January of any year is a good time to start a campaign, and January 2008 seems to me High Time to start a campaign to change the way we think about flexible working at senior levels.
According to the BBC "It's High Time" "is a formal statement that it is important that something happen soon or that something happen now. My sentiments exactly. And the "something" is a change in the way organisations approach the whole issue of flexible working for executive and senior managers and directors.
In a valedictory report last year, the Equal Opportunities Commission suggested a need to transform the way we work if Britain is to compete successfully in global markets. For this to happen both employers and employees must move away from seeing flexibility as a personal issue, negotiated as a concession from the 'norm' for specific caring reasons.
The argument for change is compelling. By 2010 (just two years away) less than 20% of the full-time workforce will be able-bodied white men in full-time work. Half of UK adults already want more flexible hours while 57% of part-timers and 1 in 6 parents of children under five would have made different choices if better flexible working options were available to them. It's been estimated this lack of choice is costing the UK economy around £23 billion (or 2% of GDP).
There's still a demarcation line in most organisations, above which flexible working is perceived to be impossible. And yet, as Amanda Morrison, Partner at KPMG pointed out recently "working flexibly is easier when you are at a senior level. Whilst you drive the work agenda strategically, you have a team to help actually deliver the work." (Hours to Suit)
No more excuses, it's High Time we did something.
This year the HalsAllan directors are rising to the challenge and running the High Time campaign. Throughout 2008 we'll be questioning outmoded thinking and working practices which limit choices at senior levels. We're focussing specifically on this group because these are the people who model what's rewarded in an organisation. Unless they're seen to be working flexibly nothing is really going to change.
Junior employees will continue to see a request for flexibility as career death. Those who ask will be judged as less dedicated to their careers, and will probably end up working below their skills level as a trade off for the privilege of being able to work flexibly. This is crazy in an economy which depends on high skills levels to remain competitive.
This blog is my "campaign diary". Over the coming months I plan to share information about our campaign partners and how we're progressing. More information about the campaign can be found on my personal website. Resources for those who want to join us in taking action have been posted on the HalsAllan website.
According to the BBC "It's High Time" "is a formal statement that it is important that something happen soon or that something happen now. My sentiments exactly. And the "something" is a change in the way organisations approach the whole issue of flexible working for executive and senior managers and directors.
In a valedictory report last year, the Equal Opportunities Commission suggested a need to transform the way we work if Britain is to compete successfully in global markets. For this to happen both employers and employees must move away from seeing flexibility as a personal issue, negotiated as a concession from the 'norm' for specific caring reasons.
The argument for change is compelling. By 2010 (just two years away) less than 20% of the full-time workforce will be able-bodied white men in full-time work. Half of UK adults already want more flexible hours while 57% of part-timers and 1 in 6 parents of children under five would have made different choices if better flexible working options were available to them. It's been estimated this lack of choice is costing the UK economy around £23 billion (or 2% of GDP).
There's still a demarcation line in most organisations, above which flexible working is perceived to be impossible. And yet, as Amanda Morrison, Partner at KPMG pointed out recently "working flexibly is easier when you are at a senior level. Whilst you drive the work agenda strategically, you have a team to help actually deliver the work." (Hours to Suit)
No more excuses, it's High Time we did something.
This year the HalsAllan directors are rising to the challenge and running the High Time campaign. Throughout 2008 we'll be questioning outmoded thinking and working practices which limit choices at senior levels. We're focussing specifically on this group because these are the people who model what's rewarded in an organisation. Unless they're seen to be working flexibly nothing is really going to change.
Junior employees will continue to see a request for flexibility as career death. Those who ask will be judged as less dedicated to their careers, and will probably end up working below their skills level as a trade off for the privilege of being able to work flexibly. This is crazy in an economy which depends on high skills levels to remain competitive.
This blog is my "campaign diary". Over the coming months I plan to share information about our campaign partners and how we're progressing. More information about the campaign can be found on my personal website. Resources for those who want to join us in taking action have been posted on the HalsAllan website.
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