2019

Response IT awarded the Best Small Private Sector Employer 

Working Families Announces Winners of 2019 Best Practice Awards

Awards recognise employers leading the way in flexible and employee-friendly workplaces

This year’s awards saw a record number of entries, showing the appetite and engagement surrounding flexibility and work–life balance.

Winners are all working toward establishing supportive workplace cultures as well as family-friendly policies.

Jane van Zyl, Chief Executive of Working Families, said: “Our research shows that while 86% of parents in the UK want to work flexibly, less than half actually do. To close this gap, we need employers to step up, to innovate, and to create policies, practices, and cultures that work for people and work for the business. Today’s winners are doing just that: taking creative approaches to embedding flexibility, building supportive cultures, and listening to and learning from their employees.”

Now in their 10th year, the Working Families Best Practice Awards recognise achievements in 12 categories across a range of work–life policies and practices.

FULL LIST OF AWARDS AND WINNERS

Best for Mothers  WINNER – Barclays 

Best for Fathers   WINNER – Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield 

Best Small Private Sector Employer  WINNER – Response IT 

Open to flexibility from day one and discuss changes to working patterns at any time, the company finds solutions to keep talent while still meeting customer service level agreements. Employee turnover is very low and the business continues to grow.

Best for Carers & Eldercare WINNER – Centrica 

Best Flexible Working Initiative  WINNER – MHA Larking Gowen  

Best for Embedded Flexibility  WINNER – Morgan Sindall  Construction & Infrastructure

Best for Flexible Recruitment  WINNER – Arnold Clark 

Best for Line Manager Support  WINNER – Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield 

Best Innovation WINNER – Waltham Forest Council 

Best Returner Programme WINNER – Morgan Sindall Construction & Infrastructure

Best Family Network  WINNER – Royal Bank of Scotland 

Best for Mental Health & Wellbeing WINNER – Financial Ombudsman Service 

For more information and/or to be put in touch with winners directly, contact Catherine Gregory on 07841 009 099 or email [email protected]

ENDS

Simon receiving the award.

Simon receiving the award.

finals of the Best for Fathers and Best Small Employer

Response IT Services has reached the finals of the Best for Fathers and Best Small Employer in Working Families’ Best Practice Awards

 The shortlist for the annual Best Practice Awards has been announced today by work life balance charity Working Families

 Response IT has been named as a finalist in the Best for Fathers and Best Small Employer of Working Families’ Best Practice Awards. Employers large and small from many sectors compete annually to reach the shortlist for the unique business awards for flexible, agile organisations.

Now in their tenth year, Working Families’ Best Practice Awards [3] showcase and celebrate employers who are offering flexibility for all their people and going above and beyond in their support for parents and carers.

Response IT has been shortlisted for Best for Fathers and Best Small Employer because of absolute level of trust and flexibility to their entire team. It started on day one with Simon, Graeme and Shaun being very hands on fathers. As a small company positive work life balance mentality, this made complete business sense for everyone to have the same level of flexibility. Staff are happy and work hard. This in turn means our customers are happy with the level of service they receive, and our level of client retention is very high.

 

Jane van Zyl, Chief Executive of Working Families and Chair of the judging panel [4], said:

 "Working Families would like to congratulate Response IT Services whose flexible working culture and employee-friendly workplace has earned them a much-coveted place as a finalist of this year’s Best Practice Awards.  Response IT Service’s outstanding entry in the Best for Fathers and Best Small Employer categories caught the attention of the judging panel and stood out amongst a record number of entrants.

                                      

“Flexible working isn’t just good for parents and carers; it’s good for business. Employers reap valuable rewards when they give their staff members more control over their time—from improved employee engagement to better organisational performance.”

"Our research shows an unmet demand for flexible working. 86% of parents want to work flexibly but less than half (49%) actually do [5].  Initiatives like those on the shortlist are key to helping parents take control of their time and find the work-life balance that works best for them.”

The full shortlist for the 12 categories:

Best for Mothers

  • Barclays

  • FYXER

  • Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield

  • Mum & You

 Best for Fathers

  • Response IT

  • Deloitte

  • Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield

 Best for Carers & Eldercare

  • Barclays

  • Centrica

 Best Flexible Working Initiative – sponsored by NHS Employers

  • Larking Gowen

  • Suffolk County Council

  • Global Witness

 Best for Embedded Flexibility – sponsored by Arnold Clark

  • Freestyle

  • Deloitte

  • Morgan Sindall

 Best for Flexible Recruitment

  • Suffolk County Council

  • Arnold Clark

 Best for Line Manager Support

  • Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield

 Best Innovation – sponsored by ILF Scotland

  • Waltham Forest Council

  • Arnold Clark

 Best Returner Programme – sponsored by Royal Bank of Canada

  • Barclays

  • Allen & Overy

  • Morgan Sindall

  • Natwest Markets

 Best Family Network

  • Barclays

  • Royal Bank of Scotland

  • Sky

 Best for Mental Health & Wellbeing – sponsored by Schroders

  • Deloitte

  • QBE Insurance Group

  • Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield

  • Financial Ombudsman Service

 Best Small Employer

  • Response IT

  • 9-2-3 Jobs

  • Slalom

 

The winners of each category will be announced on 20th June at London’s Vintners’ Hall.

 

Ends

Notes

[1] For more information contact Working Families press office by email [email protected]

[2] About Working Families Working Families is the UK’s work life organisation.  The charity supports and gives a voice to working parents and carers, whilst also helping employers create workplaces which encourage work life balance for everyone. www.workingfamilies.org.uk   Twitter @workingfamuk

[3] The Working Families Best Practice Awards 2019

https://www.workingfamilies.org.uk/employers/bestpracticeawards/ The winners of the Working Families’ Best Practice Awards will be announced at London’s Vintners’ Hall on 20th June 2019.

[4] Judging Panel. The final winners of each Award category are judged by an expert panel. The judging process for the Awards is anonymous - none of the judges knows the identity of the companies which they are judging.

[5] Modern Families Index 2019

The Modern Families Index was published by Working Families with Bright Horizons in February 2019. More information can be found here: https://www.workingfamilies.org.uk/news/mfi_2019/

[6] Case studies of previous award winners and finalists are included in Working Families’ online library of case studies which is available here. Please contact the press office for further details and for contact details of previous finalists and winners.