Family Friendly Job/Company Wishlist

[Speckledeggy]

For a long time I've been thinking there must be an easier way for Mums to earn money and fulfil their commitments at home.

Am currently thinking that a business designed around the needs of the average Mum would be a wonderful. Could it work? What would be on your wishlist? Was thinking along the lines of...
Shorter working day - 09.30 to 14.30?
Term time working
Time off for nativity play, sports day, etc.

Sounds like a total pipedream I know, but I would love to set up a family friendly company. Too many companies are run by men with no flexibility. We don't all want to work full time!

I wholeheartedly agree
and it's all well and good but your customers probably won't necessarily need what you're selling/offering ONLY
during term time?

Well I do the time off for school activities and I provide subsidised childcare for under 8's and free for over 8's, I understand that you need to be off when your children are ill (& ask you to help out when other parents are in that situation)

But I still can't get staff

Very true, but I am trying to think outside the box.

A traditional company with traditional customers would need to be available year round. I am thinking along the lines of Phoenix cards where it wouldn't necessarily matter.

There are a whole load of talented women out there who want to work but want it to fit around their lives at home. There must be something we can do! Anyway, who said companies must operate five days a week, 52 weeks a year?

We offer exactly these terms to our employee, who's a mum. It works well because we also have kids and the office is at our home, so we work on half-power in school holidays and manage without her. One day we'll need a 'proper' office and more employees/hours but for now it's a great arrangement. We have a committed and very talented team-member who's been with us for several years during the start-up phase of a growing business.

Speckledeggy

I wouldn't limit it to Mums (or Dad's for that matter!) There are people who could cover the holidays and could well appreciate flexible working - ie working less in the school times. People with volunteering / travel desires, older people or people with no children who would prefer their holidays outside of school hols or wish to work part time but without the school constraints, sporting people who would like time off for training / competing etc.

Wish List: Split roles eg customer facing and admin so that role could be done in parallel rather than all having to be done by one person.
Homeworking to limit commuting with adequate technology support.
Access to shared childcare if job sharing to reduce cost (eg pay for one full time nursery place / nanny for two children who would use the place between them.
Shared after school / emergency care to cover short notice work requirements.
If the business was large enough, a shared resource to be a "home PA" to do errands, online shopping, virtual concierge (there to let the plumber in if you are at work) etc.

I might be back with more ideas!!

I'd agree you may need to work out what sort of business it is - DH tries hard to run a lovely, family friendly, supportive company, and has had clients complain seriously because they don't like having account managers who are PT / job sharing, leaving work at 3 to pick up children etc. Unfortunately, if the companies or people you're trying to do business with want to work certain hours, then they expect you to do that too...