- Sarah Jackson OBE, flexible working expert and Visiting Professor at Cranfield University School of Management
- Aine Finlayson, Chief Operating Officer at PEAK Scientific, world leader in manufacture and on-site support of gas generation systems for analytical laboratories.
- Lisa McPherson, Group People Director (UK & Europe) for City Facilities Management Holdings, one of the UK’s largest privately owned facilities management firms
- Peter Kelly, Chief Executive of The Poverty Alliance, a network of organisations working to reduce poverty in Scotland
- Marion Forbes, Director at A.C. Whyte & Co. a major contractor for wall insulation and refurbishment works to local authority and other social housing
- Professor HeeJung Chung, Professor of Work & Employment at King’s College London
- Nicola Watt, Head of People at bar and restaurant group Buzzworks
- Gordon Macfarlane, Head of Resourcing at multinational energy firm SSE
Strategic guidance
We’re delighted to welcome our new advisory group, which will provide strategic guidance, commercial expertise, and insights as we develop the framework, pilot our new standard with a small group of employers later this year, and then roll out our finessed final version to Scottish employers in mid-2025. Our co-founder and director Lisa Gallagher said: “We’re thrilled to have so many smart and progressive people working with us. They all share a common personal and professional interest in flexible working, and how it can work across a variety of sectors. Every member brings a wealth of knowledge and experience we can draw on to make our flexible working standard both aspirational and wholly practical for employers. “We hope our new standard will support employers to create and enhance flexible working in their organisations, and showcase brilliant, real-world examples so more employers can see what’s possible and follow suit.”
Why do we need a flexible working standard?
Despite increases in flexible working since the pandemic, a third of Scottish workers still don’t work flexibly. If you’re in a frontline role, or you’re on a low salary, you’re even less likely to work flexibly. What’s more, a lack of clarity around what good flexible working really looks like means flex can be patchy depending on your employer, or even your line manager. Our accreditation-style scheme will definitively show employers what ‘good’ flexible working looks like, and it will provide a supportive framework and practical recommendations for employers to increase their flexible offer and showcase their existing flexible culture. One of our priorities is to ensure our standard is fit for purpose for employers with frontline workers and staff on a range of salary bands, and we’ve deliberately sought advisers who represent a broad range of industries. For workers, our accreditation scheme is all about creating more flexible working in more roles, including those that are frontline or low paid. Our accreditation scheme is possible thanks to funding from The Robertson Trust, and the hard work of accreditation specialists Bonnie Clarke and Simon Kujawa and their team at consultancy Taylor Clarke.
More information?
If you’d like more information, or you’re interested in taking part in our pilot project, please contact us at hello@flexibilityworks.org
