Civica parents benefit from a modern workplace

At Civica, a career and family are not mutually exclusive

The modern workplace goes further than boasting the latest gadgets and technology. Instead, the modern workplace is embedded in an open, transparent culture, where colleagues choose how, where and when they work most effectively.

At Civica, we embrace agile working. It ensures that we attract and retain the best people and skills, and encourages our people to strike a healthy work-life balance, whether that’s through job-sharing, compressed hours, flexitime, homeworking or swapping hours. Our approach also gives our people the confidence that should they want to expand their family, they won’t need to sacrifice their career or feel disconnected from Civica along the way.

Catherine Townley, Marketing Programme Manager M&A, has taken two periods of maternity leave since joining Civica.

“Each time, I’ve had the opportunity to meet with my manager to discuss my return to work a few months in advance. These sessions were really useful in getting an update on what I’d missed and to discuss what projects and opportunities I could get stuck into once I returned.

“I also asked to change my hours to part-time, now only working four days a week. This added flexibility means I have more time to spend with my two daughters while they’re still young and need my time and attention.

“Having a family and taking time off hasn’t got in the way of my career. In fact, I’ve recently progressed in my role and now lead on transitioning newly acquired businesses across the Group to the Civica brand.

“Regardless of having taken maternity leave, life’s hectic! However, it definitely helps having such a flexible employer. Civica’s support has meant that I’ve been able to work from home so that I can make school events on time, and certainly helps with the school run.”

Paul Shawley, Director of Transformation, returned to Civica after taking seven months of adoption leave.

“My return to work was very pleasant. There was no expectation to hit the ground running and lots of consideration for those ‘new parent’ nerves.

“I also returned to a slightly different role, which had been agreed prior to me taking leave, and have found no barriers in my career since. Childcare commitments are taken seriously and simply accepted at Civica as a fact of life.

“Without Civica’s flexible working arrangements, I probably couldn’t have returned to work as my partner cannot work from home. Our son’s still young too so being able to drop him off and pick him up from school is really important to us as a family.

“Since taking leave, I now have a clearer separation between my work and home lives. Gone are the days of pushing on for a few more hours in the evening as I cherish my family time. As a consequence, I’m more focused at work, much more conscientious about agreeing deadlines and strive to find the most effective way to complete my work. Being clear with my colleagues and family when I’m available or not is never a bad thing!

“I would say it’s the culture at Civica which makes it very easy to balance my family life with my work. My colleagues are understanding, supportive and genuinely happy for our adoption in a way that is celebratory. That approach makes it very easy to be a parent whilst working at Civica.”

For a career that you can balance with your home life, browse what opportunities are available at Civica here.