Family Friendly Workplace
Our Family Friendly Workplace work developed from our 2018-2020 research with workplaces and women who were returning to work, and we have since connected it with our development support practice and the wider policy context. We take an inclusive, whole-family approach, supporting employers to think about how different experiences and protected characteristics connect. There’s no ‘typical’ family, so it’s important to create practices which work for everyone by listening, expecting diversity, and being flexible.
What we're doing
We know that if family-friendly working practices are ignored, gender inequality widens, discrimination is more likely, and skilled employees leave the workplace. So, we’ve been working to learn from working families’ experiences, share good practice, and support employers to make simple changes.
We’ve developed our approach to supporting workplaces – from holding these sensitive, important conversations about pregnancy, work, parenting and caring, to putting together impactful interventions based on employee’s experiences and our understanding of what works. We’ve combined our initial research with knowledge gained from working with single parent families, LGBTQI+ families, families who are new to Scotland, and parents and carers who are disabled or living with long term health conditions.
The impact it's having so far
To ensure success, staff wellbeing and retention, organisations need to understand women’s, parents’ and carers’ experiences at work. The best way to implement Family Friendly Workplace practices is through working together with your team. Outside the Box can work with your management and staff teams to conduct a Family Friendly consultation, provide concrete next steps for implementation, and support your journey.
In 2024 were approached by The Women’s Forum at Cornwall Council and asked to deliver online sessions for staff to share views on how to support working parents. We ran 3 workshops; two for staff who had recently returned from parental leave and one for managers, with 20 participants in total: 16 working parents and 4 managers. The interactive sessions were relaxed and chatty and focused on exploring the barriers and issues faced by working parents and identifying practical solutions to help support them. Feedback was then collated and analysed in our final report for the Forum.
Whatever your organisation’s size, budget and requirements, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us to discuss the tailored support we can offer.