Creating more part-time leadership roles – challenges and solutions

There is a prevailing view that senior roles simply can’t be done part time. Many people will tell you it’s impossible – and that it’s not even worth attempting.

What if I told you that the opposite could be true?

The foundation of success in a part-time role is the ability to decrease your hours while increasing your impact. And really, who is in a better position to do this than a senior leader?

Think about the best leaders you’ve worked with. Were they deep in the weeds, working crazy hours and micromanaging every detail? Or did they empower and support their teams, remove roadblocks and get out of the way?

More than anyone else in an organisation, senior leaders can shape and lead their teams in ways that make it unnecessary for them to be constantly present.

The best leaders add value through their ability to create clarity amid complexity. They inspire and connect with their teams and develop the next generation of high-performing leaders. Excelling in these areas does not require leaders to work more; it requires them to work differently.

Yet, the myth persists that senior-level roles can’t be done part time when the reality is that most people and organisations don’t even try. This belief is not doing anyone any favours. It’s not helping the senior leaders who want to work part time, and it’s holding back progress for everyone else.

Why do we need more senior-level part-time roles?

There are many career-driven people in the workforce who prefer, or need, to work part-time, and who are looking to continue to grow challenging careers in leadership positions while doing so.

These include parents and carers, people with disabilities that preclude them from working full time, people wanting to take a phased transition to retirement, people running small businesses alongside their day jobs, and people on visas limiting their working hours.

If organisations want to access the best and most diverse talent for their senior-level roles they need to be open to adapting the shape of the roles to meet the needs of this talent. In today’s tough talent market, this could hardly be more relevant.

The role modelling of senior-level part-time roles can also play a big part in talent retention. One of the issues that many part timers in mid-level roles face is that they can’t see any opportunities for career progression – unless they go back to a full-time arrangement. It’s extremely powerful for people in entry- and mid-level roles to see that it is possible to have a strong career path while working part time.

Creating and supporting part-time roles at senior levels also has the potential to make a big difference to the gender pay gap.

Data released by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) in June this year shows that at every age, less than 50% of women in the Australian workforce work full time. The data also shows that the vast majority of people working management roles are working full time.

Addressing this mismatch by changing the structure of senior roles may just be the key to finally shifting the dial on this challenging issue.

What are the challenges and how can we meet them?

By far the biggest challenge is changing minds about what is possible when it comes to part-time work. You can do this by both presenting the case for part-time work, and showcasing examples of senior leaders who are successfully delivering in part-time roles. If you don’t have any local examples, the 2022 Power List by consulting firm Timewise is a great case study.

Once you get your executive team on board with the idea of creating more part-time roles at senior levels, the challenge becomes one of implementation. Not many organisations put the time and effort into setting part-time work up for success, so getting this right will be a huge differentiator for you as an employer. The critical areas to focus on are role scoping, policy, process and education.

The accurate scoping of part-time roles is something that is often overlooked, and a key reason for part-time work failing to deliver the balance required by those who seek it out. A structured role design process that includes input from the person in the role and their manager makes all the difference.

The policies to look at are your flexible-work policy and the headcount policy. It's common to see flexible work policies that actively discourage the approval of part-time arrangements outside of specific situations. And headcount policies can make it impossible for managers to use their total headcount allocation if they have part-time roles in their team. These barriers need to be removed.

The main processes to consider are goal-setting, performance review and promotion processes. You'll want to ensure that they support the equitable treatment of part-time leaders and support their career progression in line with their full-time counterparts.

Education firstly needs to focus on your people who are in the part-time roles, and setting them up for success in making their arrangements work not only for themselves, but for their teams, colleagues and customers. It’s also important to equip the leaders they report into with the skills required to manage team members who work part-time.

Although we’ve got a long way to go before part-time leadership roles become common practice, it’s something organisations clearly need to start taking more seriously. With the right influencing and implementation tools you have the power to help your organisation lead the way and reap the many benefits of this important form of flexible work.

Belinda Morgan is the author of ‘Solving The Part-Time Puzzle: How to decrease your hours, increase your impact, and thrive in your part-time role’.