Scegliere il giusto stage in un ambiente competitivo
In un contratto di lavoro flessibile, un dipendente ha voce in capitolo su come, dove o quando lavorare. Sia che si tratti di lavorare da casa, di lavorare part-time, di condividere un lavoro o di avere un altro tipo di accordo flessibile, in genere i lavoratori beneficiano di un elemento di libertà nel definire un accordo di lavoro che supporti il loro stile di vita.
Tom Neil è uno scrittore di orientamento per ACAS, l’organo non dipartimentale del governo che lavora in tutto il Regno Unito per prevenire e risolvere le controversie di lavoro. “Tutti i dipendenti che hanno lavorato per il loro datore di lavoro per più di 26 settimane hanno il diritto di presentare una richiesta per un lavoro flessibile”, spiega. Tuttavia, mentre la metà dei datori di lavoro del Regno Unito offre accordi di lavoro flessibili, un recente rapporto della CBI ha rilevato che solo uno su 10 annunci di lavoro menziona il lavoro flessibile. “Occorre lavorare di più per comprendere i vantaggi che un lavoro flessibile può apportare a un’organizzazione”, afferma Neil.
Quindi, accordi di lavoro flessibili possono andare a vantaggio sia dei datori di lavoro che dei dipendenti? E quali sono gli ostacoli che impediscono ai nostri luoghi di lavoro di adottare queste pratiche su una scala molto più ampia?
I vantaggi di un lavoro flessibile
Neil spiega che per i dipendenti, i vantaggi di un lavoro flessibile sono spesso focalizzati sul miglioramento del loro equilibrio tra lavoro e vita privata, nonché sulla cura della loro salute e benessere. Tuttavia, tali accordi incidono positivamente anche sulla produttività. “La ricerca del CIPD ha dimostrato che l’implementazione di pratiche di lavoro flessibili può migliorare l’impegno e la motivazione del personale”, afferma Neil. Natalie Pancheri, consulente per le politiche delle risorse umane presso la London School of Economics (LSE) è d’accordo. “I vantaggi di un lavoro flessibile sono ben consolidati, dall’aumento del coinvolgimento dei dipendenti a prestazioni migliori”, afferma.
Quali sono le barriere?
Ellis lavorava come falegname, ma dopo aver avuto sua figlia, sapeva che avrebbe dovuto trovare un lavoro che offrisse un accordo di lavoro flessibile. Ellis tornò al college come studente maturo e si riprese come consigliere. Ha iniziato a lavorare per un’organizzazione benefica che supportava le sue esigenze, ma è stata successivamente licenziata a seguito di tagli del governo. “Mi ci è voluto da maggio a settembre per trovare un lavoro che mi permettesse di lavorare con mia figlia”, spiega. Nessuno dei ruoli inizialmente richiesti da Ellis in quel periodo intermedio era disposto a offrire divisioni di lavoro – tutti desideravano una persona che potesse lavorare a tempo pieno.
La situazione di Ellis non è unica. Secondo un sondaggio annuale condotto da workingmums.co.uk, la mancanza di opzioni di lavoro flessibili, insieme ai costi di assistenza all’infanzia, impedisce alle madri di tornare al lavoro. “Il nostro recente sondaggio ha mostrato che il 18% delle mamme era stato costretto a lasciare il proprio lavoro quando non era permesso un lavoro flessibile”, conferma Garner.
Why now’s the time to embrace flexible working
In a flexible working arrangement, an employee has some say over how, where or when they work. Whether this involves working from home, working part-time, job sharing or having another kind of flexitime arrangement, generally workers benefit from an element of freedom to define a working arrangement that supports their lifestyle.
Tom Neil is a guidance writer for ACAS, the non-departmental body of the Government that works throughout the UK to prevent and resolve employment disputes. “All employees who have worked for their employer for more than 26 weeks are entitled to make a request for flexible working,” he explains. However, whilst half of UK employers offer flexible working arrangements, a recent CBI report found that just one in 10 job listings mention flexible working. “More work needs to be done on understanding the benefits that flexible working can bring to an organisation,” says Neil.
So, can flexible working arrangements benefit both employers and employees? And, what are the barriers preventing our workplaces from adopting these practices on a much wider scale?
The benefits of flexible working
Neil explains that for employees, the benefits of flexible working are often focused on improving their work-life balance, as well as looking after their health and wellbeing. However these arrangements also impact positively on productivity. “Research from the CIPD has shown that implementing flexible working practices can improve staff engagement and motivation,” Neil says. Natalie Pancheri, HR Policy Adviser at the London School of Economics (LSE) agrees. “The benefits of flexible working are well established, from increased employee engagement to better performance,” she says.
What are the barriers?
Ellis used to work as a joiner, but after having her daughter, she knew she’d have to find a job which offered a flexible working arrangement. Ellis went back to college as a mature student and retrained as a counsellor. She began working for a charity that was supportive of her needs, but was later made redundant as a result of government cuts. “It took me from May till September to find a job that allowed me to work around my daughter,” she explains. None of the roles Ellis initially applied for in that interim period were willing to offer job splits – all wanted one person who could work full-time.
Ellis’s situation is not unique. According to an annual survey conducted by workingmums.co.uk, the lack of flexible working options, along with childcare costs, prevent mothers from returning to work. “Our recent survey showed 18% of mums had been forced to leave their work when flexible working was not allowed,” confirms Garner.
Is Career Coaching worth the cost?
The voice on the phone wants me to draw a picture of Where I’m At. I’m baffled. Where I’m at, at that moment, is in the kitchen trying to extract a tissue that’s just been through a hot cycle with the children’s school uniforms. “No, where you’re at in life,” explains the voice. “In your life Right Now.”
That’s the point when I begin, briefly, to panic. I’d volunteered to submit myself to one of the UK’s leading career advisers, Corinne Mills of Personal Career Management, partly because the idea of talking lengthily about oneself to a captive stranger is always agreeable, and partly because jobs in newsprint are looking increasingly precarious. Flexible work that permits you to appear twice a day at the school gate is elusive, and recently I’ve found myself assuming my professional future will be bound up with a Tesco checkout.
This is surprising because a large part of her clientele are lawyers and financiers who are weary of wealth without the leisure to spend it in. But even they, it seems, are vulnerable to self-doubt when it comes to leaving the familiar and marketing their assets elsewhere. “People don’t come to us because they want any job, but because they want the right job,” says Mills. “What we offer is a confidence-building process.”
The gift of self-confidence is a pricey one. A full face-to-face course, which identifies desires and options, details job search strategies and hand-holds through the process of applying and interviewing, costs up to £4,500, although Skype sessions and a programme for new graduates are cheaper alternatives. The investment seems sound, since PCM’s statistics show that 83% of clients find jobs that appeal to them and 11% set up their own businesses. “A lot of career advice companies look at your CV,” says Mills, “but don’t analyse who you are as a person, your needs and aspirations.”
Who I am as a person remains nebulous, for my career has never required a written CV and I have left the sheets on Identifying Your Achievements largely blank. A memory surfaces about saving a couple’s wedding day through my consumer help column, but mostly my 20 years in journalism have melded into a pleasant blur. It’s now that Mills’ skills are unleashed. She asks me to recount my job history and pounces when I start with leaving university. “Which university?” “Cambridge”. “So why didn’t you say so?”
With more time she would have helped build these skills into a seductive CV and schooled me in self-marketing. As it is, she instructs me to establish a website to showcase my newly identified wares and to nibble cocktail sausages with influential people. I explain that the latter is impossible. I’m no good at networking. How then, she asks, have I managed a seamless succession of media jobs? I confess that my secret lies in tea bags. I’ve always kept colleagues well irrigated and they remember my efficient waitressing when I’m needy.
Heading home I feel freshly invented and equipped to embrace the adventures of middle age. The session might, or might not, secure me a fulfilling professional future, but it’s made me evaluate the past in an encouragingly different light. I’m even tempted to pay a few grand to hear more. But, right now, I’m off to a mirror to see if my newly translated self is visible to the naked eye.