If you want a job done well, hire a working mum – but they need more flexible hours

THEY say, “If you want something done, ask a busy person”.

Well, my version of that is: “If you want something done, ask a working mum”. Because working mums are nothing short of incredible.

Women who work, if you think about it, are juggling two jobs — one as stressful as the other — and usually doing both brilliantly as they are highly motivated to do their best at work and at home.

The only downside, of course, is the guilt that, annoyingly, seems to be part of the package.

So many working mothers are burdened not only by the stress of paid working, as well as bringing up a family, but also the guilt of being absent at times, in order to be a breadwinner.

Board meeting or nativity play? Board meeting or sports day?

It’s been a constant juggle in my working life.

On top of that, most working mothers will tell you that the last thing on their list is themselves because there is not time to even think about yourself while trying to manage it all.

And often it really does mean managing it all.

A recent survey by Oxfam shows that British women, whether they work or not, still do more of the domestic tasks.

Is anyone else unsurprised to hear that 67 per cent of women feel they do the bulk of housework compared to 18 per cent of men?

I think we try to do it all partly because it’s us who notices when the carpet needs vacuuming or the fridge needs cleaning.

But also some of us, women and men, haven’t grown out of the idea that, traditionally, the domestic realm is “women’s work”.

It’s an ongoing job, actually, for all of us to rethink ourselves into the modern world.
In fact, lots of people could probably do with adjusting their attitude full stop.

There is still stigma attached to women who embody the dreaded word “ambition”.

A man who stays late at the office is dedicated; a woman is selfish. (Your place is at home, isn’t it?).

And this is where employers are missing a serious trick: They need to start offering working mothers flexible hours.

There needs to be a sea change when it comes to the question of flexible working. It is at the heart of what most working mothers need to help them manage both a career and bringing up a family.

I’ve been thinking about this lately because of the number of women I’ve spoken to who have had to leave a job they loved after having children, not because they wanted to stop working but because to carry on in the same model as they had before was not realistic.

And their employer point-blank refused to think flexibly, which is very short-sighted.

In my experience as a mother and an employer, a woman juggling work with family could not be more intent on doing their job to the best of their ability — with knobs on.

Women working flexibly tend to work more and harder than they did before having a family.

One of the women on my board who works from home one day a week, goes above and beyond to do an excellent job.

And yet so many employers seem to be stuck in the dark ages when it comes to flexible work. They seem to think the words are a euphemism for skiving in your pyjamas, pulling a fast one on their boss.

Feeling guilty? Give yourself a break

The old-fashioned, some might say archaic, view is that if someone is not at their desk for ten hours a day then they are not doing a proper job.

The reality is working mothers are often so grateful for the opportunity to work flexibly that they turn up with all guns blazing.

That means levels of productivity, conscientiousness and also employee happiness and satisfaction are all massively boosted.

And that really matters, not least because when people are happier they do a better job and things run more smoothly for you.

So until flexible working becomes the norm for working mothers, I ask that the next time you find yourself feeling guilty, give yourself a break.

I urge you to roll the movie of your life on to when your children are teenagers. What you will see is that, yes, maybe you didn’t drive them to school every morning or to football practice or whatever — but you gave them other strengths.

You showed them how to be independent, that you get what you want if you work hard and that it’s important to have self-respect.

In short, if you go out to work, your kids grow up fine.

Mine are 18 and 20, independent, happy young adults. And that really is in part because of the skills I gave them. So have faith in your ability to be a parent as well as an employee.