Jane Van Zyl is the CEO of Working Families, a UK based charity focused on helping working parents and carers. Their mission is to remove the barriers that people with caring responsibilities face in the workplace. They do this in three ways, a free legal advice line to help people with their issues and concerns, working with employers to help create and sustain flexible working and thirdly by pushing for practical and positive change at a policy level.
Working Families has contributed to the Government's Flexible Working Task Force since 2018. As part of this close consultation and a recent private members bill, employees in 2024 will be able to request flexible working from day one of their employment and be able to make that request three times in one year whereby employers must respond to the request.
The ability of an employer to understand and consider flexible working is an attractive proposition for a modern, diverse and talented workforce.
What does flexibility actually mean? It's not a new concept. It refers to all of the ways you can work flexibly, such as term-time working, part time, hybrid, job share etc. The pandemic shone a light on people working from home for increased periods of time. Jane explains to me that working from home during the pandemic was desperately difficult for so many in shared, cramped and isolated accommodation. However the pandemic also allowed us to understand what roles could be delivered successfully form home or other virtual locations. Many countries experienced the rise of the digital nomad!
Working Families have also carried out in depth research which highlighted that lower income families were not able to access flexible working options that were available for different demographics of the workforce.
Jane outlines that the role of the office has changed forever. Why do we even need offices? Perhaps it is to enhance the ability for people to collaborate, educate and celebrate as opposed to endless meetings and zoom calls.
Jane explains that one of the primary keys to success for any organisation is the ability to truly understand the each job design and define the job description with clarity so that the flexible options can be identified early on for all parties with the intent to ensure that the role can ensure the role is 'human sized.'
Leaders must role model or in Jane's words 'real model' how their businesses can adapt and adopt more modern processes and practices to enhance flexible working.
Jane is passionate about her work as she shares a deeply personal story of how flexible working transformed her relationship with her father.
Working Families as an organisation that itself is now wholly remote and their work is helping families all across the country. This episode is a fascinating and essential insight for any leader of any sized business into the changing world of work.

You can access research and other important information by visiting www.workingfamilies.org.uk

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