This is the second year that ProfessionalMums.net and Women’s Agenda have researched and published the Part-Time Power List, a list of people that work in leadership positions at large organisations in a flexible or part-time role (check out the 2014 list here).
We do the research because we think it’s important to break down stereotypes around working part-time or flexibly—namely that flexibility and career progression cannot go hand-in-hand.
The star of the list this year was the sheer diversity in the way that people are working. There was no dominant style but rather everything from a flexible full-time role to compressed hours, job-sharing and traditional part-time. On this evidence it would seem that there is more opportunity than ever for people to create the types of role that work best with their life.
However every one on the list that we spoke with said that there was still some way to go.
“Business leaders have a role to play in breaking through the fear and scepticism of job-share arrangements within organisational culture and in communicating that performance should be measured on output rather than presence in the office,” says Michelle Reid, the marketing and communications director of the Adelaide Festival of Arts. Reid job shares her role and would like to see more organisations acknowledging “that two people in a job share have the advantage of bouncing ideas between them which can result in better considered, thorough and more refined executions.”
For organisations looking for input on how to make flexibility work, the biggest issues are around trust and technology. Several of the people on the list said that a bigger investment in technology would help while trust—or a lack of trust—was a core issue. Organisations should built mutual trust, says Soraya Mir, General Counsel at the Fred Hollows Foundation who also job shares. “A lot of firms still think that working from home means a person is not working,” she says. The final point is to put it all into practice. “Too often there is a policy but very rarely is it put into practice,” says Helen Vallance, manager executive support directorate at the NSW Department of Education and another job sharer.
In terms of what government could do, those on the part-time power list have the most to say about the affordability and availability of childcare.
“I know first-hand how issues such as childcare availability and affordability can affect returning to work after having a baby,” says John Hancock, general manager of people and culture at Origin Energy who works four days, flexibly. “Many parents already feel anxious about leaving their children to return to work to also have to contend with whether it makes economic sense, which impacts the broader economy and affects an organisation’s ability to retain talent.”
But in the end there is a recognition that government policy can only get you so far. “Ultimately, it comes down to senior leadership and individual workplace culture,” says Lizzie Dennis, senior legal counsel at DuluxGroup. “Organisations are generally conservative about these types of thing, so change will be gradually driven by proof of flexible work leading to retention of high performers who add value back to the business. Companies need to shift from seeing it as a ‘risk’ to seeing that it as an investment that will pay dividends.
This year, like last year, there are only two men that make the list. The lack of high profile men in flexible roles conspires to make flexibility—to its detriment—a female issue.
I have been extremely satisfied with the way in which AMP Capital has approached my flexible working arrangements,” says Karin Halliday manager, corporate governance at AMP. “However, I do believe the greatest inroads will only be made when all organisations treat (and perceive) men and women equally with regard to the opportunity to work flexibly.”
Methodology
ProfessionalMums.net researched the list in partnership with Women’s Agenda, who did a call out for entries in July 2015. ProfessionalMums.net then contacted the HR teams at 150 large organisations to ask them to nominate the most powerful person at their organisation who worked in a flexible manner. The 150 companies contacted included the ASX 100 as well as the largest private companies and government organisations. We received over 60 nominations and from that selected those that we felt were the most powerful in terms of leading a team, holding a significant position or having significant influence in their organisation.