4 Types of Flexible Working Options for Modern Working Mums
In the past our jobs demanded physical presence and face-time (not FaceTime). Flexible working options were pretty limited to say the least. If we go back to just a couple of decades and you were a mum who wanted to take care of your kids alongside a serious job, then more often than not the outcome was “quit your job”.
Well, thanks to technology, brains over balls in the board-room and the year that was 2020, flexible working options available for working mums are now better than ever. But does flexible working mean beyond Zoom calls from your dining room table. And what option is best for you, your situation and your personal brand.
Flexible working is such a personal decision as it is reflective of your needs and those of your family. Read on to find out what INA sees as the 4 different types of flexible working options for modern working mums.
1. Part time work
When you feel like a full-time job is way too demanding for you and your family, and it is taking a toll on you or your families welfare, you no longer need to quit your job completely to overcome this problem. The first step is to ask yourself if you truly enjoy your current job. If you do, schedule that meeting, discuss with your manager and find out what options the company has the option to let you work part time. And if your answer to the first question was “actually – no”, then don’t waste time. Look for alternative options. Most career search engines allow you to filter by full time or part time. So be sure to take some time and search for a job, and an organisation, that best suits you.
Once you settle on part time working you do need to know the detail. For example: your fixed working time – is it reduced hours every day or normal hours with 1 full day off, is any bonus pro-rata’ed, what happens to vacation days, what expectations are changing on performance and objectives etc.
And don’t make the biggest mistake of all: trying to do the full time job yon part time hours. You’ve got another job as a mum and you’re just too damn good to be working for free. Specifically, you need to agree with your line managers up front what you will and will not be doing and ensure neither of you deviate from it. Letting HR know is never a bad thing either.
2. Contract work
Contract work is becoming more and more common these days, especially in the IT and Corporate world. It is a good option as it lets you have a chance to experience different career paths than what you have right now without feeling tied down if you do not like it. The daily rate is usually pretty good and better than a pro-rata’ed salary. This allows mums to work on specific projects (or cover), earn in 6 months what they may have earned in 12, then enjoy extended time off until they find their next contract.
The downside of it is the unknown and instability in income after the contract is up. This can be a particular issue if you’re looking for your first family home and the dreaded mortgage applications. It can also be quite tiresome to be looking for a job every few months; it’s certainly not an option that suits everyone’s tastes. However, if you perform well and end up liking the job, there is always a chance that the company will transfer your contract to a permanent position. And that may be a risk worth trying out.
3. Working from Home
Not all companies used to be comfortable with this option. To them, productivity is at its best when employees are working from the office. Since the outbreak of Covid-19, this is no longer the case. Most companies have found ways to make working from home a possibility. Over time, companies have realised that with proper setup, productivity is the same – if not better – when employees are working from home. The time and effort spent on commuting can be used by the employee to start work earlier instead. Employees also get to spend more time with their families, and in turn are generally happier people.
However, not every job has the luxury of working from home, especially if you are in the services industry, hospitality, tourism, food and beverage and care industry. There are some jobs that just require physical attendance. So if you are in the aforementioned industries, and you would like to have the options of working from home more often, then changing industry altogether may be necessary.
Moreover, your house may not be set up as an office, especially with screaming babies around. To mitigate this there are compact office desk options out there, and more and more ‘garden office’ options, providing you with the excuse to get rid of that useless shed at the bottom of the garden. There are solutions, you just need to work through what is and isn’t possible with your current setup.
4. Self-Employed and Entrepreneurship
The idea of being a self-employed entrepreneur is daunting, and it requires a lot of self discipline. The good thing is that you get to explore and work on the things that you are truly passionate about, and the sky’s the limit on how far you can go with your dreams.
The down side is you will need to be able to manage your own time, your own tasks and goals. There may be times when you could feel demotivated and lonely, as there is no one to spar ideas with you. If these issues are not well thought through, then entrepreneurs usually end up quitting their business ideas.
However, if this is an idea you keep coming back to, and decide that you have the self discipline and would like to take a plunge at making your own dreams come true, then this option is for you. It also does come with its own perks. The best one is you will get to design your work around your time with your children – that freedom is all what parents dream of.
No matter what the options you choose, the benefit of having a more flexible working option, if you can afford, can potentially help you to cut childcare costs, such as day-care and nanny in half, and best of all, you get to spend more quality time with your little ones. Now this is worth more than any money in the world.
