Helping Families Achieve Work-Life Balance Across Time Zones

February 7, 2020

Ashley Lozito

Achieving work-life balance is top of mind for job seekers, who desire new opportunities that give them the flexibility to be present and engaged in their personal lives. But with technology helping facilitate quicker and easier workflows, it’s often hard for professionals on the job to know exactly when and how to set boundaries with their employers. Only 74 percent of work is done during normal working hours. In other words, we take more than a quarter of our work home with us.

In addition to just a desire not to work all the time, many Matillioners have children, aging parents, and other family responsibilities that demand we balance schedules and commitments. As Matillion extends its presence in new time zones and acquires customers across the globe, maintaining a culture that is inclusive of working parents and caregivers remains an important benefit to our team.

Benefits that help bring balance for Team Green

In order to make sure we are helping all of our team members achieve a healthy work-life balance, we offer a few things:

Technology – We use software like Zoom, Confluence, and Slack so that employees can stay involved when unexpected situations arise that keep them out of the office. Team members can always communicate quickly and efficiently even when they aren’t at their desks.
Flexible working options – Matillion allows for flexible working hours. We understand that the typical 9-to-5 workday doesn’t work for everyone. Our employees don’t need to take paid time off for doctor visits, school drop off, or other similar activities. We currently have 10 fully remote employees!
Other Benefits – We provide benefits that include parental leave, mental health services, marriage leave, an employee assistance program, and five volunteer days per year so employees can spend time giving back to their communities. We partner with two charities in our dual-headquarters; Wood Street Mission in Manchester and Brent’s Place in Denver. This allows employees to contribute via fundraising, donations, and hands-on activities.

Less time on the road = more time for health and wellness

Did you know that commuting one hour each way results in the loss of 22 days out of your year? Flexible schedules and a good work-from-home policy help give employees like Ed Connor a way to incorporate healthy changes and create family memories.

The great thing about working remotely is how much time I get back in my day. By not sitting in traffic, I am able to be there when my kids leave for school and when they arrive home in the afternoon. Being able to give them a hug before they head off to school helps create a routine and makes me feel as though I’m a constant in their lives. No commuting also means reduced stress for me and a reduced carbon footprint which feeds back into my general feeling of well-being.

I wasn’t a particularly healthy person prior to my time with Matillion. The stresses of the job and working in an office with a full canteen and snack shops meant that I would often snack and also have lunches that weren’t the healthy option (read: chips and gravy). Working at home has meant that I get a varied and balanced diet. My wife and I have started doing the Couch to 5k and flexible working allow me to take a little time at lunchtime to have a run with her. All small changes but with a big benefit of losing weight and feeling healthier.

Being excited and proud of where you work is a huge deal for me and I am lucky to have found that with Matillion. I’ve never worked at a company where the values are incorporated by everyone, regardless of role. For me, this shows that the company is aligned across offices and time zones, and that Matillioners genuinely care for each other and the place we work.

Supporting new parent schedules keeps employees engaged

Our director of demand generation, Sonya Hansen, had an atypical start to her employment at Matillion. After being offered a job and a start date, Sonya and her husband found out they were selected as adoptive parents to a soon-to-arrive baby boy.

Once you’ve been approved for adoption, you have to be ready to open your home to your future child in a few short weeks or months. I had already agreed to a start-date with Matillion when we received the wonderful news that our son was due in the second week of December. There was so much to prepare in such a short time, and bonding with our new baby was the most important thing on my mind. Starting a new job at the same time as Jackson’s arrival would have been impossible. In order to take time to settle into our new normal, I asked (and was granted) an extended start date. Matillion’s People Operations team was so understanding and allowed me to push my start date back to February. They even sent children’s books, stuffed animals and clothing for our new baby!

Companies of all sizes must offer support – not only for women but rather for families. Maternity and paternity leave are essential, flexible working structures are crucial, trust is paramount. If a team member has a sick child, why not make it possible to start work early, finish late or take calls from home to make life easier? By offering secondary carer’s (previously paternity) leave, businesses open up the option for working mothers to re-enter the workforce with confidence and less worry and partners to share childcare.

Flexible schedules and encouraging teammates

Keeping to a typical workday is not an easy task for most caregivers and parents. As our software delivery manager Steve Warburton can attest to, unexpected events that take parents away from work happen all the time and at the right company, adjustments in schedules can be made emphatically.

Normally, I like to keep really busy, that is how I work best. I am in the office Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday and reserve Wednesdays to work at home. My team understands this and schedules meetings for me while I’m in the office leaving Wednesday as my time to execute on work.

A couple of months ago my daughter burnt her hand on a treadmill badly enough that she had to stay over in the burns unit at the hospital. Because I keep my meetings to the days that I’m in the office, this particular day was jam-packed with meetings. Knowing I had to leave to see my daughter, I was worried about the spot I just put my team in but in true Matillion style it was tools down, “Steve please go and see your daughter.”

My meetings were rescheduled and my team picked up any queries I needed to resolve. Overall it was a great example of our values shining through as this behavior is part of the DNA at Matillion. And better still, my daughter is back to feeling great!

A culture that benefits present and future Matillioners

As Matillion grows our team across the globe, staying true to our values and our employees remains a priority for the company. We are a work in progress and take the time to check-in with our employees using a Culture Amp survey that they can use to voice concerns, comments, or suggestions on what we can do to improve.

Startups have a reputation for growing quickly, working hard, and asking employees to give their all during the workweek. Matillion has already entered their next phase as a growth company and we are committed to keeping our eyes on how that pace of change affects our employees – professionally and personally. As Steve said, “We are right in the middle of a digitally connected world. But we must never forget to switch off. Not every company has understood this as of yet. Matillion has.”