Talent consultancy Beam launches flexible work platform Beamible
Australian human capital consultancy and talent marketplace Beam has launched a flexible work platform.
As the World Health Organisation (WHO) highlights that longer working hours are increasing the number of deaths from heart disease and strokes, one Australian flexible work consultancy is aiming to help companies change their approach.
Beam Australia, a company which on one hand connects companies and employees in a flexible work marketplace, and on the other consults Australian organisations on designing jobs in a new way, has launched a new cloud-based, data-driven platform which aims to create more inclusive workforces and tackle the fast-growing issue of employee burnout.
The platform, Beamible, comes hot on the heels of WHO’s warning that longer working hours are estimated to have caused 745,000 deaths from stroke and ischemic heart disease in 2016, a rise of nearly 30 per cent since 2000.
“We hosted a roundtable with nearly 40 companies and government agencies, including BHP, Xero, Dan Murphy’s, Services Australia and Woolworths, in March and there is a real impetus to reshape the way we work. This is about a new era of flexible working and recognising the real business risks that exist around failing to develop inclusion, company connection and leadership capability,” said Beam Co-Founder and Co-CEO Victoria Stuart.
The company says it’s a ‘bottom-up, people-led’ platform that has already been successfully trialled by the likes of NRMA, Metcash, General Mills and The TOM Co.
According to Beam, the platform addresses staff burnout through data, creating visibility over teams and workloads, creating pathways to redistribute those workloads, cut down on unnecessary meetings and focus more on outcome-based working. Whereas well-established project management tools look at tasks individually, Beamible takes whole roles and organisation into account.
NRMA says the platform has not just helped to make working more flexible, but in developing a gender-balanced workforce. “Beamible is a tangible way for us to take action on developing a gender-balanced workforce and mainstreaming flexible work,” says NRMA Senior Manager Organisational Culture Louise Wright.
“WGEA [Workplace Gender Equality Agency] was particularly interested in this, and specifically that it supports flexible role design for senior roles. We're committed to making real progress on flexible work, gender diversity and productivity in a hybrid-working workforce.”
Beam Co-Founder and Co-CEO Stephanie Reuss adds that while flexible work has become a “default promise” on job applications, the myth that all roles need to be 40 hours, or many more, per week is alive and well. “We’re paving the way for companies that want to flex but struggle to get there with a focus on outcomes.”
“Research categorically shows that failure to recognise part-time work keeps some of the best talent out of the market, and in the vast majority of cases, the best women. Beamible supports team-based role design for organisations wanting to give autonomy to their people, while ensuring the work is focused on the right priorities, in the right place at the right time.”
With the platform, Beam aims to build on the $25 million in incremental jobs it has already created through its consulting and marketplace business, with female ‘Beamers’ making up 87 per cent of that contribution.
