance and engenders a more positive and focused approach during work hours"
- earlier/later start and finish times and flexible lunch breaks enabled teams to better manage and cover peak periods, for example, lunch time, resulting in improved delivery of services
- managers reported improvements in team morale and reduced sickness levels
- revised scheme better supported those with caring responsibilities "A lot of the stress associated with caring removed".
Evaluation of the Team-Based Solutions Pilots showed:
- increased services to clients, improved workload management, increased productivity
- improvements in management / employee relationship
- improved employee morale
- improved retention and ‘attraction’ – Employer of Choice reputation enhanced.