Jasmin Sumner

I've worked a 4 day week (most recently 4 extended working days, equivalent to 0.9 FTE) for nearly 6 years (with 2x career breaks for my now 6 and 4 year olds).

Over this time I've still managed to progress my career, moving through 2 promotions, ultimately to the Director and leadership role I now have. What has made this particularly rewarding is the fact that over this period I've held client facing roles and have had full support in all my interactions with clients over this time.

A 4 day working week has provided me with a fantastic balance between being present for my 2 young children (having a day with them mid-week has been a special way to bond) and continue to build my career in roles that I love. I'm very grateful that ANZ provides a supportive work environment.

How I've managed this work/life balance over the past 6 years?

• Having a mid-week day off is better than you'd think! My non-work day is a Wednesday which in my view helps with efficiency. I often plan my week to request information from clients/my team on a Tuesday afternoon. This gives people a full day to respond/collate the request and generally be in my inbox by Thursday morning which does tend to reduce down time.
• Keep personal/work communications separate. I've found running separate devices very helpful. Provides the opportunity to completely switch off and spend time with family. I share my personal number with my L-T colleagues "in case of emergency" but rarely receive calls. -Be transparent and communicate your working movements with people. I've found that nearly all people are accommodating and flexible to meeting times to suit the working arrangements of others -If you have the opportunity to WFH 1 day a week, I've found this so beneficial - particularly in a role that has conflicting aspects (being a people leader needs office presence and a lot of positive interruptions vs. requiring focus to complete reports and analysis for client funding requests). I then plan around this, treating office days as a time for in person meetings/supporting the team and utilising WFH for tasks that require uninterrupted focus