The future of employment is a portfolio career approach

What's your name?

Annette Burns Young

What position do you hold?

Chair & Managing Director of Eumom.

How long have you held the position?

I have been operationally MD for 2 years, prior to that I held the Chair Position only which was a non executive role.

What are your day to day responsibilities?

We are a small, agile business so the scope is wide. My role covers vision, strategy and planning as well as overseeing HR and financials and mentoring of some of the management team. My co director, Olive share many of the management responsibilities and takes particular responsibilities for overseeing sales and clients. We job share a lot to suit the business and our own schedules.

What is your professional background?

I joined a large magazine business publishing company in London as a graduate and worked my way up an number of high profile consumer magazine publishing houses in the UK. I initially worked in advertising sales and account management but quickly moved into management. My roles tended towards driving change , business turnaround or strategic business transformation. I am never comfortable maintaining the status quo!

Tell me about yourself away from work?

If I am not working I am traveling - I am writing this from India! When I am away I use the space to think about new ideas or strategic development. The first thing I do when I am in places like India and Africa is read business magazines to see what is coming down the line for them and how that could inspire my work in Ireland. I find emerging economies fascinating because of the speed in which they transform. I love yoga and Pilates and firmly believe in the link between healthy body and healthy mind. Most niggling business dilemmas have been solved for me in Downward Dog!

Tell us something very few people know about you?

I am actually a trained Pilates teacher and taught for 2 years during a sabbatical from publishing. I loved teaching and doing so developed a tranche of new skills.

You are speaking at the forthcoming future of work summit. What is your talk about?

My talk is actually about the human side of the future of work and its impact on a significant sector of the workforce - women - and particularly women who are mothers . Our business eumom supports women through pregnancy and growing family life. Work is a serious consideration for women and families. Even if you change nothing in your work life after having a baby you will still have to consider the implications of work and family and make provisions accordingly. We know from our community how important the subject of work is. There is significant gains for society, the economy, organisations and families in understanding what motivates mothers to continue to contribute in the workplace.

What are the main challenges for employers and employees during this era of change?

For employers it is facilitating employees being their creative best and solving problems in the near future that we might not know about now. In creative or technology driven businesses our teams will do jobs we have never done or know how to do it. For employees it is seeing that the opportunity is to gain skills and experience so that you can own your own means of production. There is so much angst around the loss of job security; that boat has sailed and it's the wrong debate.

What will a good job look like in the future?

It won't be one job. As employees we will have portfolio careers and companies will pay us for the work that we deliver rather than owning our time. The high earners will be those with the most sought after skills and who are best placed to work with companies in the ways they wish to buy these skills. I see this as a great opportunities for working mums. This group is already comfortable with the value of delivering a service over time being owned.

Annette Burns Young, Chair & Managing Director of Eumom will be speaking at The Sunday Business Post Future of Insurance Summit on November 29 at The Crown Plaza Hotel in Dublin. Seewww.futureofwork.ie for further details.