The right to request flexible work - Get it Right

Complying with the National Employment Standards (NES) when they come into practice in January 2010 is only one reason to Get it Right – the right to request flexible work arrangements.  Going beyond simple compliance and leveraging off a heightened awareness of the ‘right to request’ could take your organisation into the realm of a best employer. A flexible work approach can make a real point of difference in the way you do business and in attracting and retaining the best employees.

 

Get it Right is a training and development program for line managers which will:

• Mitigate your organisational risk of not complying with State and Federal legislation in relation to managing requests for flexible work
• Skill up and coach your managers to ensure organisation wide, consistent application of an agreed and lawful process to manage, monitor and evaluate requests for flexible work – making flexible work a reality and not just words in a policy
• Provide the opportunity to refresh your approach to managing flexible work so it is more likely to provide mutual benefit - for individuals and the organisation

Research and experience consistently point to training and support provided to line management as being the key determinant of success when organisations introduce flexible work options. Because line managers are primarily responsible for converting policy into practice, they must ‘get it’ in order to implement it.

 

Do all of the following apply to your organisation?

• Our managers all know what the right to request flexible work means and how to comply with the requirement
• Our managers ‘get’ the business case for flexibility and use it to improve performance on a number of fronts such as productivity, engagement, attraction and retention
• Our managers understand and consistently implement the process we have to ensure we comply with the need to account for management decisions and in particular that reasonable and thoughtful consideration has been given to each request
• Our managers can make decisions on requests and communicate their response consistent with legislated obligations
• Our managers have the skills, confidence and initiative to manage people and teams with flexible work arrangements

 

If not, the Get it Right program could be the perfect up-skilling solution for your managers and supervisors.

Get it Right is designed to work with small groups of up to 10 line managers. It involves action learning, practice and discussion to build confidence and maximise skill development amongst your managers. There are five components to Get it Right:

1. A preliminary research task to help build appreciation of what it actually means to be a supportive manager.  

2. A group workshop of three hours duration in which participants will learn:

• the role of flexibility in the contemporary workplace
• the new legislative requirements to manage requests for flexible work
• a process for handling requests for flexible work to comply with legislative obligations
• how to communicate management decisions, and
• important considerations when managing a team working with flexible arrangements.

3. A practice session where participants start to apply what they have learnt in their own work environment and gather information from their team members.

4. A second group workshop of three hours duration (held no more than two weeks after the first session) in which participants will develop:

• appreciation of the attributes and behaviours of supportive managers
• confidence to handle requests for flexible workunderstanding of why and how to effectively monitor flexible work arrangements, andunderstanding of how flexible work can be used to improve business performance.

5. A follow up phone coaching session for individual participants to discuss how they are managing the implementation of flexible work arrangements followed by the provision of a summary report to the HR/Organisational Development Program Manager.

 

Get it Right facilitators

Siusan MacKenzie and Marie Crozier-Durham are consulting associates at the forefront of work-life strategy development and implementation in Australia. They have comprehensive knowledge of issues relating to flexible and family friendly working arrangements as demonstrated by their involvement with a range of award winning work and family projects, each of which was submitted for comprehensive independent expert review and assessment. Siusan and Marie are experienced in developing and delivering quality training outcomes relating to flexible and family friendly working arrangements. 

 

Options to Get it Right at your place or ours

Option 1 - Run two Get it Right training and development programs in-house for 20 managers (two groups of 10) at a cost of $400 per head or $8000 in total plus GST

Option 2 - Run one Get it Right training and development program in-house for 10 managers at a cost of $500 per head or $5000 in total plus GST

Option 3 - Participate in a public Get it Right training and development program at a central city location at a cost of $700 per head.

To discuss how you can Get it Right please call Siusan MacKenzie on 0438 405 406 or email siusan@equilibriumworklife.com.au

Work-life questions everyone asks

• What is work-life balance anyway?
• How can business performance be improved by paying attention to workplace practices that impact on work and life balance?
• What do work and life balance, wellbeing and OHS have in common?
• In this economic climate how can we afford to focus on work-life balance?
• What do employers need to do to comply with work-life provisions in the new National Employment Standards?