Corporate Social Responsibility

Bringing Work-life Balance to the Construction Industry 

BCL worked with a new build, refurbishment and fit out specialist, to help pilot a well-being initiative during a new build project. Although the organisation had the well being of staff at the forefront of their agenda the long working hours culture of the construction industry made it difficult for employees to balance their work and personal lives.

We jointly ran a project workshop at the outset to identify collective and individual needs and possible solutions. The problems uncovered included long working hours, too much time travelling to meetings, too many meetings and the continual cancellation of holidays and training. Following the workshop we worked with the client to raise awareness and to assist with the implementation of significant changes to working processes. These included encouraging flexible working, introducing staggered hours, improved forward planning and we also encouraged the staff to reactivate or start new hobbies and interests. Through negotiations with contactors they also reduced the standard five and a half day working week by arranging for staff to work an extra hour every weekday morning to compensate for Saturday morning resulting in positive impacts for both the organisation and their contractors due to the reduced working week.

The project had positive impacts for both the organisation and it’s employees. These included increased trust, shorter hours, more efficient working practices and a more relaxed environment which helped to improve motivation and boost morale. Employees were better able to balance their work with their personal needs and despite all the changes to working processes the project was completed on time and was hailed as a great success.


Work-Life Balance

BCL were commissioned by the client to investigate, and make recommendations on, the role of work-life balance as a tool to improve attraction and retention. The aim was to help individuals benefit from greater WLB enabling the organisation to achieve enhanced performance output. Our start point was to understand the staff’s opinions on the current WLB options, what made them work and what got in the way, which we achieved through a series of focus groups.

Our major findings were about the need to increase the awareness of WLB amongst managers and how this can be managed for individuals consistently throughout the organisation. The existing performance management system did not provide sufficient clarity on individual’s contribution to organisational goals.

We set about, with board agreement, reviewing the use of the performance management process, including the role of the competence framework. We redesigned their performance review and development process to provide greater emphasis on outcomes and the achievement of objectives. This provided clarity on the different expectations between levels by redesigning their competences, both functional roles and behavioural, and to provide better quality discussions on development and career opportunities.

Outcomes included a saving of over £53,000 in sickness costs, the recruitment budget was reduced by 15% and the organisation was ranked 46th in the Financial Times Top 50 employers poll.

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