Case study: Glide through change
When Lee Valley Regional Park Authority introduced flexible working arrangements in 2006, one of the biggest barriers to the change was its management's traditional attitudes to working hours.
Claire van der Most, HR manager, explains: "Our objective was to become an employer of choice. Staff turnover was quite high and morale was low. Although flexible working was widely recognised as a way of addressing these issues, there was an old school mentality among the management ranks."†
A pilot scheme among staff in customer-facing roles at Lee Valley ice rink, however, was used to demonstrate how flexibility could work without impacting on service levels. "The rink manager set out a timetable outlining when cover had to be provided and then left the staff to come up with a rota. It was about people being given the freedom to make decisions and to recognise a need to compromise," explains van der Most.
After these came into effect, staff turnover fell by 13%, while morale rose to 70% in 2006, up from 52% in 2001.
