TAPP Blog

We asked working mother, Ariane to tell us about the arrangement she has made with her company to work part-time and how it has impacted her life.

I've been hearing so much lately about how, in other countries, the culture around work hours and time off is quite different from what we are used to in the US. I was curious, so I did a little research. What I found out got me to wondering about how deep into our lifestyles these differences reach.

One of my co-workers happened upon an interesting blog post that discusses a "part-time revolution" in the UK, where 5.1 million people work part-time by choice. Apparently, part-timers in the UK are protected by legislation that states they should be treated no less favorably than full-time equivalent colleagues. Read more.

I recently read a discussion about an employee's start time in an office and the fact that she was often late and subsequently docked for this. There was the argument that if the person is getting his or her work done, does it matter what time the person arrives at work. As offices change to a results oriented work environment and flex time, it appears that a set start time in some offices could be a thing of the past. So does that mean that employees aren't accountable for when they arrive in the office?  I’d like to argue that it’s more important than ever for individuals to be accountable for when they arrive at work and be on time. Do I mean that everyone should punch a time clock? No. There are industries where a time clock is important –such as nursing, retail, etc. In others, the specific start time might not be as important.

Prior to cell phones, call forwarding, email on pdas, being in the office was critical to being able to respond to customers. Now, we can and do work from anywhere. (I am writing this blog while sitting on a plane). But just because we can answer a phone from anywhere, doesn’t mean that we should do so. I am not very efficient if I answer a business phone call from a coffee shop while waiting to order coffee. I can’t tell the caller if they are registered for a meeting, and it is inconvenient to provide information on upcoming events or edit a newsletter while on the go. Our office has the set business hours of 9 am  to 5 pm. We have told our clients that we will answer our phones during that time period. I have chosen that our phones are answered by an individual rather than an automated system. I feel that it is a more efficient system than voice mail and provides much better customer service. So for our company, having a staff member set up to work when we open at 9 am (99% of the time in the office), is important to our being able to service our customers.

From Good to Great by Jim Collins is the book which I am reading now. The focus is on what has distinguished truly great companies and their CEOs from other companies. One element of having a great company is having the right people ‘on the bus’. And not only having the right people on board but having them in the right seats is critical to distinguishing a great company from a good one. The focus of this book is on large multi million or billion dollar corporations - very different from the micro shop that I run. However there are many points which I think translate to all size organizations:

1. Hire staff at all levels who are passionate about what the company does or provides
2. The right people will be self motivated. (however management has to work to ensure that they do not demotivate these individuals).
3. Don’t settle for just anybody when looking to hire. It’s better to wait than to settle.
4. When a company is in time of transition, get the right people on the bus and the right people off the bus before determining the direction.
5. If it seems like you don’t have a fit with an employee, first determine if it’s the role you have assigned to that individual before ending the relationship.
6. If it is not a good fit, act… let everyone move on with their lives. (a tough one)

What Jim Collins does not discuss but I think is connected is retention. When you have the right people, what will you do to retain those individuals? How do their life events factor into your retention plan? Do you work with staff to reduce hours to a part-time schedule; create a flexible schedule, etc?

I made the decision mid-last year to take a 6.5 month leave of absence from my full-time job at Massachusetts General Hospital to give myself time to travel the world and work only at a part-time pace. While I have had a part-time job consistently for the past six years, I worked solely part-time for about six months straight (while I was in the country, in between jaunts to Europe) while on leave from Mass General.

So today’s Groundhog Day and conveniently enough, I had some thoughts about Groundhog Day the movie. For those who haven’t seen the movie, it’s a film starring Bill Murray and he has to relive the same day over and over again until he gets it right. Sometimes my days seem like Groundhog Day; unfortunately I’m not sure when I’ll get it just right. The days seem to run into each other and I have no idea which day it is because I’ve done the same thing for the last four. I get home; we have to do homework, have to make dinner and then have to get everything ready for the following day so we can do the same thing all over again.

Flex time and work life balance are buzz words these days but what do they really mean? And how does part-time work fit into this mix? These days when I hear part-time on the news these days it is usually in connection with the unemployment rate and those who are underemployed… creating a negative connotation. Yet, there are many who choose to work part-time in order to take care of children or parents, go to school, ease into retirement, etc.  So yes, these individuals are seeking a work life balance but not in the way which may be considered typical.

I define a part-time employee as someone who works less than 30 hours per week or is working on a project basis for a company (e.g. edits documents as needed). A part-time employee is NOT always temporary and may not be hourly or junior level. It is possible to work on a part-time basis in most industries with some planning. I have seen jobs posted for part-time lawyers, doctors, marketing professionals, development directors, account analysts, accountants, etc.

So I recently watched the movie “Multiplicity” starring Michael Keaton It’s not a 5 star movie, and it hasn’t earned any Oscars but very amusing and entertaining. The premise of the movie is that a man clones himself in order to have more personal time. So he sends his clone to work while he plays golf. His wife ends up needing help at home so he clones himself again to have the third clone at home while he again goes out to play golf. I could go on, but I think you get the point.

I run a small business. I’m a new owner but have managed the day to day affairs of The Guild Associates (GA) for many years (with some guidance). Work life balance is a concept that is used frequently throughout the TAPP website and constantly appears in the media. Work life balance can take many forms: working from home; a varied work schedule, how time off is administered, etc.