Askews star Lianne Payne on front page of C&W in Business
We are delighted to share news about the latest edition of the Coventry & Warwickshire in Business magazine. Brightening the front cover with a big smile is our very own Lianne Payne, Head of Employment Law and Internal H.R and star in the Askews team. Lianne’s impressive professional accomplishments were just one part of the centrefold story which focused on her success at striking a satisfying work life balance. You can read the in depth interview on page 20 of the Jan 2020 edition of the Coventry & Warwickshire in Business magazine.
As a dedicated employment law solicitor, clients come first and the requirements are sometimes urgent. Fully satisfying a demanding role like this makes balancing a home life with 2 children and a range of pursuits and hobbies all the more difficult. In her interview with C&W in Business, Lianne shares in detail how in partnership with Askews, she’s enjoying a balance that really delivers the best of both worlds. A mix of flexible working, use of technology and support from her employer along with some excellent time management have helped make this possible.
Perhaps the most significant take-away message from the article is the hidden benefits for employers when they reshape their roles to accommodate flexible working and the hidden cost for employers who remain rigid.
“Good people are hard to find and employers are undoubtedly missing out on skilled candidates at the recruitment stage or failing to retain key employees because they are rigidly sticking to their outdated ‘9 til 5’ approach.” Lianne Payne
Lianne and Askews recognise that many of the most talented and brilliant people are seeking more flexibility and an employer that works to provide flexibility, allows for a truly successful and productive member of the team. Lianne’s flexible working arrangements include part-time working, compressed hours, term time only working and home working plus the option to adjust the balance as circumstances change. Rather than limiting her productivity, the flexibility sets it free with a little help from digital technology and the way it enables remote working.
“Here at Askews we’re family friendly in all our departments and that approach is far more flexible and is certainly paying dividends” Lianne Payne
Digital technology has opened the door to productive flexible working in an increasing number of roles. We can only be as flexible as the practicalities and tools allow so developing superior digital tools is vital to unleashing the potential of flexible working. In her HR role, Lianne is working internally with the Askews’ development team on HR Genie. This is our own, in-house HR management portal, developed specifically to empower HR professionals to be able to deliver more, consider better information and do that much more flexibly.
“The new portal is mobile friendly, it takes seconds to conflict check other holidays and appointments and it just makes day-to-day HR management 100 times easier” Lianne Payne
We’re very proud of HRGenie and even more so to have Lianne as part of the Askews family. We’re sure we’ll be seeing plenty of news about both in the years to come.
