Up and Adam every Thursday

Every Thursday, Adam Mills enjoys a breakfast with his eight-year-old daughter before dropping her off at school.

But rather than heading into Development Victoria’s office or opening his laptop to prepare for a day of work, Adam spends it catching up with other parents for a morning coffee, spending time in the kitchen baking treats or preparing the night’s family dinner after a mid-week grocery run. 

Depending on the weather he might fit in a 5km run or a game of tennis at the local club.

After school Adam, a Senior Design Manager with Development Victoria, takes his daughter to her swimming lessons – where they often enjoy a couple of jam scones he freshly baked earlier in the day.

How does he get to enjoy this?

Adam has taken advantage of Development Victoria’s flexible working arrangements that allows him to work part-time, four days a week.

Prior to joining Development Victoria two years ago, Adam had a similar flexible working arrangement at his previous employer. Both he and his partner work four days a week, which gives them an extra day a week to spend precious time with their daughter.

“Working part-time and taking Thursday off provides me with many professional and personal benefits,” Adam says.

“I get to spend more time with my daughter. If I need to do some work or attend a meeting online I can but it’s not expected. It’s taken a huge weight off us as a family and allows us to plan our weeks.

“Having Thursdays off means I come back on a Friday invigorated to finish off the working week.”

Working part-time hasn’t impeded Adam’s career progression. In fact, he’s already received one promotion since he joined Development Victoria and is seen as a valued member of his Precincts team.

“I’ve still been given opportunities to work on some of the most exciting projects in Victoria,” Adam says.

“This includes being part of the team that delivered the Sunshine Masterplan and Development Strategy that has attracted $143 million of investment to transform the area around Sunshine Station, on Wurundjeri land, and help guide change and future investment.”

Development Victoria’s Executive Director, People and Culture, Sonja Ruddock said flexible working arrangements provided our people a chance to create their own work-life balance.

“Work-life balance means something to us and we believe in supporting our team to work when, where and how they do best,” Sonja said.

“We are proud to support a culture where our people thrive because of the diversity that they bring – this is recognised as a key to the success of the organisation.”