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Flexible first

Fit work around your world

You want to make a difference. But you also want to live a balanced life, with time for the other things that matter to you. Family responsibilities. Health and wellbeing. Studies or training. Your personal goals.

When you join SSE, you’ll benefit from Flexible First – a set of principles that offers you flexibility while making sure we work brilliantly as a team.

If you work in our offices, this could mean splitting your time between home and office. If you’re one of our frontline team, it might mean finding ways to flex your working week.

To get it right for you, your team, and our business, we’ll be creative and open-minded. So, together, we'll find a balance that works for everyone.

What flexible first involves

The following core principles set out HOW we work under Flexible First:

Productivity and performance

We agree clear performance objectives and focus on output, not presence.

Culture

We create an environment which promotes trust and inclusion, and which enables people to get the job done in the best way for them.

Team work and collaboration

We use our time together in the office to focus on team working, coaching and mentoring team members and knowledge exchange.

Meetings

We value everyone’s contribution equally by holding meetings where we aim to participate in the same way, - either virtually or in person - and give consideration to when people are available. We use “focus hours” where internal meetings are limited to specific times of day.

Enabling choice

We work where we are most productive, based on what we need to achieve and what works best for our business, our colleagues, our customers and ourselves.

Giving our new joiners the best experience

We recognise that our newest team members will need more face to face time with managers and colleagues.

Wellbeing

We continue to make health and wellbeing a priority, take care of ourselves and each other and ensure we have a good work/life balance.

What our people say about flexible working

The real power of Flexible First is that it can be tailored to meet your lifestyle. Here are some of our people talking about how Flexible First works for them.

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"Working full time, being a mother, looking after my own elderly mother who lives with me and managing my home is a juggling act!

I log in earlier, work for half an hour, do the morning school run then return to continue with my normal working hours. This has been a life saver as it means I don’t have to pay out for both the kids on travel to school as they are at the other end of town, and I also know they are safer by not having to use public transport. Working from home also means that my elderly mother isn’t at home alone every day in the week.

During the month of Ramadan, I usually book in half days and to celebrate Eid I have last minute holiday booking as we don’t know when Eid may be until a day before and my team are very good with accommodating this. Just like when it is Christmas, I happily work the full shifts to allow my counterparts to take annual leave."

Shuba - Smart Meter Lifecycle Analyst

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"Flexible working is really important for me as I am a single parent and share custody of my daughter with her father so I have her half the week.

Having the option of flexible working means that I am able to be at home on the days when I need to put my daughter out to school and am there when she comes home. It also means that if there are any emergencies at school or if she has any appointments to go to then I’m able to work around them and still get a full day’s work done.

Flexible First is definitely a great benefit to have."

Lorraine - Community Relationship Officer