Sally Collins is a registered psychologist, a senior executive in finance, an author, a stepmother, a mother and a wife. And she has worked part-time for almost a decade. There was a time when she was less likely to broadcast that detail but now she talks about it as much as possible.
“We just don’t hear senior people say they work part-time or flexibly, and that it works for them and the business and it’s beneficial to both,” she says. “Some women don’t talk about their work arrangements because flexibility and part-time are viewed as career killers. That doesn’t help the cause.”
Men and women need role models who work flexibly and part-time to speak up. Collins, a NAB general manager in business management, is happy to be an advocate for that cause because in her experience it has facilitated her career progression, enabled her to create a balance that suits her family and results that have benefitted her employer.
“Diversity is commercial, there are no two ways about it,” she says. “Companies with more senior female leaders make more money and if that’s not a good enough reason to embrace diversity then what type of business are they?”
A significant barrier to diversity, in Collins’ view, is an absence of genuine willingness to change. Simply offering employees the ability to work part-time or flexibly, for example, is only part of the picture.
“Companies can have great policies but unless the leaders believes in it, because they value diversity in leadership, it will not happen,” she says. “Leaders have to consciously and actively support different work arrangements.”
It requires effort and work on the part of the employer and the employee to make the most of the arrangements, but savvy managers know the benefits are worthwhile.
The most practical evidence Collins has from her employer that NAB walks the walk, is the fact she’s been promoted twice in the past 20 months, even though she works part-time and flexibly.
“Each time I said ‘Oh no, are you sure?’, and each time they said they’d be delighted to have role models working flexibly and part-time,” she explains. “They have great talent in their teams who they know they need to see women working part-time and being promoted regardless.”
It creates a virtuous cycle: the more senior people who work differently or manage people who work differently, the more normal it becomes and the more adept everyone becomes at managing it.
Regardless of employment policies and savvy leaders, Collins says what happens at home is absolutely critical in facilitating the success of females at work.
“Having a supportive partner – which comes in many shapes and forms – is so important in the whole formula for female success,” she says. Collins is quick to point out that a supportive partner is not, as Sheryl Sandberg wrote, code for someone who does everything.
“It’s not to say you need a stay-at-home partner but someone who is willing to change over time and be in a partnership to work out what needs to be done,” Collins says. “When it falls to one person – it doesn’t work. A supportive partner is someone who helps make it work for the whole family.”
Aside from enabling Collins to balance her work and family obligations, working part-time has given her the opportunity to complete another project. It took six years, but Collins has just had her first book, Stepmother Love, published http://stepmotherlove.com/about/. She laughs as she explains she wrote it in her “extra time”.
“When you really want to do something somehow you find the time and energy and I really wanted to write this book,” she says.
When Collins met her now husband he had two teenage daughters who were aged 14 and 18.
“When I first became a stepmum, like so many women I was ill prepared and not sure where to go for the “how to” guide. I was looking for words of wisdom and inspiration and other women’s stories,” she explains. “I came up short. Step-parenting books, unlike parenting books started by asking me to reconsider my ill-conceived notion of happily ever after.”
Given how common blended families are, she was perplexed that there wasn’t much written. The negative tone aggravated her. “Where were the real stories through the stepmother’s voice?”
She couldn’t find them on bookshelves so she set about finding, and writing, them herself. She interviewed a large group of step-mothers and the book tells their stories.
“It’s not unrealistic but it is optimistic and I have been overwhelmed with the response,” she says. “The spiral of negative information and publicity on the topic is hard. Yes it’s a tough job but what about the next level – how can you make it work? That’s what I aimed to cover in the book.”
Whilst there isn’t a single silver bullet Collins says one thing really does improve the chances for a harmonious blended family; a partner who is willing to make it work.
Collins says she enjoys a really positive relationship with her stepdaughters, both of whom were involved in the book.
“The reason they’re supportive is because they have a great relationship with their Dad and he has set me up for success.”
Collins is proud to use the leadership skills she’s honed at work to be a positive advocate for step-mothers and for part-time work. “I feel like I am making a better contribution to the community my family and the business – and without flexibility that wouldn’t be possible.”
See how part-time work enhanced Sally Collin’s career and life as a mum, step-mum and author.