It is our strong belief that the most important thing to support women in addressing equality imbalance is a fundamental shift in those working practices that have revolved around a certain cultural and gender dynamic that simply doesn't exist in the 21st century.
Flexible working is the key to unlocking potential in the workplace, not just for women, but for men as well. Allowing people to flex their working life in a way that best suits them and their lifestyle means that everyone is a winner.
We are an all female team - not by design, it just happened like that! - so flexibility in a society that, even today, often favours the patriarchy is even more important. Team members having the freedom to do school pick ups, train for marathons, walk their dogs or care for elderly parents without impacting their work, ambitions or potential is where the real equality lies.
Lots of companies are making moves towards a flexible working model, large corporates have been trying to curb when their employees work in the evening by setting limits on when emails can be sent out, but we have to question whether that isn't just creating more inflexibility and even greater pressure?
England Marketing’s roots have always incorporated flexible working, trailblazing these practices nearly 24 years ago - we were trendy at that time and we didn’t even know it!
We do not have a bums on seats mentality, there is no need to 'leave loudly', we don't even really operate a holiday or days off approval process - working instead on the idea of accountability. We like the team to work where they can do their best thinking or communicating, whether that be at home, in the office, in a local networking hub, or out walking the dog.
Whilst someone is always available during working hours, you might find our staff working flexible hours that suit both them and their clients. We don't have a receptionist or admin staff because we operate as a team where everyone can plug the gaps where needed, and we actively utilise tech, systems and process to make it seamless.
You will often find Jess starting work at 6 am before the children wake up. She calls it the golden hour - a hot coffee in peace, allowing her to really focus on her day and tasks. It also means she can do the school run and even muck her horse out in daylight!
Esme can usually be found working late into the evenings - her husband often works away during the week and she likes to write reports when she can really get stuck in without interruption.
Clare likes to clear her morning tasks after the school run and head out on a pre lunchtime jog, this gives her time to mull over something on her mind or address an interesting challenge that a good run will provide reflection and clarity on.
It's the flexible working model that works for us and means our team are always available and will always get back to you quickly. All we ask of our clients is that you don't feel obliged to respond to our emails if they are early in the morning or late in the evening...unless of course you work flexibly too!