I'd like to introduce you to Kellie Wade, a senior HR professional who has first hand experienced the return to work and who has kindly offered to share her story. Also mums@work client, she is an inspiration to working mums and dads out there...
Hello everyone, I’m Kellie Wade and I am currently the
Diversity Manager at King & Wood Mallesons. I am also a mother to 3
daughters under the age of 3. And I am still (relatively) sane. So
right there are three things that I take great pride in on a fairly regular
basis!
The majority of my career has been spent in generalist HR
and since joining King & Wood Mallesons in 2003 (when it was still known as
Mallesons Stephen Jaques) I’ve held a range of People & Development
positions. Prior to commencing my first period of parental leave in June
2009 I was the People & Development Centre Manager for our Sydney office
with responsibility for a team of 6 HR professionals and an internal client
base of approximately 500 legal and support staff.
I found that the beauty of parental leave was that in
between the life changing chaos of nappy changes, feeding and sleep
deprivation, I was given an opportunity to actually step back and reflect on my
career – the achievements, the challenges, and the future direction.
From that reflection I knew that whilst I really enjoyed where I worked and the people I worked with, I was ready for a role that would still make use of my skillset but in a different capacity, and preferably with a different pace. And so began a conversation between myself and my manager to explore this further. Starting that conversation was the key to ‘what next’, and I was fortunate in that my ‘what next’ ended up resulting in a move out of the generalist & operations HR side of the business into the small but growing specialist team of Diversity, an area which I quickly came to realise was not only highly relevant to the firm, but also incredibly relevant to my own particular moment in time.
From that reflection I knew that whilst I really enjoyed where I worked and the people I worked with, I was ready for a role that would still make use of my skillset but in a different capacity, and preferably with a different pace. And so began a conversation between myself and my manager to explore this further. Starting that conversation was the key to ‘what next’, and I was fortunate in that my ‘what next’ ended up resulting in a move out of the generalist & operations HR side of the business into the small but growing specialist team of Diversity, an area which I quickly came to realise was not only highly relevant to the firm, but also incredibly relevant to my own particular moment in time.
Several months after returning from my first period of
parental leave to my new role as Diversity Manager I went on parental leave
again – this time to become mother to twins. Not surprisingly, that was
the real game changer for me. The twelve months that followed were in
equal parts joyous, insane and adrenaline-inducing. One thing that didn’t
alter during that time however was my desire to resume my career again.
If anything that desire had ramped up significantly during the preceding year
and so despite encountering some nay-sayers (‘well surely you’re not going back
to work are you??’), I was determined to not only return to work but to
actually make it work.
The first thing I did was have a long and honest
conversation with my husband. How could we make this work? What
would the impact be on our home life? How would we both need to change
and adapt? Could we do it and not go grey overnight? He was (and is)
extremely supportive, but with his shift work, both of our families living
interstate and three young children, there were some practical realities that
we were not going to be able to escape.
Once we had crunched some numbers and worked up what we believed was our ‘ideal’ routine, I then set about having the key conversations I needed to in order to try and get the support in place. Our fabulous childcare provider had indicated very early on that she would do whatever she could to help us out, so she accommodated our request to have the girls at day-care on specific days.
My manager was equally supportive and accommodating. We agreed to trial an arrangement where I would work two days in the office and one day from home. We’re 6 months in and thus far the arrangement has been very successful. For part of the week I am able to come to work, reimmerse myself in the commercial world and engage in projects that are interesting and stimulating. For the rest of the week I can focus on my family and in particular my 3 young daughters, giving them the time and space to drive me and each other crazy and enjoying all that comes with that.
Once we had crunched some numbers and worked up what we believed was our ‘ideal’ routine, I then set about having the key conversations I needed to in order to try and get the support in place. Our fabulous childcare provider had indicated very early on that she would do whatever she could to help us out, so she accommodated our request to have the girls at day-care on specific days.
My manager was equally supportive and accommodating. We agreed to trial an arrangement where I would work two days in the office and one day from home. We’re 6 months in and thus far the arrangement has been very successful. For part of the week I am able to come to work, reimmerse myself in the commercial world and engage in projects that are interesting and stimulating. For the rest of the week I can focus on my family and in particular my 3 young daughters, giving them the time and space to drive me and each other crazy and enjoying all that comes with that.
For me, ‘success’ (or feeling successful at it) is made
up of a combination of factors but essentially there are three things that have
mattered the most - honesty, organisation and flexibility. If I wasn’t
honest with myself or those around me about how I was feeling and about what I
wanted, then people may not have known how or what they could do to support
me. If I wasn’t an organised person I couldn’t do what needed to be done
in order to make things happen. If I didn’t work in an environment that
supported real flexibility, then I couldn’t produce the required outputs.
I don’t have the luxury of being able to compartmentalise work into one box and family into another. I’m still mum when I’m at work and I’m still a Diversity manager when I’m at home. They do bleed into one another at times. But it is ultimately up to me to ensure my boundaries are manageable.
I don’t have the luxury of being able to compartmentalise work into one box and family into another. I’m still mum when I’m at work and I’m still a Diversity manager when I’m at home. They do bleed into one another at times. But it is ultimately up to me to ensure my boundaries are manageable.
Does it feel like a juggle? Yes, without
question. Some days more than others. But would I have it any other
way? Not for one second.
Kellie WadeDiversity Manager
King & Wood Mallesons
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