Girl Power
International Woman’s day is a cause of celebration and interest for us here at Fashionizer. Not least because 85% of our workforce are women.
A whole year has passed since Ruth Cadbury mentioned us in the House of Commons as an example of a company that has a creative approach to employing people, particularly women. We have been delighted that the past year has given us the opportunity to practice further what we preach. We have grown our team over the last year to offer flexible working opportunities to our new Marketing Director Katie who joined us part time in February and Avril our Projects Manager, who manages three children at home, as well as Fashionizer’s production.
We asked both Katie and Avril to give us their feedback on the difference working for a women-run SME and how this impacts on their work-life balance.
Katie notes that apart from a significant change of culture between the dynamics of working in an SME, versus large corporate organisations she has worked for previously, there are other differences in the attitudes of a majority-female environment.
Avril notes “being able to work close to home is very important to my children’s well-being. As a working parent, you are governed by after school and breakfast clubs to care for your children whilst you work. Having a workplace close in location allows me time in the morning with my children and a chance to connect with the school.”
“Being in an environment with like-minded parents and women, make the responsibility of having to explain the challenges faced and multi-tasking that much easier. My husband works away from home during the week and rarely has the task of juggling work and family life, his experience is like many men I have worked with, who are often hard-pressed to understand the complexities and stress placed on working mothers. At Fashionizer I enjoy working in an environment with such diversity of women in terms of ages, culture and experience which makes for an interesting days work.”
We also do have three male employees who work part time, although they do not juggle work with looking after small children!