The archaic view that women should be ‘kept out of boardrooms and senior management positions’ has no place in the City of Kensington and Norwood. This is strongly supported by Mayor Vini Ciccarello, elected members and Mario Barone, Chief Executive Officer.
As a result, a number of women employees with babies, toddlers or young children just starting primary school, have been given greater flexibility in their work arrangements to assist with family responsibilities.
One senior staff member Effy Kleanthi, Acting Manager Community Services, recalls when starting work at the Council last year.
“I have a six year old daughter and she started primary school last year,” she said. “It was very important for me to take her to school, pick her up and be a part of the school activities such as helping out with classroom reading and attending school events which were mainly held during the day.”
To be a part of her daughter’s school life, Effy needed flexible work conditions. The nature of her work which included preparing reports, articles and various publications meant she could perform some of this work from home.
Resources provided to assist with these arrangements include a laptop computer and mobile telephone. The standard of Effy’s work was one of the primary measures in determining the success of the outcome of these arrangements.
The other aspect which was equally important, was to see whether she could deal with these types of arrangements – could she work efficiently and effectively and maintain the standard of her work performance and still meet the needs of looking after her daughter and be a part of her daughter’s school life? The three month trial was considered a success and Effy has continued to work under these arrangements.
“The opportunity to be a part of my daughter’s school life only comes around once.” Effy said. “I will not get this chance again. But, my work is also important. It is very rewarding and satisfying as a mother and as a manager. I simply could not have achieved this without flexibility and support from management and the Council.”
Chief Executive Officer, Mario Barone believes that from a management perspective women should be supported.
“Trained, experienced women staff members often leave their place of employment because of the lack of willingness of management to examine options which would meet the needs of women and the organisation,” he said. “This is a loss to the organisation and the individual. It is logical and makes sense to have and keep trained staff.”
