At JRMA, part-time workers outnumber the full-time staff. We think that this is brilliant, if slightly unusual. We are also proud that we have part-time staff performing extremely well in management and senior positions. With complex and busy lives, we believe that part-time staff are a great resource that expands the recruitment pool. Let’s consider some of the main reasons why someone might want to work part-time and the corresponding benefit to the employer.

Employer Benefits to Part-Time employees

• Childcare commitments
  • A parent who can juggle raising a family as well as working will have experience of multi-tasking, juggling and resolving disputes. This is a big benefit to those in more managerial or sales roles.
• Studying
  • An employee with a thirst for knowledge and a desire for improvement will bring that ethos into the workplace, and the employer can benefit from their learnings. Additionally, this employee could be a student of a college, university, or a self-learner who actively participates in courses and webinars for certificates.
• Caring for relatives
  • Those caring for older relatives, and will be experienced in compassion, patience and negotiating skills. This can be particularly useful for sales and managerial roles. Patience is a skill, especially in a professional team setting.
• Returning to work after illness or other leave
  • A period away from work can knock the confidence of even the most skilled and experienced worker. A phased return to work on a part-time basis can help build confidence, rhythm, and a hunger to be back in the workforce. Giving this flexibility is incredibly beneficial for the overall wellbeing of the workforce.
• Phased retirement
  • Part time working for those approaching retirement allows a transition and handover period, rather than the hard stop of your most experienced member of staff going from full pace to zero in a single day. This also puts the pressure off them to hand over and finishing everything in a short period of time.
• Multiple jobs
  • Staff who work part-time in more than one company can apply the skills and experience they learn in each business to the other. Everyone benefits from this wider knowledge base. The best thing about part-time work is the controlled hours/days of work, which makes it easier to allocate what jobs and tasks to do.
• Work life balance
  • Those who work part-time because they don’t need a full-time wage can be the most motivated of employees. They are at work for personal satisfaction rather than monetary reasons. This is an especially crucial benefit in the current days of the fast-paced and competitive career market. Less pressure on the employee means less pressure on the business and employers.

Consider Part-Time work

We wonder how the world of employment will change over the next few years. If part-time work is on the increase, does that make JRMA at the cutting edge of thinking now? As of writing this blog, we have 3 out of the 6 employees that are currently working part-time, which fits well to their lifestyle and fixes challenges to work.

There are a huge and varied mix of circumstances, and the people in this pool will all have skills and experiences that they can bring to the workforce such as multi-tasking, loyalty, dispute resolution, wisdom, compassion, patience, negotiating skills, a thirst for knowledge on top of the technical skills for the job.

Next time you are recruiting into your business, will you consider a part-time position? Or maybe, this work-style is what you need to reach your highest potential?

Resources regarding Part-Time opportunities

If you’d like to discuss potential career opportunities for JR Management accountancy, read here: https://www.jrma.co.uk/career-opportunities/

Additionally, here are some resources from the UK Government in applying for part-time roles in the Worcestershire area: https://findajob.dwp.gov.uk/search?cti=part_time&loc=86179&pp=50