An ally is someone who is not a member of an underrepresented group but who takes action to support that group to help make their workplace more diverse and inclusive for all.
For workplaces to become truly inclusive it is up to people who hold positions of privilege to be active allies and to take responsibility for making changes that will help others be successful.
Allies at all levels can take action with simple, everyday efforts that make a real difference and in this series, we highlight some things that you can do to be an ally and to support your colleagues from underrepresented groups.
Measure and Evaluate your Flexible Working Policies
To ensure you are on the right track with your policies you need to measure and track the outcomes you care about.
This can be incorporated into your staff surveys as well as your administrative data and/or staff interviews and feedback from your Parent and Carers Network. You might want to track things like:
- How many people are working flexibly, through either informal or formal arrangements.
- The level of awareness of your flexible working policies.
- The level of work-life conflict employees are experiencing.
- Staff perceptions about whether flexible working results in slower progression.
- Staff experiences and feedback relating to working flexibly.
- The experiences of line managers about how flexible working operates in their team, including any difficulties they may be facing in implementing it.
Read the full “How to be an Ally” series here.
