Laurie: working part-time
I’ve been with Grant Thornton since 2011, pretty much everything about the work we do has changed in that time. From the type of clients we work with, and more recently to the way we work.
I’ve realised in recent years how important it is to me to build a stable foundation in life for my son and any future kids we have. In late 2016, I took a permanent step down from full time hours to look after my son, after taking three months of shared parental leave. I figured I’d never get the chance to spend lots of time with my son in his early years, so it was important for me to be a part of it. I also didn’t think it was fair to just expect my wife to shoulder the burden and impact her own career path.
I spent all my time as a manager working part-time or on shared parental leave, so when I was promoted to associate director it felt even more rewarding to know being part-time hadn’t held me back. It was a testament to myself that I’ve been able to successfully juggle work and home life in a way that still enabled me to be progress my career. I think there’s still a fear or a perception that working part time, or taking time off for your kids, means you must hit the pause button on your career or even take a step back. Men taking shared parental leave thankfully seems to be becoming more common now, but at the time I had to get used to being the only dad in the playgroups!
I keep pushing myself to develop, improve my skills and progress. I like to always look for the next thing we could be doing or what opportunities there are out there to grow – both at work and at home. I’d like to be able to leave the world knowing my kids had all the opportunities they needed to do well and succeed in life. If I were ever to leave Grant Thornton, I’d like to leave my clients and my colleagues in the best possible place they can be.
Working part time can be challenging. I have a really great team of colleagues who help stand in for me with any important client meetings or urgent requests, and I’m hugely grateful to them. Personally, I need to be ruthlessly organised and committed to dealing with the urgent things first. I’m also up-front with clients about not being available on Fridays. Most of my client contacts are HR managers, so they are often keen to learn about our flexible working practices.
Grant Thornton’s support has been invaluable. My line managers over the last few years have been 100% supportive, which has helped me not to worry about if working part-time would damage my career. I haven’t been overlooked for any new projects or opportunities. It’s enabled me to build really strong relationships with my children and one of the biggest impacts on our family is that it’s also allowed my wife to keep her career progression on track and not have to step down in responsibility in order to work fewer hours.
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