What a load of rubbish but you would be surprised at how few PR agencies don’t embrace part time parents. Our industry has a culture of long hours and in particular, parents struggle with having to leave at a set time to collect children.
I’m proud to say that my agency is very different. In fact we have openly embraced part timer workers and the benefits are obvious to everyone within the agency.
This was drummed home to me personally after losing my child care for the past fortnight and having to take holiday in the afternoons to be Dad. The result has been I have had my MD hat on in the mornings (after drop off) until the afternoon where I have been stood at the school gates ready to collect my daughter. The contrast has been funny but also tough. The morning spent focused on completing tasks, discussing numbers and running various meetings while the afternoons have been spent making animals out of pipe cleaners and colouring.
Having experienced this first hand I have an even greater respect for working parent than I did before because it is fair to say that it is far from the easy option. It is bloody hard work! You have to be organised and focused but it is also enlightening at how much you can complete when working with time pressures.
I often find it shocking when I interview people or talk to friends at other agencies at how few companies use return to work parents. How many senior PR professionals are thrown onto the scrap heap simply because after having their first child their agency won’t entertain the idea of employing them part time? I think this approach is outdated and short-sighted.
We offer our part time staff the chance to start a little later (after drop off), leave on-time to be able to collect children and have remote access so they can keep up-to speed at times that suit. In return for this flexibility we benefit from staff with 15 years plus worth of experience who truly appreciate the opportunity they are being given. This often leads to them going the extra mile when we need them to.
In short we get super smart PR professionals who appreciate and love the chance to work for a fast growing PR agency while still being able to be Mum (or Dad). I have found time and time again that the benefits far outweigh the negatives.
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