In defence of flexible working

I don't want to work for an organisation that is only able to retain one type of person or particular types of people. Businesses are better when they have diversity of experience, be that derived from caring responsibilities, neurodiversity, or socio-economic backgrounds. We are better for having our viewpoints challenged. If somebody isn't embracing that culture, that's really sad.

When my daughter was eight months old, a recruiter refused to put me forward for a job because I asked for flexibility. I was a single parent, and all I wanted was to work from home a couple of days a week and leave by 5pm on office days for nursery pick up. I was really upset by the rejection. I'd spent all my 20s and much of my 30s devoting myself to a career I was passionate about. To be told I couldn’t do a job because I wanted flexibility was so disappointing. That was February 2020: it’s amazing how things accelerated after that.

During my interview for my first general counsel role, I was upfront with the CEO on the flexible terms I wanted. I was determined to have the career I’d worked so hard for and be a present and involved mother. I assured them that everything I had to do would get done. I just needed them to know that, ideally, I would do the role without a two-hour commute each day, and that on office days I had to leave at a set time. For me, it was more productive to spend those two hours sleeping, exercising, doing more work, or being with my child than travelling to an office. Plus, the ability to deal with laundry during my lunchbreak would be a game changer!

Typically, now I’m in the office two days a week. That works well in terms of keeping those important face-to-face, chance discussions happening and building team rapport.

I appreciate there are times when it makes sense for me to be in the office every day. If there's a business need, I will always do whatever must be done. But I've been in the office and seen colleagues sit on Teams calls all day – there’s no value in that.

I’m a mum and a lawyer, but I’m also human. Being able to be there for my daughter is important. I know I'm not going to be able to attend everything but being able to do the important stuff counts. It’s more than assuaging the mum-guilt: flexible working gives me time to do things for me. I love to exercise, but if I have to go to the office, the only way I can fit that in is by getting up even earlier, which is knackering.

Flexibility definitely breeds loyalty. People want to know that their lives beyond their jobs are going to work. If someone is miserable because they think they're failing at home, and work is adding to their stress, they'll look for jobs elsewhere. When you make things easier for your staff, you're going to have a loyal workforce.

For people to bring their best selves to their work and lives, they've got to have a balance. This not only improves mental wellbeing, but also makes careers more sustainable. Allowing flexibility enables people to live better and more meaningful lives.

I do fear for the calibre of the next generation of lawyers if we don’t get the office presence balance right. It’s important to have some mandated office time when junior staff can be trained. When I have had junior secondees helping me, I have gone into the office more frequently than I otherwise might to support them.

I know how important it was to me to watch my superiors at work during my training. If we don’t have the learning by watching option, I fear we will have a generation of lawyers relying on Chat GPT. Lawyers starting out in their careers should be in the office more but there can (and should) still be flexibility.

Ultimately, law is a hard path, but I don't think it needs to be. There’s so much poor mental health in the profession, but I think flexibility, treating people as grown-ups and humans can balance that. People still have to work hard, and be committed, but there are different ways of achieving it.