Flexibility is not starting at 9:30am on Wednesdays
People have their own families, and they want to go home to them. This is the driving force behind a new breed of flexibility, and it might be hard for some managers to accept, writes Alison Michalk.
There was a post that gained a lot of traction in social media recently. It read: “We expect women to work like they don’t have children and raise children like they don’t work.”
It resonated with so many working mothers, who go about their daily lives with the exhausting responsibility of what amounts to at least two full-time jobs. Which really does not get the recognition it deserves. Because like the quote says, we’re largely expected to work like parenting has zero impact. But it has a huge impact. Not on our ability to deliver exceptional work, but on us. Our schedules. Our sleep. Our personal lives. Our ability to leave the house without Vegemite stains.
For the actively involved parents reading, you get it. The “juggle” is a cute way of describing what is an almost heroic feat, expected of you daily. Rinse, repeat.
Words have not resonated more loudly than in this article. Places of business still “talk” flexibility” but it’s on their terms, not yours. I would love to shift my hours so i could be more active in school/day care runs, but the “perception” that creates in an organisation is crazy. We need to start acknowledging that staff are people first and employees second. Just because they want to spend time with their families doesn’t mean they want to slack off and not do any work. In fact the most engaged, successful employees are the ones that truly have the flexibility to be parents first.
Alison, as a working mother, and a professional working with many working mothers, thank you for this article. Views on working weeks are outdated and will impede talented people from progressing in the workforce. Flexibility on the subject of flexibility is long overdue.
Thank you Barbara, so glad it resonated with other working mothers. Flexibility on flexibility – love it.
Bravo Alison! Thanks for sharing.
Great piece – thanks for sharing Alison.
And those without partners or children? We are just meant to do 830-530, cause too bad on your life choice?
Flexibility is something that suits everyone and at Quiiip people use this to travel, study, work on side projects. This article however is specifically addressing the logistical challenges of workloads for parents. There was research released just this week showing demonstrably higher stress levels for working mothers.
Who completed this research paper and what was the agenda of the group that financed it?
Paige, I don’t believe that’s what the article is saying. One of the biggest reasons holding us back from finding a viable solution to this issue is the perceived divide between parents and non parents. I’ve been in both camps and know the resentment non parents feel when it appears someone is always leaving early. I now also know the guilt, embarrassment and sadness of being a working parent who misses events and feels they need to sneak out of the office. What’s needed here is workplace flexibility regardless of parental status, where the lives and interests of staff are treated with respect and a flexible approach is applied to everyone.
Bravo Justine, you’ve got the nail on the head. I too have experienced both camps. It’s about flexibility for all regardless of parental situation.
I don’t plan on having kids, but I do plan on living in a society that needs people to procreate and raise new humans in order to thrive. I’ll benefit from their unpaid work in the future so am happy to support them now where I can. True flexibility in the workplace will extend to everybody though, as we all work at our best in different ways.
Totally agree, flexible working should be about the quality of output versus number and location of hours worked.
Working parents tend to work 6am-8am, then 9am-5pm, then 9pm-12am. It’s a constant juggle of trying to bring our best selves to work and trying to be the best parent we can be. The juggle gets thrown out of whack during school holidays! We don’t complain, we make it work and it builds our resilience as a person. Well done to all those parents out there who do an amazing job teaching our next generation how to be smart, kind and deliver what they say with charm and a few good surprises!
Can we just clear something up – parenting is NOT work, it’s a lifestyle choice.
Wow thats pretty black and white. Parenting is a personal choice. To say it is a lifestyle choice only denies the enormous contribution to society as a whole.
And why does it have to be just those with kids and family? Why can it not be for everyone if this is a functional model. It only breeds resentment and “them and us” mentality between those with kids and those without with two sets of rules. Hardly fair not offering equal benefits and conditions. Oh and I do have kids.
Hi Nicole, to be clear it doesn’t have to be for parents only, it’s just that this article in particular is focusing on parents. At Quiip this flexibility is available to everyone. But as a single parent and working CEO I’m acutely aware of the additional stresses of parenting. It’s incomparable in my mind.
Hi Nicola, radical flexibility is the default at Quiip regardless of lifestage or circumstance. I’ve been working at Quiip for about 5 years now and I’ve had a kid in that time. Pre-motherhood I used my flexibility to work on other projects and travel around Australia with my partner. Since having a child I use it a lot more to ease ‘The Juggle’. The real value of radical flexibility at Quiip, is that if you are a parent there’s no unspoken shame or judgement when I have to take time off to look after a sick child or go to a parent’s afternoon tea at daycare because flexible working is ‘the norm’ for everyone. I’d love to see that happening in more workplaces in Australia.
Briliantly said Alison! I am very grateful to the handful of previous employers who have measured on output rather than time in office.
I think it’s a shame that there is any divide at all between those who choose to have children and those who don’t for whatever reason. I’m a female in her thirties who has chosen not to have children, I work full time running a business and then after hours on personal projects and that’s my choice, I liken having children to having “personal projects”. All workplaces should have flexibility to work around modern lifestyle, as long as staff get the work done it’s no big deal really when you come in. What I would like to see is equality when it comes to leave, eg I will never have maternity leave but I don’t understand why I don’t get an equivalent kind of leave so I can focus on areas of my life too.
Hi Kelly. I don’t think that acknowledging how difficult parenting is necessarily creates a “divide”. I don’t personally see if that way. But having worked without kids and worked with kids, I wouldn’t ever describe it as a personal project. In the sense it’s a difficult, selfless act that’s exhausting and not something you can choose not to do sometimes. The crux of this article really comes down to hoping that employers and others will recognise the sacrifice parents make and support them. But as iterated above – I am supportive of flexibility for all!
‘In the sense it’s a difficult, selfless act that’s exhausting and not something you can choose not to do sometimes.’
Selfless, really? Having children is the very definition of selfish! Bringing another human into the world because YOU want them but they have no say in it.
As for not being something you can choose not to do sometimes, no one forces anyone to have children, it is a personal lifestyle choice you make.
Honestly, I think your perspective is so spectacularly warped, there are no words. NO WORDS
One day you’ll be a parent and you’ll eat your words.
What of us early risers?
We may not have kids, but we do like to get to the office at 7.30am and are absolutely beat by the 5.
Get out of here with that mandatory 9.30am – 6.00pm bullshit – it ain’t the 90’s (or even the early 00’s) anymore!
Absolutely. It makes sense to work with your natural flow, it’s inefficient to try and be productive at 4pm when you’re mind is firing at 7am. That’s when you’ll get your best work done!
Had a quick look at the Quiip website.Easier to be a calm company when there are only 12 staff.
Is it though? You’re assuming a lot. Small businesses and calm rarely go hand in hand. Try to be more constructive.
Hi Lee I disagree. Small business is incredibly challenging and what I’ve learnt and implemented has been from extensive research into much larger companies I admire.
You couldn’t be more wrong, Lee.
People in small companies need to wear multiple hats, and work without the ‘bench’ that bigger agencies often have.
This means increased accountability, and nobody there to take over when you need time out.
I’d say that this is where Alison’s success comes from, she’s not retro-fitting false flexibility into a legacy-model company.. instead she’s designed her business around it and made it an asset.
@Matt thank you. And spot on. I designed my company around the central themes of freedom and flexibility after years of a long commute to Fairfax, heavily pregnant with a toddler at home. It just couldn’t be done without breaking.
And yes building a company from scratch has been incredibly difficult but rewarding. Much like parenting!
Love how you’ve positioned this Alison. I’ve read a million articles on flexibility yet you’ve articulated it beautifully. I did used to cringe when workplaces used “family” to describe their relationships (I too have my own family in my own home) until I learned of how many people don’t have the same sense of family at home… and the workplace truly does become theirs. Many who love the sense of being a family at work so I am a bit more open on that perspective now.
While this article pops in the occasional gender-neutral quiiip, it is clearly framed at mothers as primary carers and only pays lip service to working dads.
I’m a working dad who is the primary carer. My wife is a professional worker but I’m doing 95% of the daycare runs, morning and afternoon.
There is even greater stigma attached to it because I’m male. If we are going to have flexibility, let’s start by being flexible on the gender of the primary carer – in reality as well as in articles.
Give yourself an apple Mr Mum! You’re doing a great job there.
Mr Mum, I really have to disagree here – while there are stay at home and single dads out there, in the majority of households the majority of child rearing and housework still falls to the female of the house. Hence the framing of this article.
But at Quiip, we really don’t see flexibility as a gendered thing. It’s offered to all of us and utilised by all of us for a wide variety of reasons. I’m one of those women who doesn’t want kids, but I use the flexibility in other ways. For one I didn’t really want to use annual leave over the past few Christmas holidays, so I took my laptop with me (leaving me holidays to use for other things).
So if you were working with us, you’d have the same flexibility as all of us, and we’d totally respect your family time. (Actually knowing us, we’d probably cheer you on)
You could start writing your own blog or pitch an article to Mumbrella to voice your view. Alison is a woman and therefore talks from her perspective as one does when writing an opinion piece. This comment sounds like a whinge. I have done the stay-at-home parent thing too and I really couldn’t be less offended by what Alison has said in the article. Here is an idea, imagine the words to be gender flipped and read it again. Same message. Workplaces need to be more flexible to the needs of their employees. Flexible working conditions only improve productivity and employee wellness.
Hey Mr Mum. I agree it might appear to be aimed at women because I led with a quote which referenced women. But you couldn’t find someone more supportive of encouraging and supportive men being active parents. I agree you face added challenges with regards stigma. I’d love to write another article on this — or maybe you should!
@Alison to echo @MrMum it appears aimed at mothers because that’s who you explicitly reference. You don’t have to write about the stigma of being a working dad to help battle this stigma, you can just talk about ‘working parents’ and by default more actively recognise dads as more than bystanders to raising children, which helps normalise more equal care. I’m sure you’re supportive of gender equality but the article gives the impression of the distinct opposite.
It appears most of the commentors agree that kids or no kids, everyone deserves flexibility.
Too bad so many workplaces don’t view it that way and see flexibility as something that only applies to those with children.
Brilliant. This is why more and more people are leaving agency life to go freelance – which actually ends up costing companies more to contract out services to good talent. 9-5 is an outdated model for everyone, not just mums. If companies don’t provide flexibility, people will find their own flexibility at the expense of companies.
Bravo Alison! I have often lamented the lack of flexibility in my industry, and now I have even serious career envy. Are you hiring?? ?
Brilliant, and great to see Mumbrella supporting content like this. It’s easy to forget that work should really just support our life, not the other way round.
Some organisations definitely need training to all their managers and leaders what ‘flexible working’ means and there should be a standard recognised one which management and employees both agree on. An open conversation and understanding is required. When I was at my previous company, I remember a previous colleague was offered ‘flexible working’ but was called by her manager consecutively to ask where she was and they would discuss how she could bring her kids quicker to school and what she should be doing at home – this is not flexible working. Micromanagement needs to stop!
One of the most difficult issues about flexible work time is the nature of Advertising business being so deadline oriented.
Agencies have to be flexible but on deadline terms. Campaigns don’t wait for school pick-ups, or team members being absent at 4pm when client’s call with drama.
Media deadlines wait for no-one – single or familied!
The theory is great, but often work gets in the way.
And generally you find good agencies do keep it flexible as possible. 9-5 has never been an Advertising mantra.
You are correct.
9-5 has never been an advertising mantra, but if you are one of the poor souls who work for an offline publisher, you are generally bound to these rules. For no reason of course, just beacuse it has always been done that way.
Coincidentally, you will probably be wearing a suit for those 8hrs as well, which is just shit.
But the deadlines aren’t flying by while people are clapping along at playgroup sessions or baking for the year 3 cake stall, or even while a someone is picking up Doggo from the vet. Flexible work, in a parenting context or otherwise, means still managing the job. If that means hitting the button on a campaign from your kitchen table while breastfeeding – or having arranged for someone else to do so in your absence – then either way the goal is achieved.
While agree with the points raised, this is a great article for women yet is also unbelievable sexist. Not all parents who juggle are women, and not all people who ask for flexible hours are parents who have children demanding their time. Men without children also have needs that require flexible hours at work and, if not, it could simply be that a routine doesn’t suit them at all and their productivity is maximised by incorporating a flexible structure. I applaud your efforts at bringing light to this issue, but it’s not only women with children who have it hard sometimes.
Completely agree Blair…flexibility is needed across the board not just for the working mums.
Flexible working arrangements are for an individual regardless of life stage, circumstance or gender.
I have actually encountered ‘flexibility profiling’ where the company bragged about its ‘family friendly and flexible’ working environment – however it was only applicable to working mums…to bad if you couldn’t take the time off to get to that IVF appointment to maybe become a mum…
That’s fine if you own the business and can implement such a policy or if people do the right thing. I worked in a small marketing team in a large corporate, out of 8, 5 were women, and 4 were mums with kids of various ages. On numerous occasions, with my headphones in but no music coming through, I overheard conversations discussing how one would want a day or afternoon off so would call in and say their kid was sick, or had a school thing, or an appointment of some sort or the school called to come and pick them up. They would organise it between themselves in an almost roster type system. We had a very understanding boss who said family first, do whatever you need to do. If I needed time off for personal things like sorting an issue out at the bank, pick up the car from a rego check or pickup/drop off someone at the airport etc. I had to put in for half-day leave. So, I can understand the reluctance of some managers. What if a company of 300 staff, of which 20% are parents of small children and they all want the morning off for their kid’s first day of school? Or other events like sports carnivals, assembly performances in the middle of the day or school holiday holidays. I get the sentiment, I like the conversation coming to the fore, but I also feel like it’s a very one-sided. But I’m a guy with no kids so I don’t matter.
I find this extremely hard to believe. You do get some employees who take advantage of leave policies whether they have children or not. Generally they are a poor employee across the board which is a hiring and performance issue.
The working parents I’ve known don’t take random days off and blame it on the kids as they feel guilty enough leaving when their child has gastro/hand foot and mouth disease/ear infection and all the other bugs kids pick up. That leave needs to be carefully used!
On a related note, it is very frustrating having female staff who always have to take carer’s leave when their partner doesn’t take any, because his job is deemed too important. Men, take leave and encourage your colleagues and staff to do so too.
Believe what you want. It was a true scenario.
Well done Alison for raising a very important issue in every workplace. It is funny how little has really changed in terms of workplace conditions in regards to flexibility since the word was first flapped about.
I think this study in New Zealand actually provides some excellent proof that flexibility actually improves productivity and in some cases increases the amount of skilled workforce available to business. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-07-25/four-day-work-week-good-for-business/10030902
One can only hope this would become the norm. Being a teacher I doubt I will ever see the day.
No doubt in my mind flexibility will continue to increase, and be demanded. It will probably become hygiene rather than luxury at some point.
However what this article doesn’t mention is the obligations of the employee in this scenario. Sure it focusses on the employer, which makes sense as they’re the enabler, but if we’re going to have more decentralised working hours, are employees truly committed to doing the odd hours that it requires and incurring some of the inconveniences?
If you’re going to start replacing some of the ‘traditional’ working hours with non-working hours, will employees accept they may need work late at night to complete tasks / deliver deadlines? And then front up nice and early the next day?
Will employees accept they may not always be able to work in the flexible way they like, if they are part of larger stakeholder groups who are setting times / meetings / sessions, etc, that can’t be avoided due to the expectations of their role?
Its very much a two way street, but theres a pretty unsexy side to flexibility that needs acknowledgement as much as the undoubted happiness that working on your own terms can bring.
As I run out the office door to collect my five-year-old from school at 3pm, thank you, Alison, for this post and its sentiments. We seem to be in a messy “working out” phase of women/family/children/work as a society. It would be so interesting to survey children about their thoughts on mummies and daddies working. My two-year-old has taken to saying, “Daddy go work, mummy no go work” on the way to her grandmother’s place. While no doubt lacking in their own life challenges, none of my 20-something childless colleagues have to deal with that sort of anguish as they adopt their “work hats” to start the day.
Great article! Great debate about the article! Have said for years that flexibility is the future and any company or person who ignores that does so at their peril.
I offer a different perspective on the value of “family values” in companies. Since most companies are, at their core, communities of people, having people treat each other at work as through they are members of the same family actually encourages the kind of flexibility we need. I work for a company who has “family values” (both espoused and actual), and the CEO has given me no end of flexibility through 3 years of parenthood & illness, and in return I have given to him and the company in equal measure. That kind of engagement and investment and connection is the (very tangible and intangible) upside of flexibility. It’s not easy, but neither is parenthood or inflexible workplaces!
Wonderful and important article.
I’ve found that some companies don’t allow flexi-time because they aren’t sure what the parents are doing or if they are doing enough. One of my friends from Europe says that Australia is quite conservative in terms of telecommuting because in her old job it was a thing and for an international bank. Yet for the job where I met her at which is a national bank, telecommuting is frowned down upon even though ‘you can have it’ (but not really). I think it’s a shame because there are so many things going on especially where you are a carer for someone like kids or your parents and this just adds extra pressure on them.
That said one of my key partners is a creative agency. Being there is a huge breath of fresh air. It’s pretty chill and everyone manages to get their work done even though some people really do have to leave early to pick up the kids. People understand that others have got children so they can’t handle certain amounts of work after checking in with them first. Sometimes the kids come in as well if something has happened to day care for that day. It really comes down to the owners/management to set the tone, just like in this particular company. I haven’t seen anything like this before.