Krithika Hansen is the Learning and Development Manager for Pitcher Partners, and...you guessed it! A working mum! She has been kind enough to share her story with us. She tells us about her working life before and after kids and how she manages that infamous work/life balance. Enjoy!
Prior to having kids, I worked at DeakinPrime as a Programs
Director within the former Coles Myer Institute. Currently, my role is the
Learning and Development Manager at Pitcher Partners.
As the Programs Director, my role involved working with the
GM’s and HR Managers of various divisions to consult, design and develop a
range of people development initiatives ranging from Coaching Programs to
Talent Development Programs. Prior to having children, I worked full time
and didn’t think twice about working longer hours or having meetings after 5pm
to get a project completed. I had a very clear career path that I wanted to
pursue and was very happy to put in the extra effort to achieve my goals.
I loved what I was doing and it was in this role that I felt my real passion
for Learning and Development/Organisational Development start to flourish and
bloom.
In my current role as Learning and Development Manager, I am involved in a wide variety
of projects that have a strong strategic link to the overall people development
framework. I work 4 days a week and I have to be disciplined with my time
to make sure I get my work done ideally within the 4 days. Many would
argue that working 4 days is like working full time and I would say that I do
take on a number of projects that keep me challenged and busy and could very
easily fill in 5 days and more. The way that I manage it is by looking at
timelines and having conversations with my stakeholders to determine how the
project will run and what resources are available to help get the work
completed. This process not only allows me to be involved both at a
strategic and operational level but also provide opportunities for growth and
stretch for members within the Learning and Development team. There are the occasional
times when I do have to work longer hours or take work home, but I find overall
the balance is really good and it’s a matter of me being realistic with what I
can achieve considering there is a family involved.
When I was looking for a change, I was clear that I wanted to work part time in a role that provided challenge and opportunity and one where I could add value with my experiences and background. I knew I couldn’t commit to more than 4 days and shared this up front with all the people I spoke to as part of my job search. I was pleased to hear how supportive everyone was and felt that it was a realistic request to make to my future employer. Pitcher Partners has been a very supportive of me as a working mother.
How do you successfully juggle a successful career
and family life? How do you make it work?
I have 3 children – Noah 5,
Toby 3, and Maya 2. It’s crazy in my house as you can imagine. My
husband has a very full job that requires him to travel and work long
hours. With no family support in Australia, I have learned to ask for help.
We have a nanny who helps us out 2 days a week and my husband and I arrange our
schedules so we can do drop offs and pickups at school and day-care the other
days. I am lucky to have a lovely group of friends who are there to help
if we ever need it and treat us like we are part of their extended
family.
We have a planning session as a
family every Sunday morning over breakfast and talk through what’s coming up
for the week and how we will manage it. The kids are fantastic at
throwing in their suggestions (realistic or not) as they understand that it’s
just the 5 of us and we have to work together to get the tasks done. We
can’t always have dinner as a family every night so in our house, we have
breakfast every morning. It requires us to get up earlier so we can have
this time together, but the effort is so worthwhile as we start each day
together.
Even though both my husband and
I have busy jobs and interested in growing our careers, we make sure we have
time for each other by having a monthly date night and protect our weekends to
make sure we are able to spend time with our kids and doing what they are
interested in doing rather than filling it with various activities.
I still have my overall career goals from my pre-children
days that I am pursuing. The difference is the pace in which I’m pursuing my
goals. I have had to learn to accept that I can’t work the long hours and still
be able to be there for my husband and children. I have had to make peace with
the fact that it will be a slower journey and once my kids are at school then I
can re-evaluate where I’m at.
Krithika Hansen
Learning and Development Manager
Pitcher Partners Learning and Development Manager
Published by mums@work
2 comments:
Great story, and certainly shows that you can be both a present parent and a valuable employee but you have to be organised and have realistic expectations of yourself. I too, am in a similar situation and grateful to have the opportunity to work the days and hours I chose, but I wouldn't be able to do it without the support of the people I work with.
Thanks for your comment Zoe. It is nice to hear stories of support. As you said, we couldn't do it without it!
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