Implementing family-friendly policies is a business, economic and social strategy with a multi purpose, creating a win-win situation for achieving both organisational effectiveness and worker well-being. Some measures may be cumbersome for the employer in the short-term to implement but a workplace adopting family-friendly policies will not only make a big difference for its workers, but also positively affect the bottom line of the business operation. Such measures have been proved successful in various companies in most countries within the European Union.

Public service employees have earned these measures over a span of time through hard work and negotiations between the Union Haddiema Maghqudin and successive administrations. The present government has now taken the leading role and extended these initiatives to all public entities, corporations and agencies, a move most welcomed and applauded by the UHM.

Family-friendly policies are not designed to address females participating in the labour market but they are and should continue to be designed for all workers irrespective of gender. Flexible working hours, reduced working hours, the banking of hours, parental leave, national insurance contribution credits, part-time work, tele-working and responsibility leave are only a small portion of the many initiatives that can be employed to strike a balance between work and family responsibilities. These are the new trends we need to learn to adopt to make work pay more.

Some of the most important benefits that employers can derive from family-friendly policies are:

• Enhance the capacity to attract a broader range of candidates and retain high-quality employees, both men and women, in a competitive job market;

• Reduce staff turnover, which can lower the costs of recruitment, induction and training associated with the replacement of leavers;

• Reduce absenteeism and late arrivals;

• Enhance performance and motivation among employees and improve productivity;

• Create and maintain a competitive edge in innovation, contributing towards improved competitiveness.

Developing work and family arrangements is about agreement making, tailor-made to the needs of both the business concern and the workers - an open dialogue between management and the trade union on behalf of the workers.

Adopting family-friendly policies takes more than having a set of practices recorded in the organisation's rules and procedures manual. A commitment to these practices and a work culture supporting the values of work-life balance and encouraging the use of the practices is critical when successfully putting family-friendly policies into practice. Ongoing communication and worker participation in the design of such policies are essential for making such policies efficient in practice.

Each workplace is unique in terms of needs. The challenge when successfully implementing family-friendly practices is to meet both the needs of the enterprise and those of the workers. A "needs" assessment is essential as a starting point for designing policies and practices derived from the need picture of the workplace and to target them to the varied requirements of the employees.

Although some family-friendly measures are not expensive, others may involve some costs. When undertaking the cost-benefit analysis of family-friendly initiatives, an immediate short-term focus on the cost must be carefully weighed and balanced against longer-term benefits for the business. Adopting a longer term approach and perspective is essential because not all family-friendly practices can be expected to produce immediate benefits.

Putting family-friendly policies into practice should be seen as an ongoing and evolving process. Evaluation and review of the content of policies or practices become important because the needs of both the enterprise and the workers shift as the external business environment constantly change and will have to be taken into consideration.

Family-friendly work arrangements can improve the potential for equality of opportunity between men and women by reducing the interruption of careers, most often those of women, due to caring responsibilities. They can also help men achieve a more active involvement in family life and facilitate a more equal sharing of caring responsibilities between women and men. Thus, family-friendly arrangements are not just for women.

When designing family-friendly policies, it is important to have a comprehensive view of the "family" extending beyond childcare responsibilities for women, to include others dependent upon any staff member, male or female, for care and support, such as an elder or disabled dependant.

Change has always been the cornerstone for higher productivity levels, which in return will further attract leading business organisations to invest in these small islands, creating new job opportunities, wealth and prosperity to all and sundry.

Aiding workers to retain their job or move into work is also our responsibility, while wages/salaries remain an important feature, conditions of work are fast climbing the value added ladder to retain and engage the best workers available. The UHM will endeavour to push forward these family-friendly policies to the private business sector as well. We are certain it pays...

Mr Vella is secretary general of the UHM.