Adjust the Balance

Promoting sustainable growth and prosperity for all

Adjust the Balance (AtB) is a West Midlands based DevelopmentPartnership, (DP) which has obtained over £6.3m funding from EqualESF to focus on raising the adaptability of business and people.The work of the DP contributes to the Government?s aim to encourageemployers to adopt inclusive and supportive working practices whichbenefit both their businesses and their employees.

The DP aspires to develop a regional Work Life Balance strategyas part of a regional strategy for Corporate Social Responsibility,thus highlighting the West Midlands as an attractive region inwhich to invest, work and live.

The DP develops and pilots innovative approaches to policy areassuch as improving employment rates, ?Welfare to Work?, raising thelevels of skills in the workplace, improving business performance,as well as tackling Social Exclusion. This is done throughresearch, engaging with employers and ensuring qualifications andstandards in this sphere are relevant to current and futureneeds.

AtB investigates and works within a broad agenda for Work LifeBalance, and includes the older worker project ?Grey Matters?.

The Grey Matters project is designed to examine the use offlexible working practices in managing the retention of olderworkers, and to understand how the recruitment process can supportthe employment of older workers.

The project is a partnership between Warwickshire CountyCouncil, Coventry City Council and Coventry Building Society. Theproject will include activities that help:

• Gain a better understanding of Age demographics in the workplace.
• Gain an improved understanding of the skills gaps in the workplace.
• Understand the skills of older workers.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of current work life balancepolicies for older workers.
• Consider a number of flexible work life balance options,including a more creative approach to retirement and longer leaveopportunities.
• Identify how the use of IT can better support home- andflexible working.
• Develop a new protocol around work life balance and olderworkers and a new recruitment strategy.
• Target managers, Human Resources officers, regional employersand policy makers.

In order to showcase this and other DP projects, the DP ishosting an event at International Convention Centre, Birmingham on11th December 2006, ?Social Footprints: www.apricot-events.com/csr.htm The AtB Symposium onCorporate Social Responsibility?.

Employers of all sizes and sectors are invited to attend theevent during which they will be able to:

• Access information, advice and support on Work Life Balance andCorporate Social Responsibility.
• Learn about the business benefits of adopting good practice inWork Life Balance and Corporate Social Responsibility.
• Take up the opportunity to put questions to key leaders in thefield of Work Life Balance and Corporate SocialResponsibility.

The main aims of this event are to:

• Raise the awareness with policy makers of the need to includeWork Life Balance strategy as part of a strategy for CorporateSocial Responsibility promoting economic and socialprosperity.
• Raise awareness amongst the employer community of the businessbenefits of CSR, and that CSR is for everyone, regardless of sizeor sector.
• Further the debate on the importance of ?Social Reporting?where companies in the region report on how their activities impacton human capital, as well as environmental and economicreporting.
• Showcase regional good practice and the work of The Adjust theBalance Development Partnership.