Financial
services firm Deloitte & Touche has been held up as an example of good
practice by Trade and Industry Secretary Stephen Byers for its part-time
working policy.
Byers
said Deloitte & Touche was a very successful company that had recognised the
value of offering staff part-time and flexible working options.
Deloitte & Touche, which is the fastest
growing and most profitable firm in its sector, allows all staff who have been
employed for at least six months the chance to apply to work part-time.
Steve
James, HR director for Deloitte & Touche, said Achieving Work Life Balance
was introduced three years ago and had proved very popular with staff.
But
he stressed that its introduction was largely market driven because of the need
to attract and retain high quality staff.
James
commented, “We discuss their personal performance and the needs of the
business. We allow requests to work part-time where we possibly can.
“I
think what we are doing is responding to the market place and to the demands of
our people, both those who are already in the firm as well as those we would
like to recruit. What we are doing is putting in place a degree of flexibility
which allows us to respond to this demand.”
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James
said that the number of employees working part-time at the firm, which employs
6,500 people, has grown to 350 from only a handful over the past three years.
By
Ben Willmott
