Do You Agree That A Part Time Worker Has More Energy And Perspective

For years, the term part time has been synonymous with junior responsibility and low pay. And yet, the pool of people who want such jobs, is far more diverse than that. Many are talented and skilled professionals with years of skill and experience behind them, who want to work in jobs that make the most of their business-enriching abilities.

Yet 3 in 4 skilled part time workers, in a recent study of 1,000, said they feel trapped in their jobs unable to progress up or out of their current roles, without having to forfeit that much needed flexibility. Some even reported feeling their time to have a true career was over.

This isnt how it should be. The UK should be a leader for best practice, in terms of part time and flexible working. An incredible 8 million people here work 30 hours a week or less. Part time workers account for a really significant number - 1 in 4 people - in our working population. Flexible working has been proved as an aid, not a hindrance to business: a recent study from the RSA and Vodafone UK suggested that an additional 8.1billion that could be generated, through better practice.

Some of our most future-forward businesses are starting to lead change. Innovative companies, both small and large alike, are starting to employ senior-level talent on less than full time basis. People who are responsible for running teams, handling major client relationships, and driving performance.

But its rarely visible to those below. By consequence, the myth that it cannot be done persists and those previously talked-about trapped part time workers, 3 or 4 levels below, remain so.

Last year, in a bid to change perceptions, Timewise identified and celebrated 50 of the UKs most senior level part time executives, for the first ever Power Part Time list. The Top 50 included Belinda Earl, the Style Director of Marks & Spencer (works up to 3 days a week), Lea Paterson, the Head of the Inflation Report and Bulletin Division at the Bank of England (flexes between 3.5 and 4 days a week) and Mike Dean, who heads Accentures BPO business (works 3.5 days/wk). Both men and women made the list, all working part time for different reasons. All challenging the concept that part time, equals lack of commitment or a limit to potential.

We are now looking to build a fresh list of a further 50 inspirational case studies, specifically for 2013. We want to hear from pioneering businesses of all sizes, to uncover the UKs most interesting instances of senior part time working.

Our list is being judged by Katie Bickerstaffe, the UK CEO of Dixons Retail Ltd who works part time herself, Andy Saunders, the deputy editor of Management Today magazine and Steve Varley, the Chairman and UK & Ireland Managing Partner of EY.

Bill Gates once said: As we look ahead, leaders will be those who empower others." Never was that more true, than here. Achieving great success, in part time or flexible hours, is something to be celebrated, not hidden. We bear the responsibility for shaping the workplaces of the future generation. Its time to bring individual trailblazers, and leading employers for flexible working, into the light.