In a year that keeps going from crazy to crazier, some organisations are pressing forwards with their missions while the rest of the world locks down. One of those organisations is Flexpo.
Last year Flexpo was able to meet in person and the amazing Mother Pukka headlined the event. You can catch up with last year’s event and our recap episode here.
This year, the message was similar even if the method of delivery was entirely different. Flexpo 2020 went 100% virtual with booths and swag bags, chat and a mix of live and pre-recorded presentations. The Full Playlist of videos from the event are now on YouTube.
How the workplace has changed since Covid:
Mother Pukka headlined the event again this year. She highlighted research funded by Sir Robert McAlpine into flexible work where they interviewed 1,420 employers from around the country about how their work patterns had changed during lockdown.
Out of the research came some key highlights particularly with regards to employers:
- 71% of employers were using flexible working and 53% planned to continue or adopt it.
- 58% of employers were working from home MORE than before Covid
- 40% of employers said their employees are doing more compressed hours than before Covid
- 36% of employers have seen an increase in flexitime
- 27% of employers reported more part time work than before Covid
- 13% of employers had increased job shares as a result of Covid
Highlights from the panel on making move to self-employment, Joy Foster (TechPixies) and Rebecca Newenham (Get Ahead VA):
Founder of TechPixies, Joy Foster, participated in a panel about how to make the move to self-employed with Rebecca Newenham, founder of Get Ahead VA. Joy also taught a mini workshop on how to market yourself and your business in 2020/21.
Both Joy and Rebecca talked about hiring coaches and seeking out mentors to help them build their business and investing in their ‘business education’ rather than trying to learn how to do things for free on YouTube.
Joy also talked about how there are many different ways to fund businesses from low-interest Start-Up Loans, to Crowdfunding, to raising money through investment.
Another topic of conversation was around thinking bigger and getting help. Many women are afraid to start hiring other women. They are afraid to put a number down and they don’t pay themselves or build their salaries into their cash flow forecast. It is really important to do these things because otherwise, you will end up working for free for far to long or undervaluing what you have to offer.
Marketing Your Business highlights from Joy Foster, founder of TechPixies
Following the panel discussion about going self-employed, Joy then talked about how to market yourself and your business. Here’s the advice she gave:
- Your ideal customer or ideal employer is out there, you just have to find them.
- An ideal customer is one who pays, an ideal employer is one who gives you flexible, well-paid work and rewards you for a job well done
- If you are working for free – put a time limit on it. Every minute you are doing free work, you are unable to do paid work. That doesn’t mean that you should never do volunteer work – but far too many women spend their time giving away their time for free and wonder why they can’t find paid work.
- Start listening to your negative thoughts – and counter balance them by finding evidence in your life where you delivered. Always celebrate the small wins. If you can create case studies around results you got for clients, this will help when you are pitching to new clients or employers.
- Last but not least, it is really important in 2020/2021 to get familiar with being on video. If you want to keep networking and connecting with people you don’t know, you 100% need to be putting yourself out there and right now, the only way to do that is online! So get comfortable with it!
Highlights from the Pensions: NOW chat with Samantha Gould
Samantha Gould’s life’s work is to help women sort out their pensions. She recently released a report on the pension gap which reveals that there are 50% more women heading towards retirement without any private pension savings at all. Read the full report HERE.
Sam talked about the need for around £20k per year to have a decent standard of living. The average woman retires with around £51k, single Mums are retiring with around £18k. In reality, to have £20k a year when you retire, you need £400k in savings.
She explained that paying into pension regularly is really important for women as otherwise, they will face a longer career and/or the inability to retire when they want to retire.
Sam’s final piece of advice was think about your 66 year old self – ask her what she would want you to do right now! Look at your pension, find out where you are now in terms of your position and get a plan for your future. Your futureself will thank you for it!
You can find out more on her website: https://www.fairpensionsforall.com/
Additional highlights and people we think you should connect with…
Sarah Taylor Phillips from Career Voyage gave a mini teaching on how to leverage LinkedIn in order to connect with future employer. If you get a chance to watch the replay you won’t be disappointed. Find Career Voyage on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Work Buddy was at the event as well. They help women with career and CV coaching. You can connect with Emma Jones on LinkedIn HERE and you can connect with Rebecca Amin on LinkedIn HERE. There is a Work Buddy Facebook Page HERE and the Career Happy Mums Facebook Group HERE.
Get Ahead VA, founded by Rebecca Newenham, has a book about becoming a Virtual Assistant and running your own business. Grab the book HERE. Connect with Get Ahead VA on Linkedin HERE.
Here’s a shout out as well to Enterprise Nation Female Start Up of the Year 2020 – That Works for Me – a place to connect professionals looking for flexible work with companies looking for professionals! You can connect with them on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.
Bubble Childcare was there as well. They help parents find and book quality child care near them. You can follow Bubble on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
No Desire To Retire helps older workers to find their next role. Since 2012 they have been helping over 50s to find their next job providing advice and resources from CV’s to interview techniques. You can join their 30,000 members and upload your CV HERE. They have a great post on how to structure a CV HERE.
2 to 3 Days was also at the event. They connect progressive companies directly with a rapidly growing community of high-calibre women who want to pursue their careers on a flexible basis. Find out more HERE.