Workingmums.co.uk today launches its third annual Top Employer Awards which celebrate companies who are leading the field in developing innovative ways of working suited to 21st century demands.
The Awards, which will be announced at a ceremony in Central London in November, recognise employers of all kinds who are progressive in their flexible working practices and proactive in seeking to retain talented staff, particularly working parents who want to combine successful careers with being a parent.
This year there are eight categories open to employers, one of which is also open to employees. Two of the categories have been revised this year to reflect changing social trends and Government policy initiatives. The Family Support Award incorporates not only childcare support, including the trend towards the provision of emergency childcare support, and innovative practices such as flexibility around school holidays, but also the growing issue of elder care support which many parents are now facing. Policies and practices which aim to make it easier to balance work and family life.
The Best for Dads Award aims to celebrate specific policies targeting dads, such as inclusive parenting networks, publications and outreach targeted around dad's rights, shared parenting initiatives, innovative policies on parental and paternity leave which go beyond what current legislation stipulates and activities which support all parents.
The full line-up of Award categories is:
- Innovation in Flexible Working Award
- Employee Engagement Award
- Top Employer Award (overall)
- SME Award [split into sections for companies with under 25 and under 250 employees]
- Best for Dads Award
- Talent Attraction Award
- Family Support Award
- Working Mums Champion Award
Gillian Nissim, Founder of Workingmums.co.uk, says: “Last year's awards created a great buzz among employers who shared their own experiences of implementing flexible and family friendly working. There was particular interest in how SMEs were using flexible working as a business strategy to enable them to get access to the best talent and to work smarter. We know that there have been many new initiatives this year which make a strong business case for flexible family friendly working so we are really looking forward to evaluating the 2012 entries.”
The Awards will be judged by an expert panel made up of Gillian Nissim, founder of Workingmums.co.uk, Andy Lake, editor of Flexibility.co.uk, Jennifer Liston-Smith, head of coaching development at My Family Care, Dave Dunbar, head of BT Flexible Working Services and Dr Caroline Gatrell, Lecturer in Management Learning and Leadership in the Management School at Lancaster University.
More details and to apply: http://www.workingmums.co.uk/topemployerawards. The deadline for applications is 27 July 2012.
For more information, contact Mandy Garner on 07789 106435 or email mandy.garner@workingmums.co.uk.
Workingmums.co.uk is the UK's number one female-focused jobs and community site, with over 160,000 registered users.