Do you care how companies you buy from treat their staff in terms of Family Friendliness? (need to know in next hour or so!)

[carriemumsnet]

It's the first ever Mumsnet Family Friendly Awards tonight and one of the questions being put to the panel we're on is "Do mums care about how brands treat their staff internally?" My hunch is that Mumsnetters do - and given the option to buy from a company that has good flexible working policies/ attitudes to staff with families and one that doesn't - you'd choose the former. But would be great to hear from you if that resonates with you, how important it is to you etc.

Of course have left this rather last minute so be great to get answers asap!

Big thanks

Carrie

Yes - very much.

I think that we would do, if we knew. I can honestly say, of the last 20 shops I've been in and the last 20 brands I've bought, I have NO idea of whether those brands/firms are flexible in their approach to mums and dads.....Would it change how I purchased? Not sure, in all honesty.

My basic premise is that firms should be flexible in their approach to hiring, as then they get the best pick of more people. That then might result in more sales or less costs, but I don't think there is a direct correlation between 'good practice' companies and feet through the door.

Yes, definitely. I feel much more warmly towards a company that treats employees well in general and family friendliness is one aspect of this. If I'm supporting a company by buying their products I want it to have values I share.

Orange won awards for family friendliness (and someone in my family used to work there so I knew it was true) and I stuck with them for years even though there was no signal in my village .

However, I recognise that this is a luxury position to be in, as most of the time price is going to override it, and also, as Screechyhead said, most of the time I have no idea!

Can't say it's really something I've thought about. Not sure how I, as a consumer, would know if a company was 'family friendly' or not!

BTW, Carrie, you'd better get your name capitalized correctly before Chaos comes down on your head.

Oh No re name... will try and work on it when not trying to dash out the door!

thanks so much to those who've responded so far - loving the faithfulness to Orange despite it not working for you ElderberrySyrup :)

Keep thoughts coming and thanks again

it wasn't just because they were family friendly. It was also because their adverts were funny.

If there were 2 companies offering the same then yes if i knew it would sway my decision, but i wouldn't necessarily boycot a company for not being family friendly (unless they had done something stupidly drastic like sack all parents!). It's not something I've ever really thought about tbf

It would sway my overall preference e.g. less keen on Tesco after reading how they persuaded their temp staff to turn down an offer that would have made them better off (can't remember the details and posting in a hurry). Whereas Waitrose's employees are company members and are generally treated well. BUT as said, it is very price dependant and currently I only shop where I can afford.

If I have the luxury of choosing then, yes, it would sway me, but there would need to be publicity for me to know about it in the first place.