Professionals who want to work part-time have to do more than renegotiate their working hours. They also have to redesign their jobs to reduce outputs. Research published in the journal Human Relations, by Dr Charlotte Gascoigne from the Timewise Foundation and Professor Clare Kelliher from the Cranfield School of Management, shows that employers often do not reduce workload when professionals transition to part-time.
This is not an insignificant problem for employers: one in five professionals and managers in the UK works part-time already, with more than two in five working part-time in the Netherlands. According to previous studies, a quarter of full-timers in the UK would prefer to work part-time, and are prepared to earn less, but don’t believe it’s possible.
The failure to redesign the job means that the part-time professional often ends up delivering 100% of the outputs in 60 or 80% of the hours – and for 60 or 80% of the salary. This usually means high pressure of work for the part-timer, and insufficient time for development, networking or career-building.
The failure to address workload on transition to part-time hours can lead to employees being reluctant to request part-time working. They see the unfairness of part-timers having to deliver disproportionately heavy workloads, as well as the negative impacts on their career.
According to Dr Gascoigne and Professor Kelliher, there is another way: redesign the job – collaboratively. Their research shows how some part-time professionals negotiated with colleagues, manager and clients to distribute workload more fairly across the team, and to arrange cover during their absence, although most did this after they had secured a part-time job.
Co-author Dr Charlotte Gascoigne, Director of Research and Consultancy at Timewise, said: “The solution is to recognise that part-time job design often cannot be done by the individual alone. Job redesign is best done by the team as a whole, and that needs committed support from the wider organisation. If that doesn’t happen, it’s not surprising that part-time professionals often feel stigmatised and see their careers stagnate.
"Employers need to examine the whole team’s working practices. In particular, they need to address two working practices common in professional environments. The first is the expectation that the individual, as opposed to the team, will be constantly available to deal with unpredictable client demands. The second is the failure to plan and share the team’s workload collaboratively, so that work is shared fairly across the team.”
Professor Clare Kelliher, Professor of Work and Organisation at Cranfield School of Management suggests that employers need to adapt to the changing shape of the workforce: “With mounting evidence that more people want to work part-time – not just parents and carers, but also older workers, millennials and those with health issues – employers need to address part-time job design. Cracking this problem could attract many more people into the workforce just at the point when we need them, post Brexit.”
The research findings were based on in-depth interviews with part-time professionals and managers in both the UK and the Netherlands.
Notes for editors
Download a copy of the research paper ‘The transition to part-time: How professionals negotiate ‘reduced time and workload’ i-deals and craft their jobs’ by Dr Charlotte Gascoigne and Professor Clare Kelliher.
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About the Timewise Foundation
Timewise is a multi-award winning social business, working to unlock the flexible jobs market in the UK. We share market insights on flexible working and flexible hiring, deliver training and consultancy to help businesses attract and develop the best talent, and conduct research such as our annual Flexible Jobs Index. We also run Timewise Jobs, a national jobs board for roles that are part time or open to flexibility.
About Cranfield University
Cranfield has been a world leader in management education and research for over 50 years, helping individuals and organisations learn and succeed by transforming knowledge into action. We are dedicated to creating responsible management thinking, improving business performance and inspiring the next generation of business leaders. We work to change the lives of our students and executives by encouraging innovation and creative thinking, as well as the drive to succeed and make a real impact on their organisations.
Organisations as diverse as Jaguar Land Rover, BAE Systems, Royal Dutch Shell, L’Oréal, UNICEF and the African Development Bank have benefited from our work, which ranges from management research projects, through staff talent management development on our MBA courses, to customised executive programmes.
Cranfield is one of an elite group of Schools worldwide to hold the triple accreditation of: AACSB International (the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business), EQUIS (European Quality Improvement System) and AMBA (the Association of MBAs).
We are in the Top 10 International Business Schools in the Forbes’ ranking.
Our open and customised executive education programmes are ranked in the top five in the UK, according to the latest Financial Times survey, and in the top ten in the world for international reach. Over 10,000 people come to Cranfield each year to benefit from our executive and professional development programmes.