(Simona Grossi) Everything, even the world of work, has become much more fluid, mobile, liquid to use a term from the sociologist Bauman. This is why intervention measures are necessary to favor the coexistence of people within this liquidity, in particular with regard to the reconciliation between private life and work, as this combination is no longer marked by a structure rigid and stable.
On the other hand, with this upheaval in the labor market, it is increasingly an accredited fact that indicates the way to company management through the adoption of soft skills, the attributes of male and female workers who were previously considered marginal, if not downright harmful.
Having people able to manage children and work in the company is in fact a competitive advantage, judging by the skills that are developed when one becomes a parent. Many of these soft skills are in fact generated precisely by parenting.
The ability to delegate, for example, allows you to place trust in those who can be supportive and to work better as a team. Similarly, dealing with a small child learns to manage anxiety and fear, a useful skill in managing the unexpected. A third feature is that of listening, which can be passed on from the child to colleagues and employees.
Another important development lies in the ability to create networks: the desire to share, with spaces designed to confront and give each other mutual support, can easily become a picklock able to unhinge prejudices within the teams. It also increases the ability to plan, time management, optimization according to objectives, all essential skills in the frenzy of modern work [1].
This is why, fortunately, more and more realities are focusing on this conciliation, seeing in it the benefits it could bring to entrepreneurial business.
A good example is provided by the Conciliando project promoted by ConfprofessioniSardegna in favor of freelance professionals, which consists of vouchers for the reconciliation of time and improvement of working conditions, vouchers up to two thousand euros to be used for the purchase of care services, educational and support for children up to fifteen years, for the purchase of care services for the elderly or disabled, as well as for access to spaces for coworking to practice their profession [2].
The reference legislation on maternity and paternity protection and reconciliation between life and work times is represented by the Consolidation Act on parental leave (Legislative Decree 151 / 2001), constantly updated, which with the passing of time has expanded more and more the protections for parents so as to allow everyone to enter or remain in the working world [3].
As the website of the Department for family policies states, in fact, "reconciliation policies represent an important factor in innovation of social, economic and cultural models and aim to provide tools that, making the work and family spheres compatible, allow each individual to better experience the multiple roles he plays within complex societies ”[4].
Last year, for example, a Labor-Mef decree was signed, which implements the experimental measure envisaged by the 80 / 2015 legislative decree, granting tax breaks to employers able to provide, in collective labor agreements, conciliation institutes between professional and private life of workers [5].
This point, therefore, represents a fundamental piece on which the protection of the welfare of all those families is at stake, previously forced to interrupt working relationships when parenthood takes over, and above all an enormous opportunity for growth for all those organizations, corporate and otherwise. , who will be able to count on the contribution of highly trained personnel regarding the essential company soft skills.