“Every time I need you, you’re not here!” says a colleague, looking at me more with regret than reproach. “That can’t be right, I work 50%, so statistically you should find me every other time you look for me!” I reply, giving him a disarming wink. He has to grin and we get back to (half) the business of the day.
Of around 90 employees at Netstream, 10 work part-time. So we decided not just to watch passively and muse about it, but to ask our own part-time colleagues individually about the topic. What we learned was astonishing. Their experiences of and attitudes towards their own part-time workloads are just as varied as their reasons for working part-time.
Sasha, our showcase example when it comes to reducing working hours and also the youngest of everyone we asked, reduced his workload to 80% two years ago because of his further training. At first, he put himself under quite a lot of pressure. His expectations of himself ended in countless hours of overtime. He began asking his colleagues for help and experienced boundless consideration and support from his team. Today, he fondly calls the circumstances that led him to change from lone fighter to team player a “therapeutic effect”. Unlike his fellow students, he never received business calls on his “day off”.
Our Aleksandra cannot say the same. Her part-time story ended before it had really begun. As a project manager, she worked passionately in a 100% role for years. After the birth of her first daughter, she reduced her workload to 80%. She soon felt that, with a supposed “day off”, she was not living up to her role and the expectations she had of herself as a project manager. Customers who tried to reach her on her day off were redirected to her mobile number, because that is what she wanted. So she increased her workload again and has not regretted the decision for a moment to this day, even with two small children at home now.
Our Cinzia has no children, but she does have a time-consuming hobby: travelling. That is why, a few months ago, she asked at her first interview: “Would a 90% workload be possible for you?” Our HR manager Leandra enthusiastically said yes, because this brought one (of many) of her visions back into the conversation: giving all Netstreamers the opportunity to reduce to a 90% workload, as reducing working hours improves work-life balance. In addition, employees working part-time with a reduced workload can use their time for long weekends or hobbies. Would Cinzia have accepted our offer if Netstream had not made a 90% workload possible? Yes and no. In principle, she would not turn down a dream job because of it. But she also could not imagine that a company whose values do not allow such a wish from a motivated employee would be a good fit for her.
Florian would probably not agree with her claim that every 100% job can also be done in an 80% role. He reduced his workload to look after his son one day a week. Building a close bond with his son and playing an important role in his still young life means Florian would not rule out a 60% workload either and is willing to put up with some of the disadvantages of reduced hours. Florian does see it as a huge advantage that his line manager allows him to choose his shift so that he can pick his son up from nursery. Even so, he would like the number of his shifts to be adjusted to his workload as well. Together, we realise that a conversation with the line manager about reducing the scope of duties is not only desirable but absolutely necessary. I immediately add the item “Hold a conversation between the line manager and the employee about the new scope of duties” to our “Workload adjustment checklist”.
Our conclusion: we are not yet where we want to be when it comes to reducing working hours in our company. All the more reason for our message to our employees: Working 80%: Go for it! We do not see resignation as an option. Now we want one thing above all: to make part-time work at Netstream more attractive!
Our own – not scientifically proven – theory on reducing working hours is this: reducing your workload brings the employee one disadvantage: less pay. But it brings many, many advantages: work-life balance, the opportunity for further training, the gift of a day with the kids for mums and dads, the chance to challenge the team to work as a team and to live important company values even more intensely: consideration and humanity.
