Since the pandemic, one of the buzz words to come out of it, is “flexible working”. For the thousands of women who have to balance family commitments around their career, flexible working has always been at the forefront of our career decisions.
Have you found yourself at the mercy of your boss, or your work’s rota schedule when you needed to be somewhere for your family? Family commitments, such as taking a dependent parent to the hospital, or picking up a child from school early, often falls on women’s shoulders.
According to Carers UK, over 3 million people are trying to juggle caring for a loved one, with work. This is in addition to the 75% of mothers who are working. Which is fine when you have a supportive boss. But, even if your boss is compassionate with regard to your family commitment, there are other issues to contend with. Many women report feeling guilty, like a failure, or suffer with increased stress, from trying to meet all demands.
Flexible working can help
If the pandemic did anything, it showed how easy it is for us to pivot to a flexible way of working, which is of benefit to both employer and employee. Maybe you experienced for yourself the efficiency of working from home, and choosing to work around your family?
The freedom gained by choosing when we can work, and when we need to be a parent, or a caregiver, released many from the oppression of trying to fit family around work. Especially when many of the UK’s more vulnerable parents were restricted from normal activities. But not all companies are prepared to adopt this new way of working, once restrictions lift and life returns to pre-pandemic rules. So, where will this leave you?
The freedom of WFH can help
Being able to work from home, once we understood how to use the new-fangled technology, proved to be beneficial to many women. Including mothers with school age children, which – although not always easy – brought moments of joy.
The ability to be at home, rather than having to commute to and from the office, meant they finished work at a reasonable hour, and could spend time with their families. During the summer, this led to increased activities as we took advantage of the daily exercise allowance, creating happier memories of challenging days. As a result, many women are actually dreading the return to a daily commute. So, how do you feel about it?
Being the boss can help even more
As we mentioned in a previous blog, there are many skills you have picked up as the carer of a dependent, which you may not have been aware of. If you were to become the boss of your own business, you’d gain the advantage of being in control of your own daily routine, and can work flexibly around your family commitments.
This isn’t to say running a business is an easy option. Although, you gain the freedoms we’ve mentioned above, and you’ll have the guidance and support of your franchisor, as well as the peer-support of the rest of the network, you are the boss, and the success of your business rests with you.
Within the franchise industry, there are countless women who are successfully managing a business they love, around the family they love. For some of our EWiF Ambassadors, the decision they took to run a franchise, gave them a greater sense of freedom than they’d experienced working for someone else. And they flourish, as they feel the support of others in the franchise network who understand them and their desire to be the best they can for their families.
So what’s next for you?
Could you take your future in your hands, and benefit from being your own boss? If so, why not find out more about franchising and how it can help you achieve the ultimate balance for you and your family’s commitments?
Download our free guide to franchising, today, or book a free call with one of our EWiF mentors.