Save the Children International’s global HR and child safeguarding director on making work-life balance a reality
She describes herself as a “woman, working part-time, in a senior job, with two kids”, which is enough to fill anyone’s diary, but Claire Fox, global HR and child safeguarding director at Save the Children International, is also a qualified fitness instructor and is training for the London Marathon. After 12 years at Unilever, Fox published her first book: Work life symbiosis: the model for happiness and balance, before joining the charity in March 2015. People Management stole some time from her busy schedule to ask how she stays energised and happy at work and home.
How are you finding the reality of part-time working in such a busy organisation?
We’re in an age where, in many roles and organisations, if we need to leave a bit earlier or get in a bit later, you can pick up any extra work in the evening or work longer days the week before. I’m really ambitious: I want to drive my career forward and I want to work part time. So I make it work.
What is the secret to achieving happiness and balance?
I have spent years seeing colleagues work a bit longer than me, thinking that I am going to get left behind. But I have made the choice to not work in the evenings: I want to get home, see my family, go to the gym. My book explains how I have managed to do it. The philosophy of work-life symbiosis is about setting up your life so that you get more energy from work than you invest in it, and you invest the excess energy in the rest of your life. The most important thing is getting the right connection between home and work, and I think I have identified a groundbreaking model for achieving that.
What elements have you identified?
First, be true to yourself. You have to stop and think about what is important to you. Be conscious and mindful about what is important all the time and then accept that you might have to make some tough choices. Next, be the best you can be at whatever you choose to do. Some of that is about having a positive mindset, and some of that is about managing your energy. Whether you work 40 or 25 hours a week, everyone has got too much to do, so we all have to ruthlessly prioritise. Finally, set yourself crystal-clear boundaries and communicate them, because no one will protect them except you. Sometimes meetings come up on my day off that I want to be at or need to be at, and so I juggle things around. As long as it’s not the norm, that’s ok.
It sounds reasonably straightforward for a senior HR professional to manage, but how can ordinary employees achieve this balance?
I accept that people have different scopes to deal with things, and not everyone’s boss will be understanding like mine. The bottom line is, if you’re really unhappy, take matters into your own hands and see what you can do about it.