Flexible Working Has Made Me A Better Mother But Has It Made Me A Worse Employee?

Dolly Parton wasn’t wrong was she? In my humblest of opinions; workin’ 9-5 ain’t no way to make a living. At least it never has been for me. And that was before I had kids!

From my very first experience working in a clothes shop aged 14, through to my uni days where I regularly did temp work in offices; the 9-5 grind felt arduous, boring; and oh so very long. I counted not just the hours but the minutes, feeling my enthusiasm drain from me as the second hand ticked by.

Now don’t get me wrong; I’m anything but work-shy. In fact I’m known amongst my friends as a bit of a grafer; the one who starts earliest and finishes latest, cramming in as much as I can eek out of the day. But for me; work has to have a large degree of flexibility, otherwise my joie de vivre drops through the floor and my productivity takes a nosedive along with it.

Let me be clear; I’m more than happy to log on at 6am, as long as I can check back out at 7.30am to get myself and the kids a healthy breakfast. I’m more than happy to work through my lunchbreak, as long as I can do the school-drop and be the one to kiss my littlest boys’ sweet head as he skips into school, while he still lets me (I have the feeling I’m on borrowed time with the PDA’s). I’m more than happy to travel to events, to cover for colleagues, to pick up lots of extra work at busy times in the team, as long as I can finish an hour early occasionally to attend a sports day or school play.

In short; flexible working allows me to be a better, more present mother than I feel I would’ve been had I had a more traditional 9-5 role. And I’m not the only one; research shows that flexible working is valued by a huge range of employees (and not just parents). Studies show that employees with flexible contracts feel they’re more productive, efficient and have greater loyalty to their employers.

Flexibility in UK workplaces has been championed and long-campaigned for by Insta-sensation Anna Whitehouse and her now ex-husband Matt Farquarson. Under the pseudonym Mother Pukka, Anna launched her ‘Flex Appeal’ campaign back in 2015, making it her mission to help working mothers advocate for flexibility in the workplace. Whilst undoubtedly, huge strides have been made due to her campaigns; she admits that the Covid pandemic provided the biggest cultural shift in how we work, and thankfully this was largely to the benefit of working parents. In a recent article Anna stated that pre-pandemic, only 5% of UK parents could work from home at least a day per week on a regular basis. Now that figure sits at well over 70%.

Of course for lots of women in the workplace, flexibility is much more difficult. For nurses, teachers, retail staff, taking back time in lieu or working from home is just not that realistic. We still need to work hard as a society at ways we can introduce more flexibility for women who follow more traditional career paths such as these. And I understand any lingering resentment from people in those location-bound job roles. Maybe they imagine we’re out for coffees and dog walks and spa appointments whilst pretending to be at work. But the truth is that lots of us flexible workers get way more done on the days we work from home.

For me, a perfect model is hybrid. A couple of days at home where you can do school drops and make packed lunches, but packing lots and lots of focussed work into the day without distractions (amazing how much more gets done when you don’t have to factor in the commute too). But then being the social creature I am, I definitely need a few days each week having those water-cooler chats, bouncing ideas off colleagues and networking in person rather than through a screen.

So what do the stats show? Does flexible working make us superior parents? And more importantly, does it make us inferior employees?

Well to answer this one; we really have to try and look at things from the perspective of our employer. Whilst I haven’t quite had the chutzpah to go and ask my boss directly if my flexible working is a pain in his managerial backside; I have done a bit of research on bosses in general.

A post-covid study by the University of Birmingham states that a whopping 76% of employers believe that flexible working makes their staff more productive, they also believe that advertising a job role as ‘flexible’ widens the talent pool (I see you Mums who don’t have any childcare help), and that it does wonders for ticking their diversity/equity/inclusion boxes; meaning more applications from disabled workers and those who have caring responsibilities. This means workplaces aren’t robbed of brilliant, bright minds who just for whatever reason can’t juggle the standard 9-5 in the office model.

And it’s not just what’s best for line managers and their staff; Mother Pukka’s report in collaboration with Sir Robert McAlpine, showed that increased flexible working could unlock a whopping £50 billion in the UK economy. Not to be sniffed at.

So has flexible working made me not just a better Mum, but a better employee? It’s a resounding ‘yes’ from me. Ultimately, workers who are allowed a degree of flexibility feel autonomous and respected. When we have autonomy and respect, we generally feel happier and more loyal to the people who are treating us so well. That cascades down to our customers, our clients, our patients, whatever industry we work in.