LEADING NEW ZEALAND IN WORKPLACE PRACTICES
BDO’s regional offices are national role models of excellence in workplace practices with two offices winning national awards over the past two years.
BDO Waikato was crowned Emerging Large Business at the Waikato Sustainable Business Network Awards 2010 and BDO Taranaki won the Equal Employment Opportunities (EEO) Trust Work and Life Awards in 2009. For both, their award-winning ways are a way of operating.
As BDO Waikato managing partner, Bernard Lamusse, says they see sustainability as a holistic practice that extends to all areas of their business from achieving 100% paper-free office to flexible workplace practices.
“Certainly we are always looking into new ways of helping the environment. But being a sustainable business is not just about reducing your environmental impact. Sustainability is about people, products, places and profits.
“One of the key areas in achieving a sustainable business is to ensure that staff have a good work-life balance and we do this is by operating a "time bank" system.”
This time bank allows staff to manage their hours like a bank account. At certain times of the year staff need to work extra hours in order to service clients, hours which are deposited into the bank. When they are not busy, or need time off, they can use the ‘credit’ hours in their time banl account.
“This enables staff to attend events such as children's school activities, and achieve that work-life balance,” says Bernard.
To read more visit the BDO Waikato webpage.
Similarly for BDO Taranaki, its award-winning workplace is based on ground-breaking flexibility practices that allow staff to work where and when they want provided their colleagues and clients are not inconvenienced.
As practice manager Margaret Doyle says, “We have one woman who goes home in the afternoon to milk the cows and works from home after that. Then there’s a Dad who works four days a week so he can spend more time with his children. People play sport in the middle of the day.”
So after 20 years of evolutionary change from a command-and-control system of hierarchies and silos to a flat, self-management structure supported by flexible hours and job-sharing systems, the culture is now rock solid. Staff turnover over is less than 11% (the average for cities is around 30%) and there is always a waiting list of quality professionals hoping to get in.
“We haven’t advertised for years,” says Margaret. ”People just wait until a position comes up.”
Increased productivity and reduced staff turnover are the main benefits of this high level of flexibility. “If people can choose when they work, they will work when they are most productive. There's no need for clock-watching. We promote positivity and a general respect for each other. To be successful, we need full flexibility, honesty and commitment by all staff. The core value of our organisation is complete trust."
To read more visit the BDO Taranaki webpage.
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