Happy hours
What more can HR do to promote part-time working?The Power Part-Time List makes for interesting reading. Developed by Timewise, it features people who are making great strides with their careers while sidestepping the slog of full-time hours.
In the current Top 50, there’s a Head of HR, a lead at EY, a Head of Compliance, two founders of a fashion business, a Managing Director and a partner at PwC. And that’s just the blokes.
But if the list suggests all’s going swimmingly in the world of part-time working, well – it isn’t.
A survey this month by HR recruitment consultancy Oakleaf – presented at a breakfast seminar that was co-sponsored by this publication – suggests that in some workplaces, promoting a part-time mindset can be a full-time headache.
Oakleaf’s survey focused on part-time working within HR itself, and uncovered statistics that give genuine cause for concern. For example, 98% of HR functions say they would hire part-time people externally. However, only a measly 48% actually do so.
Why the discrepancy? The report offers some ideas.
‘It seems that there is still an ongoing reluctance to commit to a part-time hire,’ it says, ‘based on pre-conceived ideas of the need for continuity/visibility, fear of creating a precedent, fear of causing internal unrest from unfair workloads and the ongoing challenge of corporate presenteeism.’
The head of Oakleaf’s part-time desk, Jane Middleton, whose HR career includes tenures at JP Morgan Cazenove and Citigroup, suggests that HR being ‘louder and prouder’ about part-time successes is one way to positively influence the flexibility debate.
That’s evidently a good plan. But how else can HR help?
Find he-roes and her-oes
One great thing the Power List does is to dispel the idea that flexible working is guaranteed to stymie your career.
Karen Mattison MBE, a founder of Timewise and a panellist at the Oakleaf event, suggests that finding and sharing stories about top-table part-timers is particularly important.
‘77% of flexible workers feel trapped,’ she says. ‘They suspect that they could lose their benefits if they get promoted.’
Being made aware that a Deputy Director of the Cabinet Office, for example, clocks in just three and a half days a week can help these workers feel a lot more optimistic.
It pays to advertise
As has been widely reported in recent weeks, a Timewise analysis of 3.5m job adverts discovered that just 6.2% mentioned flexibility and offered a salary high enough for a normal person to live on.
Besides mentioning the availability of flexible options in job ads, HR could be better at briefing its third-party recruiters on the issue.
‘It’s time to be talking about flexible hiring, not just flexible working,’ counsels Mattison.
Tell the talent story…
When creating a flexibility business case to sway an intransigent C-suite, it’s often advisable to play the short-skills card.
Chris Lynch, Global HRD of Linklaters and another event panellist, agrees that ‘flexible arrangements are an excellent way to attract and keep key talent’.
Oakleaf’s Middleton agrees. ‘Organisations must adapt their thinking or risk losing their top talent – the skills shortage will only get worse,’ she says.
…and the commercial story
Two strong messages here. First, there’s the fact that you can often land ‘100% of someone’s brain for 60% of their usual salary’.
Mattison points out how smaller organisations have been early adopters of flexible working. Doing so means they can often bring in talent they couldn’t otherwise afford.
And in general terms, flexible working can mean a wider spread of talent for the same wage bill. That’s a boon for both cultural and intellectual diversity.
Don’t forget, too, that people working part-time tend to have greater productivity than full-timers.
They burn out less and are more capable of focusing during the time they’re at the grindstone. And gratitude for being able to work part-time can also be a terrific driver of engagement.
Reclaim the language
Some individuals wince at the perceived stigma of a ‘part-time’ label.
But there are terms that increase the apparent seniority of individuals not tied to the strict nine-to-five.
Mattison suggests talking about ‘plural working’. And the concept of a ‘portfolio career’ – arguably flexible working by another name – has long had cachet in the higher echelons of the working world.
Focus on output, not hours
Graham Poole, another event panellist, member of the Power List and Head of HR at Camelot Global, suggests that a revised understanding of contribution can make the part-time concept easier to grasp.
Look at job design, Poole says ‘Measuring output rather than hours is a great way to flip the whole debate.’
Plan to overcome risk aversion
Oakleaf’s CEO Nicola Grimshaw recognises that introducing flexible working can be ‘an education process – there’s a lot of risk aversion’.
HR might want to consider training or supportive resources for managers of flexible workers.
It’s not every manager that intuitively knows, for example, how best to engage home-workers, distribute workload fairly between part-time and full-time colleagues, or ensure effective communication between non-overlapping job-sharers.
Try new structures
Finally, remember that part-time in its usual form isn’t the whole deal.
‘Job-share is where part-time working is at its hottest,’ says Middleton.
Oakleaf sees a future in which job-share partnerships are frequently marketed to employers as alternatives to full-time workers.
Besides job-share, other structures might strike a chord with your people: compressed hours and term-time only working, for example, are beginning to gain traction beyond their usual habitats of schools and hospitals.
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