flexible working practices tony stevens women in science, engineering and technology (winset)...

Flexible working practices

Tony Stevens

Women in Science, Engineering and Technology (WinSET) CoordinatorUniversity of Nottingham

What is it?

Any working pattern that is adapted to an individual’s needs.

Includes:flexi time, annualised hours, compressed hours, staggered hours, job sharing, TOIL, term-time working, career breaks, homeworking, part-time working

What are the top three things that staff want from flexible working?

• Variation in hours of the working day• To be able to work from home one

or two days a week• Work a compressed working week

How widespread is flexible working in the UK?

What % of employers say they offer some kind of flexible working?

What % of new businesses start up from home?

What % of all businesses are home based?

What % of the workforce work part-time?

What % of the workforce works mainly from home?


What % of employers say they offer some kind of flexible working? 90%What % of new businesses start up from home?

What % of all businesses are home based?



Data: ONS, Dept for Business Surveys


What % of employers say they offer some kind of flexible working? 90%What % of new businesses start up from home? 60%What % of all businesses are home based?





What % of employers say they offer some kind of flexible working? 90%What % of new businesses start up from home? 60%What % of all businesses are home based? 41%What % of the workforce work part-time?




What % of employers say they offer some kind of flexible working? 90%What % of new businesses start up from home? 60%What % of all businesses are home based? 41%What % of the workforce work part-time? 27%What % of the workforce works mainly from home?



What % of employers say they offer some kind of flexible working? 90%What % of new businesses start up from home? 60%What % of all businesses are home based? 41%What % of the workforce work part-time? 27%What % of the workforce works mainly from home? 13%


Time and Costs

Average time of daily commute?

Annual total mileage of all car commutes?

10 million office staff occupy how much space (m²)?

Average office occupancy?

Average annual office costs per head?

Time and Costs

Average time of daily commute? 1 hour

Annual total mileage of all car commutes?




Data: www.flexibility.co.uk

Time and Costs


Annual total mileage of all car commutes? 80,000,000,000





Time and Costs



10 million office staff occupy how much space (m²)? 110,000,000




Time and Costs




Average office occupancy? 45%



Time and Costs




Average office occupancy? 45%

Average annual office costs per head? £6000


Progression in chemistry by gender, 2006/07

Data source: HESA (2007)

Progression in physics by gender, 2007/08

Data source: HESA (2008)

Good working practices

• Good working practices help everyone but tend to help women proportionately more

• Bad working practices affect everyone but tend to impact on women more

Athena SWANwww.athenaswan.org.uk

Launched in 2005. Its key principles:

• The advancement of science, engineering and technology is fundamental to quality of life across the globe.

• It is vitally important that women are adequately represented in what has traditionally been, and is still, a male-dominated area.

• Science cannot reach its full potential unless it can benefit from the talents of the whole population, and until women and men can benefit equally from the opportunities it affords.

Athena SWAN Charter1. To address gender inequalities requires commitment and action from

everyone, at all levels of the organisation2. To tackle the unequal representation of women in science requires

changing cultures and attitudes across the organisation3. The absence of diversity at management and policy-making levels has

broad implications which the organisation will examine4. The high loss rate of women in science is an urgent concern which the

organisation will address5. The system of short-term contracts has particularly negative

consequences for the retention and progression of women in science, which the organisation recognises

6. There are both personal and structural obstacles to women making the transition from PhD into a sustainable academic career in science, which require the active consideration of the organisation.

WinSET www.nottingham.ac.uk/winset

Aims of the WinSET Group:

• Representatives from Childcare Services, HR, Research and Graduate Services and Staff Equality and Diversity Action Group attend WinSET

• Representative from every SET/STEMM School attends WinSET meetings• Importance of cultural change to develop trust based working environment• Not where, when, how BUT wherever, whenever, however• Normalising flexibility • Flexible working practices benefit everyone and also helps create a fairer

workplace• Promote and disseminate leadership skills to manage expectations, support staff,

agree new protocols – change won’t happen by itself• Encourage the use of staff surveys• Core hours policy (1000-1500) established across University. No strategic meetings

held outside these hours• Review of KIT days conducted

Some examples of flexible working from the University of Nottingham

Faculty of Engineering:• A policy to consider potential in relation to the

impact of periods of part-time working or family leave on promotion applications is adopted within the Faculty. This is reflected in the internal form used to collect additional information for promotion applications.

• Team teaching is encouraged and TWM allows for easy sharing of loads to help support flexible teaching hours.


School of Biosciences:• The School allows flexible working on an informal basis since this

maximises effectiveness.• TWM ensures agreements are open and transparent. • The School encourages ‘smart’ working rather than working long

hours. It is nevertheless understood that sometimes long hours are necessary, but flexibility allows for working at home or taking time off for family commitments when necessary.

• Long-term flexibility is accommodated by agreeing alternative start and finish hours with Head of Division or Head of School.

• Head of School is happy to allow staff to manage their own time.• Most academic staff work flexible hours.


School of Physics and Astronomy:• TWM ensures allowances are made and recorded (and other

people can see they are recorded) for any part-time working, maternity/parental/carer leave.

• New academic staff/returners given a reduced teaching load typically ramped up over 3 year period.

• Staff survey indicated that 38% of staff spent at least one day a month working from home.

• Experiments often run outside of normal working hours so flexibility vital – staff survey showed 85% of staff worked flexible hours.

• Flexitime for all support staff.


School of Community Health Sciences:• Command and control management style won’t work.• Long hours culture and presence replaced by focus on

proportional outputs.• Use of fractional contracts (not necessarily just term-

time contracts) that give same contractual benefits as full time. In last 3 years, 3 female academics have been on fractional contracts (2 Associate Professors, 1 Clinical Associate Professor).

Exercise 1: What flexible working practices would help in each of the situations below?

• Increased flexibility over the working day?• Increased flexibility over the working week?• Increased flexibility over medium term

working patterns?• Increased flexibility over the career?

Exercise 2: What are some home working headaches? How can these be addressed?

Exercise 2: What are some home working headaches? How can these be addressed?

• Poor management support• Isolation• Time management • Low team spirit• Technological problems• Poorer work/life balance• Managing performance• Less collaboration• Less visibility

Exercise 3: What’s in it for the institution/business?

Exercise 3: What’s in it for the institution/business?

• Cost effectiveness - work takes place at most effective times and locations

• Happier employees = more productive staff• Use of technology can reduce fixed and variable costs • Better performance management – results not

presence • Better service delivery• Improved staff retention• Office space reduction• Travel reduction• Less absenteeism

If you need any more information:

Tony StevensWinSET Coordinator

[email protected]

www.nottingham.ac.uk/winset

mailto:[email protected]

flexible working practices tony stevens women in science, engineering and technology (winset)...

Documents

parttime working slide

average annual office

average office occupancy

kind of flexible working

office staff

compressed working week

working day

working pattern