Why I think flexible work is better for everyone
Being a hater of routine, workplace flexibility has always been something I pined for. What that used to mean in my early career, working in big fairly traditional organisations, is that once per week I could switch my drive to the office, for a nip on the tube into Soho where I would work from our ad agency office for the day. This meant a lot to me at the time.
Now flexible work patterns are being adopted to different extents much more widely and I’m lucky enough to have had the chance to help build a company from scratch with a focus on trust in our people.
I want to share what flexible working means to me now — and encourage others to be creative with work patterns whatever your circumstance.
Never have I experimented with work flexibility more than I have these past 6 months, returning to work after taking 10 months off with my firstborn, Chiara. I have a leadership role in a very ambitious tech scale-up (we grew from a team of 10 when I joined, to 270 employees, over 12 million users and 4 countries, nearly 5 years later). Let’s be real — it hasn’t been easy coming back and throwing myself back into it, whilst still breastfeeding, dealing with the night-wakings, and adapting to the new world of parenting.
But my goodness, am I appreciative of my boss and my wonderful colleagues who have made it both manageable and enjoyable.
Here’s what I put it down to:
A new challenge — ‘leaning in’ doesn’t need to go on pause
It may seem counter-intuitive, but for me coming back to a new role and challenge was a really big part of what’s made it work so well for me. I know that I’m a person who loves change and challenge, I should start by caveating that this would not be right for everyone coming back from parental leave! But what I do think is pretty common, from my chats around the topic, is that taking an extended break provokes revaluation and reflection on what you care about. I was able to have this conversation with my boss when he came to my place to meet my little one when I was on leave, and we discussed the possibility of a move out of my position in marketing. I got such openness and support as we discussed the options, and I had that first day of school excitement when I went back and got chance to get stuck in and learn a new aspect of business.
Doing something that matters
When I stood up in my first company meeting after maternity leave, I talked about how I’m leaving my precious new family member at home in the morning, and so it’s even more important than ever that I believe what I’m doing is worthwhile. I know other people who’ve never gone back to their careers because they couldn’t bring themselves to prioritise a job they could no longer connect with. In my role as Chief People Officer for a company whose mission is to bring better financial wellbeing to millions around the world, I know what I’m doing each day is impacting the brilliant people we have working at ClearScore, and having a wider impact on society, which is motivating and energising.
A creative schedule — and the prerogative to change my mind
I came back to a role that I figured out was going to work best for me full-time — basically all the ideas and ambition I had for the role were going to be hard to squeeze into a part-time pattern, at least at the beginning. But I also knew that I wanted to spend at least one day of the week one-on-one with my daughter to take her to the various baby activities, and that I wanted to have a good chunk of time with her each afternoon.
It was important for me that I could choose how to tackle this — either to work 4 days a week (which I chose for the first month) or to create an alternative work pattern. After experimenting for a few weeks, I opted for the second option and set myself up so I could be at home with my daughter from 4pm each day, for playtime, bath and bed, as well as all day on a Friday. That Friday with her honestly means the world to me.
To make it work I start each day at 7.30–8am in the office, and I usually work a few hours in the evening after Chiara goes to bed, and on a Saturday morning/Sunday night. When that doesn’t work for me or if there’s a particular event I need to go to, I change it around, but overall I love this pattern. The couple of hours in the evening let me do focussed work, and the time in the office Monday- Thursday I can concentrate on key meetings and face-time with my team. It maximises my time with Chiara whilst meaning I can do a job I love.
There are some happy side effects that mean I’ll probably never return to my previous work pattern. I get to have some more ‘daytime’ when the darker evenings draw in, which is a mood-booster for me. I get designated focus time each day, free from interruptions. I have a three hour break in the middle of my workday and get absorbed in something completely different, which energises my mind.
A CEO & colleagues who support me unwaveringly
The thing I’m most grateful for, and wish for everyone returning from parental leave, is the genuine support of my colleagues. I’ll often answer the phone when something comes up whilst I’m at home, and no one bats an eyelid if they hear some babbling in the background and I get distracted. Or if I say ‘is this urgent, cos I’m at the swings’ as I said to our CFO last week! Likewise, my boss has never ever put any pressure on me — to decide how long I’m going to take for maternity leave, to fix my work pattern, to be in the office at a particular time.
He even flexes to my work pattern, happy to have discussions in the evenings when I’m working. When I’ve reached exhaustion points (and I have, I don’t want to pretend this is all rainbows) he continually challenges my thinking to look beyond norms of working, and experiment with different approaches, appreciating that it’s not straightforward. Knowing this gives me confidence that as my daughter grows up, and I may want to adapt my work patterns again, I can count on his support.
Having got more creative with work patterns, I encourage others to do the same, whether or not you’re a mum or carer. In the case of dads, I read an interesting study recently which showed that women are held back in some professions because of the flexibility afforded to them and not to their male counterparts, who would desperately like to spend more time at home as well. It’s a fascinating finding. It made me reflect on how much my partner being able to work flexibly too has been a crucial part of the puzzle.
Ultimately, my view is that flexibility makes work more effective and satisfying for everyone — parents or not — and I encourage more people to experiment. For me there’s nothing more motivating.
