Barclays, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Cafcass and Centrica were among the employers recognised for their approaches to flexible working and gender diversity at the sixth annual Workingmums.co.uk Top Employer Awards on 3 November.
Cafcass, the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service, received the ‘Overall top employer award’ as well as the ‘Award for innovation in flexible working’. The judges praised the employer for its achievement in transforming from an underperforming organisation to one that earned an outstanding rating from Ofsted and doubled its productivity rate.
Barclays (pictured) was recognised for its commitment to equality and diversity in talent attraction, particularly its effective promotion of job shares, winning the ‘Award for talent attraction’.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch received the ‘Award for career progression’ accolade and was praised for its returning talent programme, which helps those who have taken a career break to get back to work.
Centric won the ‘Award for family support’ for its holistic approach, which encompasses a commitment to carers and shared parenting.
The full list of winners is as follows:
- ‘Award for innovation in flexible working’: Cafcass; Highly commended: Vodafone.
- ‘Award for best for dads’: The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).
- ‘Award for family support’: Centrica PLC.
- ‘Award for talent attraction’: Barclays.
- ‘Award for career progression’: Bank of America Merrill Lynch; Highly commended: Macquarie.
- ‘The working mums champion award’: Natasha Clarke, managing partner at SThree PLC.
- ‘Award for SMEs with 1-25 employees’: Cariad Marketing.
- ‘Award for SMEs with 26-250 employees’: iCrossing.
- ‘Overall top employer award’: Cafcass.
Gillian Nissim, founder of Workingmums.co.uk, said: “This is the sixth year for our Top Employer Awards and once again we have been really impressed by the kind of work being done by the shortlisted organisations and by the range of sectors they represent.
“This made for some really difficult decisions during the judging process, but it is a challenge we welcome.
“Cafcass’ entry was really impressive and shows how a holistic approach to flexible working can benefit employees, the organisation and its clients. The turnaround it has achieved through implementation of flexible practices is truly remarkable.”