We're almost there. It's so close we can almost touch it. We just need to get everyone over the finish line.... If, like ours, your children are hanging on for dear life for the end of term, then you might be counting down the days until schools break up. After all, the media would have us believe that the summer holidays are endless, sunlit days full of laughter and ice lollies. Shouldn't we all be looking forward to them...? Hmm. As all working parents know, there's more to the summer holidays than meets the eye. Sure, they're the stuff that childhoods are made of. But they can also involve vast amounts of parental juggling. Everyone's out of routine, and sometimes hot and cross. Holiday clubs can have limited spaces, and might involve a much longer commute than usual. They don't always open at times that coincide with the traditional working day, and it can be stressful trying to get everyone out of the door in the morning to an unfamiliar place. And then there's the cost! Frankly, it's enough to make you want to lock yourself in a dark room with only a week's supply of Cornettos for company...
But what if it didn't need to be this way? What if the use of flexible working patterns could reduce the stress of the school holidays for working parents, and lead to a more efficient way of working for organisations? Generally speaking, it seems that less stressed employees are calmer and more productive. That means it's in everyone's interests to embrace flexible working where we can, to make sure that employees are able to work in the most effective and engaged way - throughout the summer.
There are the obvious types of (very) flexible working which can help - those situations where term-time-only working is possible, for example. But this set-up doesn't work for every role, or for every organisation. In these situations, there are still smaller tweaks we can implement to make everyone's lives easier, with very little impact on businesses. Flexible start and finish times, or increased remote working, would make a huge difference to many employees - they can often facilitate summer childcare drop offs. The ability to work part time over the holidays, or to condense working hours into fewer days, can reduce the often-enormous cost of holiday clubs. Permission to work more hours during term time and fewer during school holidays can help team members to juggle all of their responsibilities. And these changes can often work well for organisations too. Unless you work in ice cream production, for example, there's a good chance that August might be a quieter time at the office, as clients take annual leave. What if we could use flex to benefit everyone - to save costs and concentrate everyone's time and resources where there's most demand? What if we used this opportunity to give our teams some down time, and helped them to work fresh, creative and well-rested, and happy to be part of a company that respects the need for work-life balance?
If this summer has involved more frustration than frolicking for you, then perhaps it's time to look for a role that offers more work-life balance. We have some roles this summer that are so great, they'll have you leaping through the waves to apply. (Think "accountancy-meets-Chariots-of-Fire"...). We'd love to tell you all about them. We all know it can be hard to close your eyes and take the first step into the unknown - we've been there, after all - but this time next year, we hope that you'll be relaxed, refreshed and happy, reaping the rewards.