Menu
Timewise Foundation Logo

PRESS RELEASE: Launch of 2013 Power Part Time list

Power 50 LaunchThe 2013 Power Part Time List has been put together by Timewise, which champions the business benefits of creating good quality flexible working opportunities. Click here to view the 50 business leaders on the list.

Co-founder Karen Mattison MBE built the list to ‘shine a light’ on modern day patterns of work, after taking nominations from all around the UK. Mattison aims to de-mystify the process of climbing the career ladder whilst working ‘differently’.

The initiative has the backing of EY and 6 executive search firms¹.

The 2013 Power Part Time List consists of 50 inspirational individuals who work in business critical, top level jobs. Every single person on it works less than 5 full days a week. They come from a range of backgrounds, spanning entrepreneurial SMEs, to the public sector, to blue chips.

List trends, at a glance

  • 43 members of the Top 50 are women and 7 are men (86 per cent / 14 per cent)
  • 9 work for FTSE 100 or 250 businesses (18 per cent)
  • More than a fifth have worked such a pattern for 10 years or more (22 per cent, or 11 people)
  • The same number have been promoted at least once whilst working part time (22 per cent, or 11 people)
  • 18 per cent were specifically recruited into their role on a part time basis (9 people)
  • 8 are CEOs or run their own business, and shaped their own roles so they could be worked flexibly

While the vast majority of entrants cited ‘time raising family’ as a reason for needing part time work, most had multiple reasons rather than just one, including: charitable commitments; caring for a loved one; balancing work with an illness and simply choosing to work fewer hours.

Members of the 2013 Power Part Time List, which is not ranked or numbered in any way, include:

  • Patrick Foley, Chief Economist, Lloyd’s Banking Group – works 3 days/wk
  • Alison Lomax, Industry Head, Creative Agency Partnerships, Google – works 4 days/wk
  • Richard Lanyon-Hogg, Distinguished Engineer & Technical Director, IBM (UK) Ltd – works 4 days/wk
    Sally Bridgeland, CEO of the £18bn BP Pension Trustees Ltd fund – works 5 short days/wk
  • James Boardwell, CEO & Co-founder, Folksy.com – works 2 days/wk
  • Lesley Lynn, Managing Director of EMEA Banking, Citi – works 4 days/wk (2 from home, 2 from the office)

Please find full case studies here

Role models for those who feel ‘trapped’ in part time jobs

Despite the prevailing view that flexible workers can ‘have it all’, research released in the summer found that most part time workers (3 in 4) end up feeling trapped in the first part time role they find, because it is so difficult to achieve promotion or find a new job, without having to forfeit much-needed flexibility2.

Many of those polled called for more stories of successful senior-level part time working, to prove the business case for flexibility and help aid career agility for others.

Timewise Co-founder Karen Mattison MBE conducted the nationwide call for nominations for the Power Part Time List in July, and led the judging panel which included Steve Varley, Managing Partner for the UK and Ireland of EY; Andy Saunders, Deputy Editor of Management Today magazine; Katie Bickerstaffe, CEO of Dixon’s Retail plc in the UK and the Nordics; and Lynn Rattigan, Deputy Chief Operating Officer of EY.

Karen Mattison comments: “These individuals are the face of modern work. In sharing their stories, we prove there is more than one path to success. Trailblazing employers who explore new ways of working, such as those listed in the 2013 Power Part Time List, are leading the way. They are amongst the very first to benefit from some very clear and tangible business benefits – including the ability to attract and retain the best talent.”

Steve Varley, EY’s UK Chairman and Managing Partner and a judge on the list comments: “The role models profiled in this year’s Power Part Time List are inspirational ambassadors, demonstrating that reduced hours never means reduced commitment and that flexible ways of working can lead to better results for the individual and the organisations they work for. I am passionate about the business case for flexible working, both at EY and the UK. I have seen first hand how it can help attract and retain the best and brightest talent, lead to higher levels of client service, create competitive advantage and ultimately foster a better working world. It is time that businesses stopped noticing work hours, measuring productivity in presenteeism, and instead focused on outputs.”

Alison Lomax, Head of Creative Partnerships at Google and one of the Top 50 says: “‘My career has taken off since working reduced hours. When I first began working four days I used to apologise, whereas now I’m proud of it.’

Andrew Matthews is Group Operations Director at Oxford Instruments plc and says: I’m healthier, happier, more engaged with my work and more creative than I was when I was full time. The transition was not easy but the end result is I deliver better quality work which is more satisfying for me, and beneficial for this business too.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors

1 The 6 executive search firms are: Egon Zehnder, JCA Group, MWM Consulting, Russell Reynolds Associates, Spencer Stuart and The Zygos Partnership.
²Research was conducted by independent research agency Vanson Bourne in May 2013, on behalf of the Timewise Foundation, surveying 1,000 nationally representative £20,000+FTE workers, based in the UK, who all work 30 hrs/wk or less. 77 per cent (more than 3 in 4) said they felt ‘trapped’ in their current part time jobs. See: http://timewisefoundation.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Flexibility_Trap_-report.pdf

Further information:

Please contact Jo Burkill  t: 0207 633 4553 / m: 07970 655 151 / e: jo.burkill@timewise.co.uk

Other Recent Articles

Share
FacebookTwitterLinkedIn