What does it mean to be a Top Employer?

WM People jobsites workingmums.co.uk, workingwise.co.uk and workingdads.co.uk all feature sections promoting and celebrating Top Employers. But what does it mean to be a Top Employer?

Workingmums.co.uk launched the brand new Top Employer’s Charter on their platform in 2009 to highlight organisations who fully embrace the business case for flexible working and enabling parents to progress and enhance their careers whilst managing the challenges of family life.

Who has signed up to the Top Employer Charter?

Almost 200 organisations have signed up to the Charter since it’s inception, from corporates to SMEs and public sector organisations across all sectors.  Examples include Lloyds Banking Group, Bromley Healthcare, Coca Cola Enterprises, Department for Transport, Food Standards Agency, John Lewis Partnership, KPMG and McDonalds.

What does it mean to sign the Charter?

In signing up to the workingmums.co.uk and workingdads.co.uk Top Employer Charter these organisations are signing up to the following key promises.

• Having a commitment to openly supporting flexible working across the organisation
• Demonstrating a commitment to providing a diverse and inclusive workplace for all employees, regardless of gender, ethnicity, disability or sexual orientation
• Being committed to enabling employees to develop and build their careers – whatever their working pattern
• Working towards other progressive and innovative practices and policies which support and educate employees (including age awareness programmes, for example)
• Having awareness of the benefits to the organisations of these policies and practices
• Being committed to the communication of the business benefits of flexible working to the whole organisation

For workingwise.co.uk, which exists to support older workers and enable employers to benefit from their talent and experience, the charter commitments are slightly different.

• Having a commitment to openly supporting flexible working across the organisation and throughout the working life cycle
• Having a commitment to treating older workers as equals, to stamping out age bias from recruitment onwards
• Demonstrating a commitment to providing a diverse and inclusive workplace for all employees, regardless of gender, ethnicity, disability or sexual orientation
• Being committed to enabling employees to develop and build their careers – whatever their working pattern and whatever their age, for instance, ensuring training is available and appropriate for all ages
• Being aware of issues affecting older workers, such as caring responsibilities and health issues, and providing an open and supportive culture which enables employees to discuss these and get the help they need
• Working towards other progressive and innovative practices and policies which support and educate employees (including age awareness programmes for line managers, for example)
• Having an awareness of the benefits to organisations of these policies and practices
• Sharing a commitment to the communication of the business benefits of flexible working to the whole organisation

Benefits to Charter signatories

The benefits of being a family friendly and flexible employer include: improved staff engagement and increased retention higher level talent attraction boosted productivity positive work/life balance for employees.

Signing up to the Top Employers Charter provides employers with independent external recognition and a public statement that they are committed to being an employer of choice and in particular committed to a diverse and agile workforce. This boosts their employer brand, both internally & externally, and provides a competitive edge when recruiting and retaining talent. The Charter is free to sign up, but there are a range of branding opportunities if you would like to boost your organisations profile.

Contact us if you would like to find out how your organisation can be involved.

• Vote  
• 0
• 0
• You already voted!