Local Firm Win Top Employers Award for Working Mums

    SOMERSET, ENGLAND, October 28, 2011 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Winner of the workingmums award for top employer in the SME category (26-250 employees), the judges praised DUO's array of impressive policies aimed at supporting working parents and recognising the skills parents bought to the workplace. Other category winners include John Lewis Partnership and Prudential.

What makes a top employer? DUO believe that for working parents - and the majority of people working in the UK are going to be working parents at some point in their career - the answer is overwhelmingly flexible working.

Flexible working comes top of almost every survey of employee benefits and top employers recognise that it is not only employees who benefit.

Research shows flexible working reduces sickness leave, reduces staff turnover, boosts morale, raises retention levels, reduces recruitment costs, increases productivity and can cut overheads.

DUO's marketing manager (and mum) Claire Travers comments: "We're a 35 year old family business who appreciates more than many the value of balancing work and home life.

"Our CEO has 3 children under 7, 83% of our workforce is female and 20% are parents. In the last 5 years we have had 16 pregnancies at DUO and 11 mums have so far returned to work because they were able to work hours to suit their new responsibilities."

CEO Nick Sinfield adds: "Parenting provides training in skills such as patience, multitasking, relationships, dedication, prioritising and time management. With a clientele which is overwhelmingly female, understanding and relating to customers who are also mothers enhances rapport particularly if a customer has an issue relating to a change in her size or shape. This empathy adds even more to the customer experience we strive for.'

Workingmums.co.uk has announced the winners of its annual Top Employer Awards,celebrating the leading companies in diversity and work life balance.

The Awards were presented at a ceremony at London's Soho Hotel on 5 October where the keynote speaker was best-selling business author Alison Maitland.

Winner of the Overall Top Employer award was the John Lewis Partnership. It was praised by judges for the comprehensive and embedded nature of what it offered on work life balance. Fiona O'Hara, Human Capital & Diversity Lead of last year's winner Accenture, took part in a panel discussion with guests at the event.

Awards were presented for seven other categories. These included three new categories this year - childcare, talent attraction and Working mums champion:

Winner of the Top Employers Award for Childcare went to the John Lewis Partnership. The judges felt the winner of this award had a comprehensive and broad-based range of policies and practices which addressed a wide range of childcare issues.

The Top Employers Award for Employee Engagement went to Prudential. The judges felt the winner had enthusiastically embraced employee engagement and made huge and innovative progress.

Top Employers Award for Innovation in Flexible Working went to Accenture. The judges felt Accenture was doing something on every front and that everything about its flexible work culture was open and transparent. For this company, flexible working was the norm.

The Top Employers Award for SMEs with 1-25 employees went to IT firm Hireserve. The judges praised the winner for demonstrating clearly the business case for using flexible working. Flexible practices were clearly communicated, including at interview stage and part timers were considered real employees with a career ahead of them.

Top Employers Award for SMEs with over 26-250 employees went to shoe retailer DUO. The judges praised the winner's array of impressive policies aimed at supporting working parents. They recognised the skills parents brought to the workplace, were supportive if staff had sick children and showed flexibility across a broad variety of roles.

The Top Employers Award for Talent Attraction, went to Virtual Sales Team. The judges felt the winner demonstrated clearly and openly in job adverts that flexibility was part of their business model and it was clear their approach had boosted retention.

The Working Mums Champion Award went to Mia Brennan of recruitment company Square Mile Connections. The judges felt the winner showed energy and commitment in driving forward innovative policies and clearly demonstrated that they were having an impact outside their own company in the promotion of flexible working.

The Award judges were: Gillian Nissim, Founder of Workingmums.co.uk; Andy Lake, Editor of Flexibility.co.uk; Jennifer Liston-Smith, Head of Coaching Development at My Family Care; David Dunbar, Head of BT Flexible Working Services; and Dr Caroline Gatrell, Senior Lecturer in Management Learning and Leadership in the Management School at Lancaster University.

Alison Maitland, co-author of a forthcoming book on the future of work, said: "Rapid social and technological change is fuelling a revolution in work practices similar to that brought about by the industrial revolution. The winning employers today and in the future will be those that adapt quickly by empowering and trusting people to manage their own work lives and by measuring and rewarding them on results, not hours. This requires a shift in culture and attitudes, led from the top, but results in major benefits for employers, employees and the environment."

Gillian Nissim, Founder of Workingmums.co.uk, said: "Through these Awards we hope to inspire other employers by offering them examples of outstanding practice which clearly demonstrates the benefits of flexible working and good work life balance policies and practice for both employees and employers."

* Shortlisted for the awards were:

Childcare - John Lewis and Workplace Options. This Award covers childcare support, such as emergency childcare provision and childcare vouchers.
Employee Engagement - John Lewis and Prudential.
Innovation in flexible working - Accenture; Buckles Solicitors; and Workplace Options.
SME[ 1-25 employees- Clink Ltd; Hireserve; Square Mile Connections; Viva Live Music; and Work Clever Recruitment.
SME 26-250 employees - Buckles Solicitors; DUO; and The Curve Group.
Talent Attraction - Hireserve; Virtual Sales Team; and Linen at Home.
Working Mums Champion - James Phipson of Clink Ltd; Karen Ovenden of Hireserve; and Mia Brennan of Square Mile Connections. The Awards media partner was ri5

About DUO
DUO provide a range of women's boots and shoes including wide calf boots, narrow calf boots, black boots and brown boots.

For more information, please contact:

Nikki Edwards
[email protected]
01454 404980

NOTES FOR EDITORS

- DUO can be found online @ duoboots.com, and on the high street at:
DUO Store, 33 Milsom Street, Bath
DUO Fitting Room, 21 Slingsby Place, St Martin's Courtyard, Covent Garden, WC2
DUO Store, 6-8 Castle Street, Edinburgh
- Europe's first and leading retailer of perfectly fitting shoes and boots with a 30-year footwear pedigree.
- DUO pioneered the concept of calf-fitting boots and now offers the widest selection of sizes and styles on the market place - an unrivalled combination of fit and fashion.
- DUO's perfectly fitting shoes combine wearable design with on-trend styles for a fit and fashion blend not typically found on the high street

Website: http://www.duoboots.com

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