Grant Thornton named Working Families Top Ten Employer 2022

Press Release

Grant Thornton named Working Families Top Ten Employer 2022

27 Sep 2022

The national charity for working parents and carers, Working Families, has announced that Grant Thornton UK LLP has again been awarded a place on its prestigious and competitive list of the top family-friendly employers in the UK. This marks the second year in a row that Grant Thornton has featured amongst the top 10 in Working Families’ list of family-friendly employers.

The annual list assesses employers using Working Families’ Benchmark and scores them on key areas to build a comprehensive picture of their flexible and family-friendly policies and practices that specifically support mothers, fathers, and carers.

Fiona Baldwin, Strategic Leadership Team sponsor for Gender at Grant Thornton UK LLP, said:

“Being recognised as a Working Families Top Ten Employer for the second-year running is testament to our ongoing commitment to creating an environment which reflects and supports the diverse needs of all our people. Our people’s well-being has always been a top priority and enabling a flexible working environment, where people are empowered to balance their responsibilities outside of work, is key to this.

“We’re immensely proud of the culture we’ve been able to embed through our flexible and agile working policies and will continue to add more support to enable our people to prioritise a sustainable and balanced career.”

The initiatives which support working families and contribute to the firm’s continued inclusion in the top 10 list this year include:

• Enhanced maternity/adoption/surrogacy, fertility treatment, neonatal care, carer and family leave policies, which go beyond the statutory requirements.
• Employees say that the firm’s approach to hybrid work - being able to work when and where works best for them – allows them to be more productive and supports their wellbeing.
• Policies and procedures are designed to be inclusive of all genders and are visible both internally and on its career sites.
• The firm is driving inclusive cultural change and removing barriers in its recruitment process by removing bias in adverts, promoting flexibility, providing interview support and practice questions on its careers site and ensuring interview panels are diverse.​ For example, job adverts state “happy to talk flexible working”, most include "happy to consider reduced hours and job shares"
• In January 2022, Grant Thornton launched a new, more inclusive approach to public holidays, offering employees the choice to take public holiday leave on the dates that are most meaningful to them, rather than on the fixed public holiday dates.
• Introduced menopause support and guidance, including people manager training and access to Peppy app which offers access to consultants and resources for advice.

Jane van Zyl, CEO of Working Families, said:

“We are delighted to recognise the outstanding organisations that made our Top Employers for Working Families list this year. These employers excelled in our rigorous benchmarking process, proving they are leading the way in building family-friendly workplaces in the UK. The variety of sizes and sectors represented on this year’s list demonstrates that—with a commitment to best practice and an appetite to innovate—it is possible for any organisation to support their people through embedding flexible and family-friendly practices.”

Experts / Authors

Fiona Baldwin

Fiona Baldwin, I am an experienced audit partner with over 20 years' experience specialising in corporates, social housing, professional practices and pension schemes.