Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield – Winner 2018, Best for Line Manager Support Award
Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield ensures line managers understand and support flexible working in their teams by offering a range of training programmes and one-to-one support with HR.
Key Points
- Between 51 per cent and 75 per cent of line managers are trained specifically in managing flexible workers.
- 100 per cent of flexible working requests after maternity leave were approved in 2017.
- 100 per cent of women returned to work after maternity leave in 2017.
Line managers play a crucial role in helping employees work flexibly and the latest figures reflect how successful line managers at Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield are in enabling staff to achieve a good work life balance.
In 2017, 100 per cent of women returned to work after maternity leave. Of those, 73 per cent completed a phased return while all those who requested flexible working had their request approved. In addition, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield offers enhanced Shared Parental Leave, which was taken up by 40 per cent of eligible fathers.
A survey of parents returning to work at Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield rated the company 8.1 out of 10 as a working families employer.
To ensure line managers understand and support flexible working in their team, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield runs three relevant training sessions.
The first covers flexible working, how to manage a flexible working request, and how the business can benefit from and support flexible working.
The second teaches line managers how to avoid bias in their team, while the third equips managers with coaching skills to help employees solve problems, improve their performance and develop their confidence.
In addition, line managers have one-to-one meetings with HR when they are notified of a pregnancy or forthcoming parental leave in their team to ensure they know how to support the parent. There is also a new guide on parental leave for employees and line managers. It provides line managers with a checklist of actions for each stage of leave.
I have supported a number of working parents during a lengthy career, but it was not until recent years that my good intentions were enhanced by practical information.
Robyn Burns – Head of Shared Services, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield