{"id":19873,"date":"2026-07-15T08:08:36","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T08:08:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.brightmine.com\/uk\/?post_type=resources&#038;p=19873"},"modified":"2026-07-24T08:22:35","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T08:22:35","slug":"flexible-working-tips-to-achieve-best-practice-now","status":"publish","type":"resources","link":"https:\/\/www.brightmine.com\/uk\/resources\/hr-strategy\/flexible-working\/flexible-working-tips-to-achieve-best-practice-now\/","title":{"rendered":"Flexible working \u2013 tips to achieve best practice now"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide has-primary-white-background-color has-background has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-b5fc8583 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"border-radius:25px;padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30)\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-7fc3d43a wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:70%\">\n<p class=\"\">There have been many significant legislative shifts in relation to flexible working in recent years, of course, and under the Employment Rights Act 2025 we are promised further changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Charlotte Wiseman joins the podcast to look at the way flexible working is transforming employee expectations and workplace culture, and to offer some ideas about what best practice looks like in this new era.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"listen\" class=\"\">Listen now for actionable insights, expert analysis, and a look at what\u2019s next for HR strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-spotify wp-block-embed-spotify wp-embed-aspect-21-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Spotify Embed: Flexible working \u2013 tips to achieve best practice now\" style=\"border-radius: 12px\" width=\"100%\" height=\"152\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/episode\/65cYkU7r0nucmXvdDMEgkH?utm_source=oembed\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<details id=\"transcript\" class=\"wp-block-details has-secondary-blue-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-04e91f3f87e06950e1d41955473826d6 is-layout-flow wp-block-details-is-layout-flow\" style=\"font-size:clamp(14px, 0.875rem + ((1vw - 3.2px) * 0.548), 18px);\"><summary>Read the transcript<\/summary>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Robert Shore: <\/strong>Hello, and welcome to the Brightmine podcast, formerly known as the XpertHR podcast. Brightmine is a leading provider of people data, analytics and insight, offering employment law expertise, comprehensive HR resources and reward data to meet every HR and organisational challenge and opportunity. You can find us any time of the day or night at <a href=\"\/uk\/\">www.brightmine.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Hello everyone. My name is Robert Shore, and today we\u2019re going to be talking about flexible working. There have been many significant legal shifts in this area in recent years, of course, and under the Employment Rights Act 2025 we are promised further changes. For instance then, in 2024 there was the introduction of a day one right to request flexible working arrangements, and in 2027 we are due to see the creation in effect of a new reasonableness test so that in future employment tribunals will be able to consider the reasonableness of an employer\u2019s decision to accept or reject a request for flexible working arrangements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">But we\u2019re not going to be talking principally about the legislative detail of the changes today, rather we\u2019re going to be looking at the way flexible working is transforming employee expectations and workplace culture, and putting forward some ideas about the ways that HR and line managers need to be thinking about what best practice looks like in this new era.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">To do this, I am joined by Charlotte Wiseman, CEO and founder of Step Inside Group, an organisational development consultancy that applies neuroscience, psychology and behavioural science to help people think, feel and perform at their best. Welcome to the podcast, Charlotte.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Charlotte Wiseman:<\/strong> Thank you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Robert Shore:<\/strong> Can I begin by asking you then about that description of what Step Inside Group does, in terms of applying neuroscience, psychology and behavioural science? How in essence do you work with organisations?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Charlotte Wiseman:<\/strong> What we\u2019re all about really is about looking at the science of how people are thinking, how their brain is functioning, and therefore about the choices they\u2019re making, their behavioural and their communication skills. So that\u2019s everything that helps people to think, feel and perform at their best. We\u2019re looking at the science behind that, what\u2019s underpinning it. And looking at, from that understanding, we work with clients to say, \u2018What are the factors and the conditions that need to be in place to help people at work be at their best?\u2019 So that\u2019s about helping people to maximise engagement, performance, helping people to navigate change and transition with the right mindset and the skillsets to do so. It\u2019s about increasing innovation and problem-solving, and building resilience within organisations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">So it\u2019s about creating those conditions so that people can be performing at their best so that they have their best working experience but also so that the organisation can be as successful as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">So when we\u2019re doing that in organisations, what we would do is we would be understanding their objectives, their organisational strategy, and then helping leaders and decision-makers at the top level to understand what that requires, what that needs. We go through a process which we call the \u2018Step Inside Approach\u2019, which is about building that awareness. What are the mindsets, the conditions, the factors that need to be in place to achieve that vision of success?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Then it\u2019s looking at growth, which is the second stage of our process. How do you help people to build the skills, build the knowledge, integrate the different interventions and activations within an organisation into the systems, the policies, the processes? How do you integrate that to achieve that strategy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">And then how do you accelerate that and cascade the benefit of that across the organisation? So we go through this three-stage process with whatever that goal is in mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Robert Shore:<\/strong> That\u2019s great. And so obviously this has given you particular insights into the ways that organisations are adapting their approaches in all sorts of ways, and also in relation to flexible working, our subject today. You\u2019ve written a piece for the Brightmine website (to which I will share a link in the show notes), which contains the phrase, \u2018The question for HR is no longer, \u201cHow do we process requests?\u201d but, \u201cHow do we design a fair, psychologically safe and operationally sustainable approach to flexibility?\u201d\u2019 What do you mean by that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Charlotte Wiseman:<\/strong> So increases in legislations and changing expectations of employees mean that companies are under increasing scrutiny to create equitable, values-led, safe environments for people to work. And what that means is that every decision around flexibility is more than just practically, \u2018Can that person do the job from home?\u2019 or, \u2018Is that going to be easier for them to do from home?\u2019 and, \u2018Is that going to enable them to perform better or to support their wellbeing?\u2019 It\u2019s much more loaded than that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">It\u2019s about, \u2018What will that decision to allow that person to work from home\u2026what will the ripple effect of that\u2026? So will that impact the psychological safety and the cohesion of the team and sense of collaboration? Will that decision impact that person\u2019s future career prospects and opportunities to learn and develop? Will that decision actually be seen as fair for them but also fair for their colleagues?\u2019 So there\u2019s a lot more layers to every decision that need to be considered, and that makes it very much more complex and time-consuming, and there\u2019s never a one-size-fits-all answer, and that\u2019s what\u2019s really causing this difficulty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Robert Shore:<\/strong> Let\u2019s go into then some of those challenges that you\u2019ve begun to outline there. You\u2019ve picked out five key ones, I think. And we begin, in a manner of the times really, with AI. And there\u2019s been a lot of discussion of the pressure created by the rise of AI-enabled grievances, but I think you\u2019ve also discovered there\u2019s been a growth in AI-enabled requests to work flexibly too. What issues does that raise?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Charlotte Wiseman: <\/strong>Well, the real key here is that the challenge for HR teams is that they have a lot more applications to process. And you know, that\u2019s really on a basic level it\u2019s much easier for people to put in an application because AI enables us to do that more quickly. So there\u2019s simply more to process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Now, if those are really reasonable then actually it doesn\u2019t cause much of a problem. They\u2019re usually quite well formulated and they\u2019re quite simple. What becomes more complex is that actually if they are ones where there is really a reasonable request, it\u2019s how do you process back to show that you have given it the time and the opportunity to be considered, but actually to say that you have gone through the process and that application has been rejected? It\u2019s much more of this challenge of making sure that every single application is treated fairly, it\u2019s just adding working, and that those requests, there\u2019s lots of elements, lots of nuances that are having to be pulled out and addressed. So very, very difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">What we are seeing is that really, if a company is seeing that there\u2019s lots of requests they\u2019re having to reject, there is probably something deeper underneath that, a cultural consideration to say, \u2018Well actually, why are so many people not wanting to come into the workplace or not wanting to work in our normal ways? What are those hidden factors going on?\u2019 Because actually, if you\u2019re creating a workplace where people are engaged, motivated, want to be a part of the journey of the success of that business, then those aren\u2019t going to come up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">So I would say that actually if you\u2019re getting an unreasonable number that you are looking at and saying, \u2018This is not reasonable,\u2019 there\u2019s something more to look at.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Robert Shore:<\/strong> Then there\u2019s a new challenge in relation to duty of care because there\u2019s less visibility obviously when people work away from the office more, for instance, or they\u2019re not all there at the same time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Charlotte Wiseman:<\/strong> Yes, absolutely. And it\u2019s about flexible working locations, it\u2019s about flexibility of hours. It comes down to simply if the manager is not seeing staff on a regular basis then it\u2019s harder to see how someone is really doing. So you know, only so much can be read online. And often when people are working from home they\u2019ll have their cameras off. It\u2019s really hard to get a sense of how someone is feeling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">So that\u2019s really the complexity here, is that how managers can say, \u2018Well actually, I need you to come in \u2018cause I want to check you\u2019re okay,\u2019 it gets very difficult. And very often actually what we see is that, you know, you might wake up in the morning and you might not feel like going into the workplace but actually that process of getting you into a new environment can often help people feel better and actually more energised and more optimistic. It has a real benefit for their wellbeing. But that\u2019s not something that you can tell people; it\u2019s something someone has to experience for themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Robert Shore:<\/strong> Yeah. I mean, and so all of this points to the way that possibly line managers need to develop a new skillset from the one that they may have had, and that may have served them very well, in a pre- kind of remote or flexible working environment. And again, we\u2019ll be touching on those new skills as we go further through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">So then another area there pointed to is to do with the different roles and the difficulties then in organisations being able to offer the same kinds of flexibility to staff depending on whether they\u2019re shift workers, those with public-facing roles. There may be more of a challenge there than in relation to office workers, for instance, or people who work on computers most of the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Charlotte Wiseman:<\/strong> Yeah, absolutely. We do a lot of work in hospitality and also in manufacturing and construction, so kind of the three areas, I\u2019d say, that we see that the most in are those three. Because there are very different roles with very different needs. What\u2019s interesting from this is that when we talk to HR teams they\u2019re really worried about that fairness and, \u2018Are people going to complain?\u2019 When we talk to employees, they understand. But there\u2019s this sort of mismatch between HR or people teams being nervous that there is going to be a sense of unfairness, but reality is very often employees are very understanding. They appreciate that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">So it\u2019s very rare. I mean, we have had one occasion where a waiter asked if they could work from home. It\u2019s not possible. But they\u2019re very isolated cases when you get those sorts of requests and actually, on the whole, if companies are doing a good job of communicating the decisions and there\u2019s visibility on that, that honesty means that really it\u2019s not so much of a concern in the minds of employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Robert Shore:<\/strong> Yeah. No, good idea working from home for a waiter. That does sound like a big ask really, doesn\u2019t it? Yeah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">You mentioned at the outset psychological safety. What are the implications there?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Charlotte Wiseman: <\/strong>Well, a really challenging one and we work with so many companies who are multinationals, you know, global organisations where you are asking teams to build connection across interfaces like Teams or Zoom. So it\u2019s not impossible to build psychological safety online but it is harder. And all the research shows that once you\u2019re actually beyond about 25, 30 metres it becomes really hard. So if you\u2019re not physically in the office space it becomes hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Now, there\u2019s many components to why that happens, and actually some of the research in this we don\u2019t even know why. We just know that the brain functions slightly differently when you\u2019re in-person with someone having a conversation compared to when you\u2019re having those conversations online. So it\u2019s quite early stage of research of exploring this, but we know that psychological safety in the sense of trust is more easily built when you\u2019re physically in a room or in an office space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Robert Shore: <\/strong>So to go to a concrete example, it\u2019s that people find it harder then to, as you say, trust or build up that trust with other people. Or actually also when they\u2019re not in the same space that people talk in a different way that actually erodes trust as well?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Charlotte Wiseman:<\/strong> It\u2019s more that it\u2019s harder to build it. Now, naturally if people are not around\u2026again if you\u2019ve got the cultural factors of something going on, then perhaps it might lead to mistrust, but that\u2019s more about the culture of the organisation and less about that physical proximity. Because we\u2019ve got so many companies that we work with where, because there is a really strong culture, people do build psychological safety online and remotely. And actually it\u2019s quite joyous when we have teams and we\u2019ve been working with someone and maybe they\u2019ve never got the opportunity to meet in person, and they meet for the first time but they\u2019ve got these relationships. It\u2019s quite magical to see that actually they have built that safety online. But there are just processes and ways that that needs to be facilitated or can be accelerated if you\u2019re trying to build teams remotely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">And in terms of the way it happens naturally, it\u2019s easier for that natural evolution if you\u2019re physically in the office or physically in one space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Robert Shore:<\/strong> Yes. Another thing about being physically in the same space is obviously sort of what I think is often called \u2018over your shoulder learning\u2019, when people begin jobs in particular. Outline the challenge for us there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Charlotte Wiseman:<\/strong> I think a lot of those of us who have grown up in workplaces or lived in workplaces where we are surrounded by people, we don\u2019t realise how much we\u2019ve learnt from the people around us. It\u2019s really easy to dismiss that learning, as an employee to not realise that you will gain a lot from just overhearing that conversation, but also from a manager to understand that a lot of the education you\u2019re giving through to other people is through your role-modelling of what you\u2019re doing and showing on a day-to-day basis. So it goes both ways of actually understanding the value of that type of learning through ad hoc moments, as I say, just overhearing a conversation or, you know, being able to be standing in a lift with someone and just have a quick conversation. There\u2019s so much there that can be learnt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">And what we\u2019re seeing again in terms of the pressure points we\u2019re seeing in organisations is that there\u2019s a real bank of people at the moment where they\u2019re managers who we need to be stepping into more of a leader role rather than just a basic, \u2018I\u2019m managing a project,\u2019 to be a people leader, and they\u2019ve not been in environments to give them that skillset. They\u2019re technical experts but they need to step up. Accelerating that process of development is a huge piece of the work we\u2019re doing at the moment of, \u2018How do you help them to understand and take on that role for that progression?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">And again, you know, the early signs are that the development of AI is going to mean actually that there\u2019s more people need to be accelerated to those higher levels of the organisation and there\u2019ll be less space for some of the administrative tasks, which means we need to start moving people along that journey quicker. And that is without formal training; a lot of that happens in the day-to-day moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">We\u2019re also seeing, again we\u2019re seeing that a lot of companies are struggling to make time for the formal learning. So there\u2019s an increased pressure on on-the-job learning and the in-the-moment learning, and if that\u2019s not happening and you\u2019ve got no time for the formal learning, you\u2019ve just got a team who are under-skilled for the roles and the tasks at hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Robert Shore: <\/strong>Right. So we\u2019ve outlined some of the challenges here, and in a moment we\u2019re going to turn to some of the tips in order to be able to achieve best practice. Before we do that, I suppose we should sketch in some of the obvious benefits of flexible working. We\u2019ve been talking about the sort of ways in which it creates challenges and things that need to be re-thought. What are the benefits?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Charlotte Wiseman: <\/strong>Well there are a huge number of benefits that are\u2026you know, there are statistics that you can look up and it shows that actually if we\u2019ve got this flexibility we\u2019ve got more of a sense of autonomy to do the work in a way that works well for us. So we can increase our focus, increase productivity. So there\u2019s a huge amount of research that is publicly available on that side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">What we see in our work \u2013 if I can add something that\u2019s, you know, not just publicly available, from our experience working with organisation \u2013 is that absolutely that is true. People find that if they can format their work and work in a way that works for them, they are more productive. They\u2019re more focused, they\u2019re more engaged, they\u2019re more motivated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">What the research often doesn\u2019t talk about is the power of really tapping into what we call the \u2018cognitive scaffold\u2019, and that is that our brains take the physical triggers of what\u2019s around us as a sign to think in a certain way, to behave in a certain way. So actually, by helping people to use different locations for different tasks, it helps the brain to function in those locations more effectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">So very often people say, \u2018Well I\u2019ll do this task at the office,\u2019 or, \u2018I\u2019ll do this task at home,\u2019 and by doing that it makes it easier for the brain to do that task because it\u2019s kind of compartmentalised it as, \u2018That\u2019s the space I do it.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">So it\u2019s more than just, \u2018Oh, I prefer to focus \u2018cause I haven\u2019t got someone interrupting me.\u2019 There\u2019s another level that\u2019s going on there that people aren\u2019t aware, that really we can use spaces much more wisely to accelerate the performance and the function of the brain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">The other element that we find is when you\u2019ve got global teams, offering more flexibility around hours, around locations make it easier for people to have early calls or late calls and connect with people globally, and that\u2019s a really important point. So for teams where they are working across time zones and across geographies, the flexible working of hours, location, whatever that looks like does enable teams to function more effectively across time zones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">And the third area that we\u2019re seeing increasing conversation around, let\u2019s say, is the inclusivity. So if we put our carers and in caring position, we\u2019re able to retain some of that talent who may be otherwise, if someone was going into a parental role, might have left the workplace because it just wasn\u2019t feasible. Flexible working is actually retaining some of that talent. And it\u2019s not just for parents; it\u2019s for people who maybe are caring for elderly loved ones. So some people who again maybe would have had to retire early to care for an elderly loved one, you can sometimes retain some of that top talent at the top, which is again just another important element of enabling people to work for longer periods of time and to stay in an employment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Robert Shore:<\/strong> So we want to offer some tips at this point as to what best practice looks like now. Obviously you work with the organisations that are experimenting with new approaches to flexibility across different sectors. I think we\u2019re going to have six, aren\u2019t we, six tips? So what have you found to be working, and in what environments are they succeeding?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Charlotte Wiseman:<\/strong> One of the ones that\u2019s been really, really fundamental and quite simple is actually starting expectations and setting expectations with employees very early, at recruitment. And this first came up, we did a hospitality round table on a quarterly basis and this first came up there, where one organisation shared that they had actually started introducing flexibility statements. So into the recruitment process it was adding and talking about, \u2018The nature of this work means that these are flexibilities we will not be able to offer you. But these are the ones we can offer you,\u2019 and actually sort of map it out of, like, pros and cons. And that\u2019s worked very effectively for some firms. It\u2019s not always welcomed by some applicants but the companies who have implemented it, on the whole they\u2019ve found that really, really useful. So it\u2019s just very transparent from the beginning about what would be or what wouldn\u2019t be possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Robert Shore: <\/strong>Okay, so that\u2019s tip one. What have we got next?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Charlotte Wiseman: <\/strong>Next one you\u2019ve already touched on, and that is about managers\u2019 capability to have conversations around flexibility. Really again it\u2019s a lot more of the fear managers have of having that conversation that is the biggest blocker. There are tools, there are resources, there are conversation frameworks, and that\u2019s great that managers have those and a lot of companies will give those to managers. Very few look at, \u2018But do you actually have the confidence to apply that and are you understanding how you apply that?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">So something that we\u2019ve seen is that, you know, I guess what we do differently about our workshops and our training around having confident conversations is we bring in actors to do role-plays because even a manager can sit there, look at a framework and go, \u2018Oh yeah, I\u2019d have that conversation,\u2019 and then you stick them in front of an actor who\u2019s just a little bit awkward to work with, and you realise it\u2019s not that easy in practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">So it\u2019s really about giving managers frameworks, conversations, toolkits, helping them understand that this is what you can do to have a conversation, and also understand that sometimes they won\u2019t have the solution to the problem, so making sure that they know how to work with HR and what the process is. You\u2019re not going to make them a policymaker overnight but what you\u2019re going to be able to do is help them to have confident conversations where they\u2019re adhering to company guidelines and to company values, but also making sure that that person feels heard and recognised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Robert Shore: <\/strong>Great. What is a third tip then?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Charlotte Wiseman:<\/strong> The third tip again we\u2019ve already slightly touched on, is about the communication of fairness. So it\u2019s about communication of fairness and not sameness we\u2019re looking at here. So this is all about making sure that the decisions, the processes, how you\u2019re going about those decisions is really clear and transparent. Again, most companies see that if they can do that there\u2019s no concern in employees. But you do need to make sure you\u2019re upfront-ing it rather than worrying that people won\u2019t think it\u2019s fair so hiding stuff, \u2018cause that really does erode trust quickly.<br>Robert Shore: Right. Number four.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Charlotte Wiseman:<\/strong> Number four I\u2019m going to say is a little bit more difficult. This is about addressing unconscious bias in decision-making. If you\u2019ve grown up, if you\u2019ve lived and you\u2019ve worked in a way that you think people should work because it\u2019s worked for you and it\u2019s worked for the workplace to date, it\u2019s very easy to assume that everybody should always work like that and that\u2019s just the way it should be. And I have to say, I found myself falling into this trap very quickly when I started to take on some younger team members, and I had to really, really challenge my own biases around just because I did that or that worked for me, that wasn\u2019t going to work for everyone.<br>So we all have unconscious biases, and helping people to understand that there\u2019s nothing wrong with you; you just need to be aware of your biases so you can hold yourself accountable. I think often when we\u2019re trying to address unconscious bias in the workplace, the difficulty is it\u2019s positioned as, \u2018You\u2019ve got a bias; you\u2019re a bad person.\u2019 The reality is, we\u2019ve all got biases. You know, we just have to accept that, know them, and hold ourselves accountable to not fall into patterns that make those biases realities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Robert Shore: <\/strong>That\u2019s a very encouraging way of framing that whole issue as well. So have you now adopted a different attitude towards requests for different modes of working and flexibility?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Charlotte Wiseman:<\/strong> Absolutely. The way we do it that \u2013 and actually it\u2019s one of my other tips \u2013 is actually introduce flexibility pilots. So say, \u2018Okay, well we\u2019ll try it for a period of time and let\u2019s see how that goes, let\u2019s see the implications.\u2019 Because if you go in with the basis that actually people do want to do their best work, imagine the best intentions, give people the opportunity to show it does work, and people will want to prove you right. So very, very powerful for us that we\u2019ve allowed that flexibility. We\u2019ve seen it\u2019s not impacted productivity in any way so actually, let\u2019s go and we\u2019ve got a blueprint for what works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Robert Shore:<\/strong> Okay. That was a fairly perfect segue there, Charlotte, into what was your fifth tip. And so let\u2019s have the sixth and final one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Charlotte Wiseman: <\/strong>The final part is really about considering how do you integrate some kind of wellbeing check-ins into the workflow. And again there\u2019s no sort of set way of doing this. It can be as simple as just having anchor days when everyone is required to come into the workplace so that everybody\u2019s there at one point. And that means that you can start to just build that sense of psychological safety but you\u2019ve also got that wellbeing check-in from a visibility perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">But there\u2019s lots of other ways that you can do that through digital technologies. AI is offering even more opportunities for this that I won\u2019t go into at this moment, but it\u2019s just making sure that there are those touchpoints, and again that managers know how to have those conversations and know what resources are available, and that everyone in the organisation knows what resources are available, knows how to look after their mental health and their wellbeing, and takes ownership for that. It\u2019s about everybody understanding that they are responsible for their own wellbeing and supporting them to look after that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Robert Shore:<\/strong> Wonderful. Well thank you, Charlotte. That\u2019s been a really exhilarating tour of both the challenges presented by the rise of flexible working, and also the advantages, and then some great tips for people to take away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">As I mentioned earlier, I\u2019m putting a link in the show notes to this to Charlotte\u2019s piece that she wrote recently for the Brightmine website and to some other resources that Brightmine has. Beyond that, I will just say until next time.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"speakers\">Guest speaker<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-6c531013 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-resized is-style-rounded\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.brightmine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/01\/13144636\/speaker-avatar.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-14506\" style=\"object-fit:cover;width:100px;height:100px\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\"><strong>Charlotte Wiseman<\/strong><br>CEO and Founder, Step Inside Group<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column lnrs-hide-block-on-mobile is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"border-left-color:var(--wp--preset--color--secondary-gray);border-left-width:2px;padding-left:10px;flex-basis:30%\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained wp-container-3 is-position-sticky\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-secondary-gray-background-color has-background has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-db4c44a6 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"border-radius:14px;padding-top:10px;padding-right:10px;padding-bottom:10px;padding-left:10px\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-vertical is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-4b827052 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<p style=\"margin-bottom:5px;font-style:normal;font-weight:400\" class=\"\">In this resource:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-primary-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-459ffb2a7b3dc338c93226d3be8270c8\" style=\"margin-top:5px;margin-bottom:5px;font-size:clamp(14px, 0.875rem + ((1vw - 3.2px) * 0.274), 16px);line-height:1.3\"><a href=\"#listen\">Listen now<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-primary-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-53b045a32da828cda288ce2a72946a2d\" style=\"margin-top:5px;margin-bottom:5px;font-size:clamp(14px, 0.875rem + ((1vw - 3.2px) * 0.274), 16px);line-height:1.3\"><a href=\"#transcript\">Transcript<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-primary-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-71518ad09f03d83428d3713a9cbb6f21\" style=\"margin-top:5px;margin-bottom:5px;font-size:clamp(14px, 0.875rem + ((1vw - 3.2px) * 0.274), 16px);line-height:1.3\"><a href=\"#speakers\">Speakers<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-bleach-white-background-color has-background has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-a36fa716 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"border-radius:14px;padding-top:10px;padding-right:15px;padding-bottom:15px;padding-left:15px\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Navigate HR complexity with confidence<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">With Brightmine, you can build powerful people strategies, implement best practices and set your organisation up for a brighter future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Learn how our tools, resources and automation can empower you and your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"\/uk\/solutions\/?intcmp=cta|blog|solutions|learn-more\" style=\"border-radius:25px\">Learn more<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group lnrs-hide-block-on-mobile has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-ad1af2a0 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0\">\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-secondary-gray-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-secondary-gray-background-color has-background\" style=\"margin-top:10px;margin-bottom:10px\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Listen to more episodes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-query is-layout-flow wp-block-query-is-layout-flow\"><ul class=\"wp-block-post-template is-layout-flow wp-container-core-post-template-is-layout-ea1fff98 wp-block-post-template-is-layout-flow\"><li class=\"wp-block-post post-19873 resources type-resources status-publish has-post-thumbnail hentry category-podcasts topic-flexible-working\">\n<h2 style=\"font-size:clamp(14px, 0.875rem + ((1vw - 3.2px) * 0.274), 16px);line-height:1.3;text-decoration:underline; margin-top:10px;margin-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;\" class=\"wp-block-post-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.brightmine.com\/uk\/resources\/hr-strategy\/flexible-working\/flexible-working-tips-to-achieve-best-practice-now\/\" target=\"_self\" >Flexible working \u2013 tips to achieve best practice now<\/a><\/h2>\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-18142 resources type-resources status-publish has-post-thumbnail hentry category-podcasts tag-employment-rights-act topic-employee-relations topic-hr-compliance\">\n<h2 style=\"font-size:clamp(14px, 0.875rem + ((1vw - 3.2px) * 0.274), 16px);line-height:1.3;text-decoration:underline; margin-top:10px;margin-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;\" class=\"wp-block-post-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.brightmine.com\/uk\/resources\/hr-compliance\/trade-union-reforms-reshaping-industrial-relations\/\" target=\"_self\" >The trade union reforms reshaping industrial relations<\/a><\/h2>\n<\/li><li class=\"wp-block-post post-17224 resources type-resources status-publish has-post-thumbnail hentry category-podcasts topic-bullying-harassment\">\n<h2 style=\"font-size:clamp(14px, 0.875rem + ((1vw - 3.2px) * 0.274), 16px);line-height:1.3;text-decoration:underline; margin-top:10px;margin-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;\" class=\"wp-block-post-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.brightmine.com\/uk\/resources\/hr-compliance\/bullying-harassment\/2025-workplace-harassment-law-changes\/\" target=\"_self\" >Employment Rights Act 2025 harassment changes &#8211; a fresh perspective from the high seas<\/a><\/h2>\n<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40)\">\n<p class=\"\"><a href=\"#top\">Go back to the top<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-primary-white-background-color has-background has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-4b7a3f7f wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"border-radius:25px;margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30)\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">You may also be interested in&#8230;<\/h2>\n\n\n<section id=\"resources-search-filter\" class=\"wp-elements-67e3802f38b8bd959621e5450d674732 wp-block-brightmine-resources-filter has-text-color has-primary-gray-color has-background has-primary-white-background-color\">\n\n\n<div class=\"ajax-filter\">\n<div class=\"lnrs-resources-search-filter  editor-posts-filtered-topics \">\n\t\t<div class=\"search_terms_bottom\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"bottom_left\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"search_terms_result_count\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"bottom_right\">\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t<div class=\"loader-container\">\n\t\t<span class=\"loader\" style=\"display: none;\"><\/span>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\n\t<div class=\"lnrs-resource-filter-widget__container\">\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"lnrs-resource-hub-widget__resource\" style=\"background-color: #f3f2f0\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.brightmine.com\/uk\/resources\/hr-strategy\/flexible-working\/flexible-working-tips-to-achieve-best-practice-now\/\"><div class=\"lnrs-resource-hub-widget__resource_image\" style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/cdn.brightmine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/20141828\/woman-working-from-home-on-laptop-and-phone.webp);\"><\/div><\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"lnrs-resource-hub-widget__inner_content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"content-top\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"lnrs-resource-hub-widget__categories\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"lnrs-resource-hub-widget__category\">Podcasts<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"title\" style=\"color: #00728B\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.brightmine.com\/uk\/resources\/hr-strategy\/flexible-working\/flexible-working-tips-to-achieve-best-practice-now\/\">Flexible working \u2013 tips to achieve best practice now<\/a><\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<p style=\"color: #202526\">Gain expert flexible working advice from Charlotte Wiseman, covering workplace culture, policy development, and the future of work.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"lnrs-resource-hub-widget__resource\" style=\"background-color: #f3f2f0\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.brightmine.com\/uk\/resources\/hr-strategy\/flexible-working\/letter-rescheduling-flexible-working-request-appeal-meeting\/\"><div class=\"lnrs-resource-hub-widget__resource_image\" style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/cdn.brightmine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/02101655\/professionals-talking-in-meeting-room.webp);\"><\/div><\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"lnrs-resource-hub-widget__inner_content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"content-top\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"lnrs-resource-hub-widget__categories\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"lnrs-resource-hub-widget__category\">Tools &amp; templates<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"title\" style=\"color: #00728B\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.brightmine.com\/uk\/resources\/hr-strategy\/flexible-working\/letter-rescheduling-flexible-working-request-appeal-meeting\/\">Letter rescheduling flexible working request appeal meeting<\/a><\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<p style=\"color: #202526\">Where a flexible working request appeal meeting needs to be rearranged, employers should communicate the change clearly and &#8230;<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"lnrs-resource-hub-widget__resource\" style=\"background-color: #f3f2f0\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.brightmine.com\/uk\/resources\/hr-strategy\/flexible-working\/form-for-flexible-working-request\/\"><div class=\"lnrs-resource-hub-widget__resource_image\" style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/cdn.brightmine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/08\/22080115\/person-writing-notes-while-standing-at-desk-in-office.webp);\"><\/div><\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"lnrs-resource-hub-widget__inner_content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"content-top\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"lnrs-resource-hub-widget__categories\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"lnrs-resource-hub-widget__category\">Tools &amp; templates<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"title\" style=\"color: #00728B\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.brightmine.com\/uk\/resources\/hr-strategy\/flexible-working\/form-for-flexible-working-request\/\">Form for employee to submit flexible working request<\/a><\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<p style=\"color: #202526\">A formal flexible working request process helps ensure requests are handled consistently, fairly and in line with statutory &#8230;<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n<\/div>\n<\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gain expert flexible working advice from Charlotte Wiseman, covering workplace culture, policy development, and the future of work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":14777,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"podcast-episode","categories":[19],"tags":[],"topic":[32],"class_list":["post-19873","resources","type-resources","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-podcasts","topic-flexible-working"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.8 (Yoast SEO v27.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Flexible working \u2013 tips to achieve best practice now | Brightmine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Charlotte Wiseman joins the Brightmine Podcast to share practical tips for achieving flexible working best practice amid evolving workplace expectations.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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