"Being a family inclusive organisation means that our people don’t have to make a choice between showing up for their job, or showing up for their family. We support each other to ensure we can all be present in the moments that matter, both at work and at home. We’ve still got lots of work to do, but we’re committed to removing barriers and supporting our colleagues to align their personal and professional goals."
At Marsh, we protect and promote a culture of Possibility, and we use that Possibility mindset to continually drive improvements to our firm and to the employee experience for all of our people. Embracing family friendly working practices allows us to better support employees to tap into their own individual Possibility – to unlock their full potential and achieve their aspirations throughout the various stages of their lives and careers.
We believe in empowering and enabling our employees to do their best work, and key to this is creating an environment where each individual feels supported, valued, and able to bring their whole selves to work.
We recognise that our people have different priorities and commitments. We are passionate about providing an inclusive workplace that supports all of our employees in managing those priorities, and we celebrate the diversity of all the family groups that make up our extended Marsh family.
Flex @Marsh was launched in 2021, allowing Marsh and its employees to co-design working conditions according to individual needs. These conditions benefit employees by allowing them to customise how they work in order to achieve greater synergy between work and personal priorities. They also enable Marsh to enhance the diversity, productivity and efficiency of the business.
At Marsh, we embrace and define workplace flexibility as the way we work. Recognising that flexibility looks different for everyone, Marsh takes a principles, rather than rules-based approach to managing flexible working arrangements. When assessing requests for greater flexibility, people managers are encouraged to start at ‘”yes, what’s the Possibility?”, and collaborate with their people to explore and redesign how work gets done, opening the door to new ways of working and career opportunities.
We understand that flexibility means different things to different people, and we support a range of flexible working options including hybrid working between the office and another location, adjusted or reduced hours, job sharing, additional purchased leave and more. We encourage all colleagues to access the flexible working options that best meet their needs.
In 2021, we made changes to our Parental Leave Policy, to extend the same entitlements to both parents on a gender-neutral basis. We also introduced greater flexibility in how this leave can be structured, be that in one or more blocks, or as individual days spread over an extended period. Consequently, we are seeing more of our male employees accessing parental leave.
The Pandemic really accelerated our conversations around flexible working and what’s possible, as we start to consider what our future of work looks like. We know that having choice and flexibility in how they structure their work is important to our people, and it has been highlighted within our ongoing listening sessions and annual engagement survey as “something we do well”.
Since the launch of Flex @Marsh, the number of requests for flexible working arrangements has increased significantly. Colleagues and their managers are more open to engaging in conversations about different flexible work arrangements, looking into options for supporting requests that meet both individual and business needs. Our people are seeing the possibilities through arrangements that provide them with a better work/life balance, and have provided feedback about being able to be more present in all aspects of their lives.
Flex @Marsh represents a shift from ‘how will you make it work for the business?’ to ‘how can we make it work for both of us?’; a welcome shift where we recognize the work/life balance that colleagues want to strike, which results in more engaged colleagues and better work performance because of it.
“Marsh’s policy towards flexible working allows the individual to tailor the work day to suit their individual requirements. It allows for suitable work life balance that makes Marsh and attractive place to work.”
“The flexibility in my department is best in class”
(All-colleague engagement survey 2021)
We know that the ability to realise our full possibility as an organisation hinges on the engagement of our people, who perform at their best when they are supported, valued, and feel a sense of belonging.
Creating the conditions for our people to thrive delivers better performance, productivity, creativity and innovation. It means greater access to talent as we start to think differently about how work gets done, increased participation by women in the leadership ranks, and more jobs able to be done by more people, opening doors to new career paths for existing and future employees. Ultimately it means happy and healthy employees who are committed to building a career within Marsh, and sharing in our continued success.
Chris’s Story
Having the ability to take one day per fortnight to step out of my day-to-day job I believe gives me the opportunity to keep business challenges in perspective. The day I take off I use to work in a completely different industry, helping out in a private garden. Not only is the work physical, but you can stand back from a hedge you’ve just pruned and immediately see the results. There is immediate pay-off, which is rewarding in a totally different way.
This work has also allowed me to become part of a small community, and experiencing a different work environment helps me to keep my priorities in check. But also, stopping for a tea break with my fellow gardeners, or assisting them in a task has helped keep front of mind the tangible realities, that a workplace is only as good as the people who work in it, and being kind to each other should always be the top priority.
Anna’s Story
I really enjoy working and the sense of achievement that it brings but also greatly value time with my kids (2 and 4 years). Marsh’s approach to flexible working has enabled me to work 3 days a week, which allows me to better balance both my personal and professional priorities. In addition to my part-time work I am able to start and finish earlier each day, which helps with the childcare pick up and rush of getting the kids fed, bathed and into bed.
Flexibility is really important to me; I feel very fortunate to be supported by my manager and Marsh to be able to work in a way that fits well with my priorities at home. This is motivating for me, and means that I’m happy to show flexibility with my time in return, where possible, to accommodate changing business needs.
"Being a family inclusive organisation means that our people don’t have to make a choice between showing up for their job, or showing up for their family. We support each other to ensure we can all be present in the moments that matter, both at work and at home. We’ve still got lots of work to do, but we’re committed to removing barriers and supporting our colleagues to align their personal and professional goals."
Parents At Work acknowledge and pay respect to the past, present and future Traditional Custodians and Elders of this nation and the continuation of cultural, spiritual and educational practices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
