Power part-timers
Be the boss on a three-day week
As jobs go, it’s fair to say that Lynn Rattigan’s is not the sort that involves much procrastination by the water cooler. As the UK and Ireland’s chief operating officer for financial services firm EY, she has day-to-day responsibility for running a business with more than £1 billion of revenues and 12,000 people. Although Londonbased, she does a number of long-haul business trips a year, plus several within Britain.
If it sounds like a classic case of high-powered professional sacrificing any work-life balance at the altar of career success, the reality is somewhat different. Rattigan is what is known as a “power part-timer”, working four days a week (one from home and three in the office), so she can spend time with her nineyear-old twin daughters.
She is part of a growing tribe of part-time or flexible workers restructuring hours to fit around other commitments, while at the Labour Party conference on Sunday, Lisa Nandy MP declared that splitting the role of prime minister between two people was “exactly the sort of thing we need”. ONS figures published earlier this month show that one in four workers is now part-time (one in eight of whom are men), while research last year by flexibility expert Timewise found 63per cent of full-time employees worked flexibly, with the most common reason given being work-life balance. What is clear is that the nine-to-five model is woefully outdated. Rattigan, who has been working part time for the past eight years, says: “It’s been a very positive experience… I’ve never felt I’ve missed out on anything, or that I’m not being treated fairly.”
Will Mcdonald and Sam White split “the most senior male job-share in the country” as group director of sustainability and public policy for insurance
company Aviva. Both fathers, White performs the role from Monday to Wednesday, while Mcdonald does it from Wednesday to Friday.
“We both really wanted to spend some time with our children and help raise them,” says Mcdonald. The effects, he says, have been staggering. “We’re happier people who are living our lives in a way that works for us. It has literally transformed my relationship with my kids.”
But others haven’t been so lucky. Research from Timewise, which has just opened nominations for its 2019 Timewise Power 50 list, has identified “flexism” in the workplace: where part-timers are made to feel they’re not part of the team, or miss out on key meetings, training and networking, because the rigid structure doesn’t take their working patterns into account.
The report, entitled “Part-time Work: The Exclusion Zone” and based on the responses of 1,700 part-time workers, makes for dispiriting reading: 59per cent felt their skills and knowledge had fallen behind those of their full-time colleagues; 65per cent felt less connected to their team; and 68per cent said they felt so grateful to be allowed to work part time that they had accepted career compromises.
Karen Mattison, co-founder of Timewise, suggests that while “on the face of it things have changed hugely… it’s too soon for businesses to be patting themselves on the back”.
Naomi Hodge, a creative in a large communications agency in London, says that when she leaves at 5pm to collect her children, she is aware of “a lot of eye-rolling” and is now considering a career change.
Others report stagnating careers: “I’ve never known a part-time employee to be promoted at my company,” said one.
What can be done? Mattison argues in favour of a restructured approach towards how performance is measured. “Is it about hours or output?” she asks. “By thinking creatively and innovatively about how things are done, employers can deliver a workplace culture that is as inclusive of part-time workers as their full-time colleagues – and benefit from the results.”
Timewise today opens nominations for the 2019 Timewise Power 50 list, supported by EY, Dixons Carphone, Lloyds Banking Group and Diageo. These awards celebrate individuals and businesses who achieve incredible things through flexible and part-time working. It is free to enter and the winners will be published by the
Telegraph early next year. Make your nomination at Timewise.co.uk/power-50