Loading ...Is Australia really up for flexible work?
Claire Braund deconstructs the language of flexible work hours and says that the term ‘part-time work’ should be removed from the workforce vocabulary because of the destructive effect it has on people’s careers.
Our media release of last week advocating that we should remove the term ‘part-time work’ from the workforce vocabulary because of the destructive effect it has on people’s careers, met with an interesting reaction.
Several radio programs I was interviewed on asked people to call in with their thoughts. Invariably women who called in identified with the issues we raised, while men could not understand what the fuss was about.
The suggestion that the term be rebranded ‘working flexibly at X per cent’ to measure how much work people really are doing (rather than what they are being paid to do) also caused some comment.
A Women on Boards member put it well: “The workplace itself has in most cases evolved from the strict 38 hour, 9-5 mentality to almost an “as-is, where is” philosophy, so it is archaic and inappropriate to measure flexible working arrangements against an outdated concept of “work”.
That for me is where the disconnect is. Any label that allows employers/peers/society to view this as a partial contribution is sub-optimal. For cases like these, where expectations of results are unchanged from what would be expected out of a “full-time” person, in my world there should be no label at all, at least not one that suggests any diminution of expectations. Recognising however that the world may not be ready for this, perhaps “flexible working” is the best we can do.
Whether we agree with changing the language or not, there are still a whole range of issues in the workplace where there is a gender gap. How to get to grips with this will be the focus of a series of workshops and business lunches being held around Australia (Perth, Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne) in August.
The half-day workshop is targeted at early to mid-career level women and will cover managing ambition, dealing with road blocks, ensuring a voice at the table and increasing influence. It is lead by Oxford University-educated cultural change consultant and executive coach Dr
Margaret Byrne. As part of her study for her post-doctoral thesis, Dr Byrne filmed board and team meetings at Westpac Banking Corporation, Hewlett Packard and Telstra to understand unconscious bias. Many of her tips and techniques for career progression are based on this research and her expertise in working globally.
The lunch is targeted at men and women at all career stages and skill bases. Topics include understanding the business case for diversity, creating a work culture where diverse groups can thrive, implementing policies that make a difference and leadership in gender diversity.
Accenture’s Managing Director of Finance and Performance Management Consulting, Cara Morton, will share her experience including being mentored by Catriona Noble, the CEO and Managing Director of McDonalds in Australia through the Business Council of Australia’s ‘C Suite Project’ mentoring scheme. Ms Morton will be joined by Dr Margaret Byrne and a young career woman in each city.
For more information or to register for the workshop or lunch go to www.thinkwomen.com.au
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