Winners of Workingmums top employer awards

Workingmums.co.uk has announced the winners of its sixth annual Top Employer Awards, celebrating the leading companies in gender diversity and flexible working.

The Awards, sponsored by You At Work, were presented at a ceremony at London’s Soho Hotel on 3rd November where the keynote speakers were John Edmonds, former president of the TUC, and gender expert Eva Tutchell, author of the book Man Made, Why So Few Women Are in Positions of Power.

Winner of the Overall Top Employer Award, sponsored by You At Work, was Cafcass, the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service. It was praised by the judges for the significant transformation it had achieved in a sector, which was very rigid and paper-based.

Awards were presented for eight other categories:

The Top Employer Award for Innovation in Flexible Working went to Cafcass which had shown that necessity breeds invention and had transformed itself from an underperforming organisation to one which had earned an outstanding rating from Ofsted and doubled its productivity rate.

The Top Employer Award for Career Progression, sponsored by A.T. Kearney Ltd, went to Bank of America Merrill Lynch. The judges said the winner had shown evidence of an impressive range of initiatives to improve women’s career progression and highlighted in particular its Returning Talent programme, held annually for the last four years, which has helped those who have taken a career break get back to work.

The Top Employer Award for Best for Dads, sponsored by IG Group, went to the London School of Economics and Political Science. The judges felt that the winner was continuing to pioneer and improve and that its research leave policy was outstanding in its sector.

The Top Employer Award for Talent Attraction, sponsored by CA Technologies, went to Barclays. The judges praised the winner’s genuine commitment to equality and diversity and highlighted how they were measuring bias and promoting job shares.

Winner of the Top Employers Award for Family Support went to Centrica. The judges felt the winner provided a holistic approach to family support, including a commitment to carers and shared parenting and clearly recognised that family support was a win-win scenario for both the business and employees.

The Top Employer Award for SMEs with 1-25 employees, sponsored by Johnson Fleming, went to Cariad Marketing. The judges praised the winner for a strong entry which showed an environment that facilitated people working in different ways. They praised, in particular, its approach to apprenticeships, training and community engagement.

Top Employer Award for SMEs with over 26-250 employees, also sponsored by Johnson Fleming, went to iCrossing. The judges praised the winner’s commitment to flexible working, carers and career progression.

The Working Mums Champion Award went to Natasha Clarke from SThree PLC. The judges were highly impressed by the way she had led change for women in the recruitment industry both within her company and externally and for her work as a mentor and sponsor of women.

The Award judges were: Gillian Nissim, founder of Workingmums.co.uk; Andy Lake, editor of Flexibility.co.uk; Jennifer Liston-Smith, Director of Coaching & Consultancy at My Family Care; Dave Dunbar, Head of Digital Workplace at Nationwide Building Society; and Clare Kelliher, Professor of Work and Organisation at Cranfield School of Management.

The judges took part in a lively Q & A Panel, which was sponsored by Guidant Group. There was also a networking session where winners and shortlisted entrants were able to swap ideas.

Gillian Nissim, Founder of Workingmums.co.uk, said: “This is the sixth year for our Top Employer Awards and once again we have been really impressed by the kind of work being done by the shortlisted organisations and by the range of sectors they represent. This made for some really difficult decisions during the judging process, but it is a challenge we welcome. Cafcass’ entry was really impressive and shows how a holistic approach to flexible working can benefit employees, the organisation and its clients. The turnaround it has achieved through implementation of flexible practices is truly remarkable.”

VERCIDA works with over one hundred clients who are committed to creating an inclusive work environment. If you are an employer and interested in working with VERCIDA to promote your diversity and inclusion initiatives and attract the best candidates, please call 02037405973 or email [email protected] for more information.

We are also officially recommended by Disability Confident as a step on achieving Employer status, please click here for more information.