The Guardian’s head of Women in Leadership Harriet Minter has urged business to do more to actively encourage their staff to work flexibly.
Speaking during The Drum Live's aptly named Evolve or Die session, Minter said the current environment within many businesses was one which frowned upon flexible working.
She referenced recent research showing more than half of people who work full time resent their flexible working colleagues, the majority of which are usually parents – particularly mothers.
“I don’t have kids or caring responsibilities – I don’t even have a rabbit – but I do work flexibly. That’s because I’m terrible at being in the office for the time I’m told to be there. So rather than irritating my boss and co-workers we work on a system where I am judged on what I put in and what comes out – on my results – not how much time I spend in the office,” she said.
Minter stressed that this is just as important for men as it is for women, adding that it is “critical” that attitude is adopted across gender and industries, adding “If we can free people up to be judged on their results and work, not for time in the office – we could change society.”
“I also want to address why the majority of people taking flexible working hours are women."
“I want to see some kind of target or thought process that shows not only when we put together teams we should be not only looking for different skills, but for how they like to work – to get a blend of talents.”
