Case study: Allens Arthur Robinson

All change

Maintaining the status quo at work when facing a transition in personal circumstances can be a daunting prospect. Dr. Jacqui Abbott, head of flexibility and diversity at Australian firm Allens Arthur Robinson, outlines the support her firm offers its female employees to ensure they best manage change.

The workforce at Australian-headquartered firm Allens Arthur Robinson (Allens) is made up of many outstanding women; women who make a significant contribution to the success of the firm. What is common among our female employees – and the wider employee community at Allens – is that they take their careers seriously. Our female employees view their skill-sets, circumstances and needs as unique, so they favour tailored programmes and tools that help support and advance their careers. They want opportunities to help further themselves – both professionally and personally – and they also want a workplace that is flexible enough to work at alongside their other priorities, such as family.
Flexibility is more than just establishing a flexible work arrangement: it is about how, when and where work is done, and about empowering employees to develop efficient and effective work practices that benefit themselves and the firm.
When chief executive partner Michael Rose was appointed into his role in July 2007, it wasn’t long – September of that year to be exact – before Allens ran its first firm-wide people engagement survey called ‘My View’. The survey sought the opinions of all our employees and one of the clear messages was that our people wanted us to assist them in dealing with the balance between their work and other responsibilities.
Specifically, the findings on flexibility were:

A demand for increased workplace flexibility;
A desire to be able to balance high-quality work with other pursuits, such as study, leisure activities and time with family and friends;
A request for more flexible work options other than just part-time;
Better management of the whole parental leave process; and,
Better workload management to help our people feel they have control of their day.

Seeing the need for a dedicated focus to the issue and promotion of flexibility to make it a reality in the firm rather than a ‘nice-to-have’, our director of people and development appointed me to head up flexibility at the firm. The importance of flexibility was further reinforced when Rose became Allens’ sponsor for flexibility within the firm.
The three priorities for the flexibility team at Allens are:

Position flexibility as a key business priority for our firm;
Strengthen firm-wide understanding of and commitment to flexibility; and,
Communicate effective flexibility practices and good role models within the firm.

Flexible work arrangements – in their various forms – now form a real part of many Allens employees’ working lives. For example, out of the 1,253 women employed at the firm (out of a total of 2,012):

263 women work part-time out of a total of 296 employees working part time (89 per cent);
24 women are on leave-of-absence out of a total of 44 employees on leave-of-absence (55 per cent); and,
52 women are working in a casual capacity out of a total of 111 employees working casually (47 per cent).

Aside from these examples of flexible working arrangements – while more difficult to gauge exact numbers – many Allens employees are working on non-formalised flexible arrangements, such as: working from home; coming in late (for example, for childcare drop-off) and working late; and, leaving the office early to collect children whereby employees might log on at home to work extra hours.
Since the launch of the flexibility team, Allens has introduced a number of initiatives to support and promote the idea of flexibility and flexible working.

‘Managing the transition’ programmes
‘Managing the transition’ programmes form the central platform of the Allens flexibility initiative. Whether you are a mother, father, or carer to a sick or elderly family member, Allens recognises that employees’ flexibility needs will vary at different life stages, particularly when family circumstances change. The premise behind each of the programmes is to acknowledge that flexibility will be different for each individual and may change or transition over time, and encourages employees to consider how we can work together to achieve an increasingly flexible workplace that works for our employees, their family and the firm. The programmes enable women and men to achieve and maintain a balance between their professional and personal commitments.

Helping women manage transition
One prominent example of a significant transition for women, specifically, is the birth of a child – a time that requires increased management of roles and responsibilities in and out of the workplace.
Acting on the results of the My View survey, Allens has completely revamped its parental leave programme. We now view parental leave as just one part of the entire transition period women go through when they are having a child. The complete transition includes:

The period when they are pregnant in the workplace;
The time of parental leave; and,
The transition stage when they return back to the workplace.

During pregnancy
Coaching
Managing the transition for women who are about to have, or have just had, a baby has been addressed with the introduction of individual coaching sessions as a key part of this programme. Every female in the organisation, regardless of level, is provided with a one-hour coaching session at around five months into the pregnancy. The sessions cover transition issues in the period between then and taking leave, the time away from the office and also returning to the workplace. This allows women to discuss – one-on-one and confidentially – strategies, changes in mindset and ways to manage the different stages. The coaching session is designed to help women better manage the different periods of transition.
The coaching sessions do not focus on policies and procedures, rather they are targeted discussions on the issues relevant to the individual around the transition they will face from being at work, to being at home and then eventually being back at work again. Employees are given the opportunity to consider how they are going to balance their career and family commitments. It is a practical discussion, and covers topics like:

Childcare arrangements;
Help at home;
Preparing to leave the workplace;
How much contact they would prefer to have with the firm while they are on leave;
Staying in touch; and
Their plans for their return.

The advantage of having a coaching session is that it can be very specific to the needs of the individual as circumstances will be different from person to person, and draws on the knowledge of an experienced executive and management coach.
The programme is one of the areas that sets Allens apart from our competitors as it provides personalised sessions specific to the needs and work requirements of each woman.
One year on, and these sessions have been extremely well received as they are seen to provide information for female employees that helps better manage the period between undertaking the session and taking parental leave. Women are also given strategies and information to utilise during their time away from the office, and also for when they are preparing to return.
The coaching sessions allow female employees to raise a wide range of issues relating to their pregnancy or upcoming parental leave, which may not be directly linked to the work environment, but are still relevant to their management of the different transitions.
Lawyer Francisca Hoffmann-Axthelm is one such Allens employee who will be leaving for parental leave next month. “The coaching sessions are a helpful initiative that are a good way to really get you thinking,” she says. “There are so many options and decisions a mother has to make when she has a child, so these sessions raise practical things you may not have even considered yet. The sessions are also a clear message from the firm that they acknowledge and respect your value to the business and that you don’t have to find a new career or a new field just because you have decided to have a baby.’’

Information package
As part of the programme, all pregnant women are provided with a ‘managing the transition’ package.
This includes:

A letter from Rose, on behalf of the firm, providing information on where to go within the firm for assistance and information on managing a career throughout this time and on return to work;
A childcare information kit with detailed information on childcare facilities and fees, including government assistance and rebates, and conditions of employment relevant to working parents; and,
A book entitled Careers Motherhood Challenges and Choices by Karen Mitchell, which provides information on being a working mother in the Australian business environment and how to successfully manage your career through pregnancy, birth and motherhood.

On parental leave
Buddy system
Allens has a ‘buddy’ programme as a way of helping women to stay in touch with the business. Women are able to select a peer to become their point of contact while on parental leave – and one they can contact as much or as little as they like. This contact person is a beneficial way for women on parental leave to stay on top of what is going on in the business, to clarify information they may have seen in the media or heard from other sources.
Hoffmann-Axthelm, who is already acting as a ‘buddy’ to an employee currently on parental leave, is in the process of selecting her own. “Having a buddy in the business provides you with a heads up of what is going on at Allens,” she says. “It is nice to catch up for lunch and to be that point of contact for your friend. I think having a buddy at the firm will be most crucial when I am close to coming back to work. It means you are coming back to work with the knowledge of who has moved and what has changed, for example, as you have been kept in the loop while you were away.”

Managing the transition network luncheons
The ‘managing the transition’ network luncheons are held in each of Allens’ Australian offices – Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth – and bring together all women who are planning to go on parental leave, who are currently on leave or who have recently returned to the office since having a baby. The aim of the luncheons is to allow women to network and to give them a chance to hear from other people at the firm about their experience on, and coming back from, parental leave. The luncheons have been a popular and successful way for women to meet others with similar careers and stories, to hear and offer tips, as well as see real-life stories about managing all stages of this transition.
“The luncheons are just so invaluable,” says Hoffmann-Axthelm. “While you know that every person’s situation is different, that every baby is different, and that everyone has different circumstances – like financial ones – the lunches give you a real feeling that you are not alone. There are so many options and solutions out there, and the lunches let you see real-life examples first hand. The environment is nice and relaxed. And with babies crawling around, it’s unlike any other Allens meeting I have attended before!”

Returning to work
Returning to work after time away on parental leave can often feel like starting again for some women. Teams may have changed, systems might be new, different structures might have been implemented – or simply your old desk is no longer yours. As part of the suite of programmes around ‘managing the transition’, all returning mothers are given a further coaching session around six weeks after returning to the workplace. This final session completes the programmes and ensures a smooth transition back to work.
In these one-on-one post-parental leave sessions, the transition back to work is the focus. These sessions are a chance for the returning employee to discuss their individual experience. These sessions might cover:

A discussion about working on a part-time arrangement (often for the first time);
Topics like communication with team members and delegation of work when out of the office;
Practical discussions about how childcare arrangements are working;
How the mother is handling or sharing pick-up and drop-off arrangements;
The quality of the work the employee is getting; and,
How the mother is managing all her commitments.

At Allens, we are building a highly energised and engaged working environment where everyone is inspired to do their best. Our staff’s knowledge, experience and expertise is what gives us our competitive edge. Therefore, a workplace where our employees have access to flexibility programmes is critical to our continued business success and sustainability.

Dr Jacqui Abbott is head of flexibility and diversity at Allens Arthur Robinson. She can be contacted at jacqui.abbott@aar.com.au