CASE STUDIES Flexible Workers Flexible Workers Melissa - had worked as a journalist for 7 years and was currently on maternity leave. She wanted to come back part time to a less demanding and more structured role. Melissa secured a role as a senior level receptionist in a local government office, which fitted with her work-life balance requirements being 2 ½ days a week. After a period of time working in this role, Melissa was in a position to undertake more hours and secured a part time PR/Marketing role within the same organisation which included a promotion. Laura - worked for an Executive Search and Selection company and was shortly due to commence maternity leave. She loved her job working as PA to the Regional Director and wanted to continue working in this role, on a part time basis, on her return from maternity. Her employer did not wish to lose her skills and experience and agreed to a job share arrangement being put in place. Equals One identified a suitable job share partner (a mother of school age children, who was looking for part time work) who covered the role whilst Laura was on maternity leave and then commenced the job share arrangement on her return. Katherine - had worked in a senior Auditors role for a major financial services organisation. She had recently been made redundant and was looking for part time work. Up until now, her career had been in full time positions but she now wished to pursue her personal hobbies and was an avid golfer!! Katherine secured a receptionist role in an organisation, 3 days a week and within a year was promoted to a part time auditors role on the back of her excellent experience in her previous role Steve - ran his own Accountancy consultancy and was looking for some part time permanent work to supplement his self-employed income. Equals One had a client who needed some high level accountancy support but could not afford a full time finance director. Steve started working 1 day a week for he client, a perfect arrangement for both of them Eleanor - had run her own freelance PR consultancy for a number of years but was now looking to secure permanent part time work in this area. She had extensive PR experience but was struggling to find a role in a PR agency on a part time basis. A PR agency approached Equals One looking for a PR Account Executive to work on a part time basis and was delighted with Eleanor's experience. She has a very flexible contract with them and has agreed how many hours she will work per week then is allowed to manage her time based around client and work-life balance needs. Jane - was a mum with school age children who wanted term time only work. Alison was a mature lady whose children had grown up and left home. She enjoyed travelling but always tried to avoid school holidays due to costs and as she preferred quieter holidays. Her employers enable an 'annualised' job share arrangement, whereby Jane worked during school term time and Alison worked during school holidays. This was perfect for both employees who gained their ideal work-life balance but was also beneficial to the employer who had constant cover for the job. Martin - had pursued a career in sales and training and had just retired from a role where he delivered in-house Sales training. He wanted to continue working but on an ad hoc basis and was able to secure a position with a training agency whereby he became one of their listed trainers who specialised in delivering sales training. This arrangement was ideal for all parties as Martin did not want to work regularly and it also meant the Training Agency were only paying a salary as and when required. Mature Workers Christine - Age 51 Career History included working as a Shop Floor Assistant; Counter Assistant; Adding Machine Operator; Assistant Administration Manager all in retail environment. Christine was made redundant from Asst Admin Mgr role. She had developed customer service skills and administration skills throughout her career and transferred these into a role with Halifax Share Dealing which required high levels of administrative skills and involved liaising with customers on a daily basis. She was on £14K in previous role secured position at same level. Paula - Age 54- Disabled Career history included working as Clerk - Job Placement Centre; Office Manager; Operations Manager; Receptionist all in the USA. She had worked as a PA/Accounts administrator after moving to UK to marry. Pauline was unhappy in her current role and wanted to work for a small business utilising her transferable skills: Book-keeping; Administrative; Customer Service. She secured a role with small retail business who specifically wanted someone with SAGE expertise to act as Office Administrator. She also managed to get a job closer to home which was easier for her in view of her disability. Pauline was on £13K and secured a position at same level Brian - Age 53 Career history included holding senior level sales roles (Development Manager and Field Sales Manager). Brian wnted to continue in the sales environment utilising his high level sales skills but with less responsibility whilst still giving good OTE. He secured a position as a sales consultant with a Debt Management Services company who had specifically asked for sales people who would also have a caring/empathetic approach to clients suffering from debt problems. Brian on target earnings are c£36K. He had been on similar package in a previous 'cold calling' role but feels he has much higher potential to earn in this role David - Age 60 For most of his life David had run his own Sports Equipment business. He sold up the business as he wanted to retire but still wanted to earn money in a role with less responsibility. David had undertaken a variety of very menial roles, which he wasn't happy in and wanted something where he could use his excellent customer service/interpersonal and 'life' skills. David secured a Customer Service Advisor role in a major high street bank's call centre and has never looked back. He enjoys the interaction with customers and is able to empathise with many of their financial situations. His new employer is delighted with his progress and the influence he is having on younger colleagues. David had been on the minimum wage in his previous role and is now earning £12K basic plus bonus, plus flexible benefits package. Sue - Age 49 Sue has worked as a secretary all her life and recently held senior PA positions. She has worked full time for financial reasons, whilst her children were young and now that they were no longer dependant, she wanted to secure a flexible, part time position. Sue secured a job with a sole trader who works in the highly lucrative property development market and needed some secretarial/administrative support at a high level, working from his home on a flexible basis. Sue has maintained existing hourly rate and is now happily working in a very flexible role which enables her to pursue her own personal interests aswell. David - Age 47 David had operated at a very senior level in the IT industry working for a large corporate organisation. Working at Programme Manager level, David developed many other intrinsic skills including: Change Management; Project Management; Operational Management; Facilities Management David had been out of work for 18 months when he registered with Encore and was at an all time low as he felt he was 'banging his head against a brick wall' trying to secure employment in what he felt had become a 'young' market. Having identified David's key skills he was put forward for Group Operations Manager working in a medium sized business, which has branches around the UK. His key skills have been valued by his new employer with the added bonus that he is an expert in IT systems so has been able to provide support to the Group IT manager in addition to his own responsibilities. David was on £40K in his previous role, now on £23K plus benefits package worth £7K but had reduced his expectations as result of being unemployed for so long so was delighted with remuneration package John - Age 48 John recently moved here from the Caribbean and had been struggling to secure employment he felt because of his age and language barriers. He had held senior administrative positions in his home country and was educated to degree level. He was keen to secure employment in the UK from which foundations he could develop a successful career and improve his English. John recently secured a role working for a major high street bank as a Customer Service Administrator, working in their data inputting/processing centre. He had salary aspirations of c£11K and these were met with new role.