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Consulting
Work and Personal Life Consultancy
Our Consulting division can assist your organisation with researching, designing, and implementing effective work/life balance strategies. The following services are provided by our consultancy division:
Needs Assessments
Families At Work has extensive experience in developing organisation-specific work and personal life surveys. The survey forms a comprehensive tool to assist an organisation to gauge the demands of their workforce. It can be used to determine the best work and personal life options that would suit employee needs while meeting business objectives and workplace culture.
The survey may include a review of all current and potential work/|ife policies, and workplace cultural impacts that the organisation may be considering or just focus on a particular program, such as child care provision. One advantage of having a broader survey is that it does not focus respondents’ attention on one type of program as a potential outcome. Families At Work can also design and conduct a survey that includes other issues that impact on the success of a work|life program. For example these issues could be included in a survey about equal employment opportunity or organisational culture.
Feasibility Studies
These studies form the basis for a business case for specific strategies, and estimate the likely return on an organisation's investment in work|life initiatives. Our feasibility studies examine our clients’ proposed strategy and the different aspects or policies and programs they may be considering. Information contained in the studies includes costs, benefits, community opportunities, best practice modes and any other issue relevant to the organisation.
A feasibility study can determine a way forward in regard to work|life policies and programs. It can help an organisation to be confident it is implementing the right strategy and determine whether the resources and commitment are in place to progress.
We have provided consultancies to a large number of both private and public sector organisations including Citibank, Pfizer, Waverley Council, Zurich and Cable & Wireless Optus.
Cost Benefit Analysis, Return on Investment
These studies are useful to establish what the return on investment is for an employer implementing a particular program. Families At Work estimate the cost of the establishment and operation of the program over a given period of time. We then estimate the benefits to the employer of providing this type of program. Likely direct financial benefits include reductions in staff-related costs (eg. improved productivity, reduced turnover and absenteeism, etc), public relations benefits and in some cases tax concessions.
Cost benefit analysis can be used in three ways:
- To examine the current costs of not having a policy as a method of motivating the organisation to implement a policy and perhaps provide a budget to do so. The costs of not having a policy might include the cost of staff turnover due to the inability of staff to work the hours required of them and balance this with their family responsibilities.
- To examine the cost benefits of implementing a proposed policy as a method of assessing which, if any option to implement. This might include examining the expected costs and benefits of introducing paid maternity leave such as the cost of leave, the cost of replacement staff, the benefit of reduced staff turnover and shorter maternity leave.
- To examine the cost benefits of an existing policy. This can be a method of evaluating the effectiveness of the particular option, for example the costs and benefits actually experienced from part time work, such as administrative costs and reduced absenteeism.
Policy Writing
Families At Work writes work and personal life policies and programs for our clients. All the policies or documents we write are designed to make it easier for employees to balance their personal and professional lives. This includes policies about working from home, job sharing, part time work, flexible hours and leave provisions. We can include health and fitness practices such as exercise and employee massage policies. They can include documents on management style, work organisation, information provision or facilities and services.
These policies are prepared after intensive consultation with a client. They can be written as stand-alone documents or incorporated into an employee manual. They might be accessible on the intranet only or they might be turned into glossy documents and launched publicly.
Enterprise Bargaining Agreements, Equal Opportunity Reports, and Benchmarking Reports
Many reports and documents that are written in an organisation will refer in part to work|life or work|family policies. Families At Work can assist employers to design a policy and write it into a particular document.
In the past we have worked with a number of clients to assist them to design and write agreements and reports related to work and life policies. For example, we have worked with unions and managers in particular workplaces to ensure work|life policies are considered in enterprise agreements. We are often actively involved in establishing what union members want to be included in the agreement through focus groups and written questionnaires. We have also been involved in writing Equal Opportunity Plans for employers which will need to include what the employer plans to do to ensure employees’ work life balance is considered.
Families At Work benchmarks organisations’ work and lifestyle policies using an extensive national database of information and is able to advise on current best practices both broadly and specific to industry type. Families At Work can also benchmark child care centres.
Training
Our research indicates that the sensitivity of managers and supervisors to employees’ personal needs is the most critical factor in employees’ productivity and perception of the organisation. Our information and training programs provide managers with skills, tools and guidance to help them respond appropriately to the work and family needs of employees, while achieving corporate goals and maximising the bottom line. This training prepares managers to implement their work and family|life policies.
Families At Work also provides training for employees to help them balance their work and family|personal life. Both the manager and employee training sessions are customised to fit the industry and the particular employees.
Implementing Programs & Policies, Making Them Work, and Evaluating Their Success
Policies and programs need to be implemented in a way that ensures they are effective. Employees need to know about them, there needs to be a climate that encourages them to be used and there needs to be systems in place that do not hinder their use.
Families At Work helps implement any workplace practice or program that will assist employees balance their work and personal lives. For example, this might be assisting with hiring job sharers or establishing a child care facility for employees. In these examples, we are then available once the job sharers start to assist them to resolve any issues before they become problems or assist with the running of the child care facility.
Families At Work also evaluates the success of pilot and long term programs and makes recommendations as to how the program might be changed or modified to improve its success and the productivity of staff.
Throughout all work undertaken by Families At Work, we liaise regularly with the employer to report on progress and discuss new developments as they arise.
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