Balancing a fulfilled family life and an interesting job is not a problem at Proficio

Working during parental leave or starting work after it is a big topic for women, which has been resonating in society for a long time – partly given the conditions prevailing in the Czech labour market. Perhaps also because in many countries in the Western world maternity or parental leave is much shorter than in the Czech Republic, women in the Czech Republic who want to combine career and children in recent years are being heard more and more.

Many of them are educated and have managed to gather interesting work experience. Therefore, there are a lot of women on the market who want to work, but at some point a lot of institutions have nothing to offer them.

What also does not help is the fact that people often move away from their extended family for studies and work and childcare is not always available for everyone – be it because of finances or the capacity of kindergartens or daycare.

The findings of Statistika & my confirms this – it states that women with a university degree in particular work less in our country than elsewhere in the world: “It is therefore evident that parenthood is a major factor that excludes women from the workforce in our country.”

What does working for Proficio bring the women? Marcela, who joined Proficio as Chief Office Manager after previous interesting work experience, is currently leading a team of our Office Managers across the whole Proficio group. She is also the mother of two older children, studying at high school:

Such a mindset is then also applied to other employees, namely Zdeňka, who joined Proficio less than a year ago after her parental leave to work part-time in Marcela’s team:

“It was already clear at the interview that something was different here. It was the first time I had a completely open conversation about having children with a potential employer and I didn’t feel like it put me at a disadvantage. At Proficio, I always feel like my needs are heard. The workload increased gradually according to my possibilities. When things are at their worst and the kids are sick, there are always ways to make arrangements, work remotely or come in after lunch when my husband comes home from his work. The managers are always open to work it out.”

And because one of our core values is freedom, we try to incorporate it into the opportunities we offer. In our industry, we often meet very hard-working and educated women, and we try to create part-time jobs or opportunities to collaborate on specific projects, or to encourage consultations with regard to the experience gained that can enrich others. In return, we get incredibly motivated, hardworking and reliable female professionals who we value highly.

The pioneer of working with us while her children were growing up is Eva, who has continuously worked as a consultand and even educated herself in various sectors, supporting and enriching the Proficio group over the course of the last 7 years. She is currently a great expert for us in HR processes and project management. We value our cooperation very much. In return, Eva emphasizes how important it is for her to be able to work remotely, which makes it easier for her to drop off and pick up her children from daycare without time pressure, as well as it allows her to maintain financial independence.

In fact, flexibility regularly comes up in our annual satisfaction surveys as the biggest benefit for everyone who works with us. We leave it up to our people to decide whether they want to work from the comfort of their homes or offices, which are really fine-tuned and often a pleasure to meet in, for example, over breakfast together. But during the holidays, with children in mind, we allow working from different parts of the country. However, a key condition must be met – that the work is to be done on time and to a high standard. This is the only way we can operate at a professional level and deliver a perfect service to our clients.

Gabriela, working with Proficio, confirms:

“I started working with Proficio right after maternity leave, when my girls were in nursery and I often had to stay at home with them due to colds. Now they are both in school and need me to spend the afternoons with them and take them to their clubs. I can manage all this thanks to Proficio’s very open approach, which on the other hand emphasizes personal responsibility. After more than three years of cooperation, I can’t imagine better conditions.”

Martina, a mother of two who joined Proficio three years ago as a full-time project manager immediately after her parental leave, feels the same way: “Everything is stress-free and less rushed for me!”

On the other hand, we fine-tuned our cooperation with Dana with regard to the end of her first parental leave and later after her second one:

Often it is enough to enable cooperation in smaller volume, e.g. in the form of consultations for other colleagues or clients. Bára, a mother of two young children, continues to do consulting for a few hours a month and adds:

“Working while parenting helps me to maintain my mental wellbeing, deal with different challenges and use my head to keep it from getting stuck. Plus, I can keep up-to-date and knowledgeable in a fast-changing industry.”

And Dáša, a mother of two boys, continues in a similar spirit, as she has the opportunity to use her knowledge of accounting, which she also gained during a retraining course she took while working with us:

“Proficio’s environment is set up to support mothers on parental leave, which I really appreciate because companies don’t always have it that way. The fact that I was able to pursue my career in the collaboration while taking care of a small child meant that I didn’t drop out of the work pace and it was even easier to return.”

We all have a slightly different situation, but all of our women share a great deal of commitment – and we try to make it as easy as possible for them, because we really appreciate that they have chosen to share their time with us. I wish more companies would support a similar approach as well, because we see wonderful and happy moms, colleagues, professionals and consultants as a result. Thanks to all of them for doing such a great job!