The case for flexible work has been made. It’s time to take it to the next level: introducing FlexReady Certification

At FlexCareers, we’ve been at the forefront of the movement to change the way work is done by making flexible working the norm not the exception. We believe that flexible working is the great enabler to diverse and inclusive workplaces and opening economic opportunity up to all.

For nearly six years we’ve been partnering with employers to make working that little bit better for everyone. From sharing the stories and learnings coming out of those businesses, to being trusted to curate the flexible job opportunities from those progressive employers for our community.

We’ve seen flexibility itself morph and change over time. Starting back in 2014 when flexibility was a benefit offered to return-to-work mums “to improve our gender stats”, through to future-of-work strategies, new ways of working and a recent understanding that flexibility has a very strong cost / benefit impact on productivity, retention and the bottom line.

Today, in the midst of this awful 2020 pandemic, we’ve seen flexible working tools (one might argue “applied inflexibly”) used to achieve business continuity, along with a new set of challenges around remote working, home schooling, mental health and most recently leaders having to manage hybrid teams.

Through this evolution of new ways of working, FlexCareers has been privileged to witness the cohort of leading employers emerge from the pack and the pleasure of working with some of the best of the best. Working with not only leading employers, but the individual HR teams driving change within their organisations, all working tirelessly to make work ‘work’ better for their employees. Giving their people the opportunity to choose – within each organisation’s unique set of guardrails – how, when and where they do their best work. Then working with the leaders within their organisation to enable flexibility and unlock the benefits: a more human way of working for individuals, better productivity for teams and improved financial outcomes for their business.

FlexReady Certification was born

Certification was the natural combination of these two different sides of our business. On one hand, being a trusted voice to our community, to know which businesses walk the talk for flexibility, and on the other, knowing exactly what candidates expect to experience when joining a company that promises true flexibility.

The FlexReady certification enables businesses to signal to both candidates and current employees that they embrace flexibility, and that individuals can have a conversation without bias to outline exactly what flexibility they need to make work ‘work’ for them. At FlexCareers it gives us the opportunity to stand behind the best of the best when it comes to flexibility and new ways of working.

What’s involved in FlexReady Certification?

We’ve taken a vastly different approach to other certification products that have gone before and have set out to quantify the lived experience of flexibility.

Through our consulting work to design, implement and then normalise flexibility within our partners, we’ve accumulated a vast set of data – over 100 companies – on the lived experience of flexibility at different levels of maturity and come up with eight different pillars of flexibility:

To be eligible for certification, an employer must undergo a quantitative audit of their people’s lived experience of flexible working – examining their data, policies, strategy, initiatives & more – and are assessed on their level of maturity across each of these different pillars. To be eligible for certification status, employers must achieve a Level 3 “Normalised” rating or higher.

In addition, FlexReady Certified employers receive further benefits:

• Access to the community of other leading FlexReady Certified employers and their HR teams for shared learnings, and exclusive round table thought leadership events
• Quantitative benchmarking of the lived experience of flexibility in their workplace compared to the cohort of other FlexReady Certified employers to gain insights into ‘what the rest of the best’ are doing when it comes to flexibility, and how they compare

Introducing the initial cohort of FlexReady Certified employers

FlexCareers is proud to stand behind the founding Certified employer members. They have each demonstrated a genuine commitment to, and maturity in flexible working practices. These make up some of the best of the best employers when it comes to flexibility: Allianz Australia, American Express Australia, APRA, Commonwealth Bank, Cbus, Department of Premium & Cabinet (NSW), Lion, Metcash, NSW Telco Authority, Pepsico, South East Water.

We look forward to working with other leading employers who are shaping the future of work and taking flexible work to the next level.

Find out more here.