Off the back of the diversity
panel event I participated in a few weeks back, I was asked if I would mind
contributing a short article showcasing my story. My company was keen to
promote flexible working as part of a recruitment drive. Glossing over the fact
that my recent reduced hours arrangement hadn’t actually been particularly
successful, I was happy to help.
I was asked to approve
a brief piece of text:
Steph has early-onset Parkinson’s disease and works from home one day a
week in addition to a temporary reduced hours arrangement. Though medication
helps control the symptoms, it can be tiring. Initially, he found stepping out
of social gatherings a bit awkward, but his team really supported him. Avoiding
an hour-long commute and having extra time to rest midweek has also had a
surprising effect on his energy levels throughout the rest of the week. He has
a demanding job, but with careful management and a little flexibility, he can
work effectively despite his health condition.
“When in doubt, speak to your manager and, if appropriate, your HR team
about your situation – you’ll be surprised how accommodating businesses can
be!”
I thought nothing more
of it for a couple of weeks.
And then one morning I
checked my emails on the way to work. The first one was from a colleague in
Amsterdam.
“Just came across the LinkedIn update in which you were featured. Wanted
to say I never knew and am very impressed by your openness – a great example
and role model. Wishing you all the best!”
And there were several
others. I quickly looked at my firm’s LinkedIn page.
There I was, pictured
on Broadstairs beach in my sunglasses with my story, 30 comments and just shy
of 1,000 likes.
The comments were from
random people from all over the world:
Proud to work for a company that
walks the walk!
Really brilliant to see companies
supporting employees just when they need it most. as it should be.
100% true, living proof here! This
firm really cares about people, both employees and clients, the entire firm
lives by its values.
Nice to see great companies
supporting their people, keep it up!
I’m so proud of what a Firm I’ve
just joined is capable of. My father had Parkinson so I can definitely relate
to this.
I wish you all the best, you are
lucky to have such understanding support from your firm, keep up the good work.
And so on.
There was only one
slightly misguided comment, from a young woman in Dubai:
He's lucky, but everyone is not
I’m not sure that having
an incurable neurodegenerative disease counts as lucky but I think I see what
she means.
Of course, it would
have been nice to have been forewarned that my innocuous article was actually
going to be published on my firm’s global LinkedIn feed, but it was now too late
to question … my condition had overnight become very public with all my work
colleagues, clients, and several million other people.
Although I was initially
taken aback, the cat was now well and truly out of the bag so there was no point
in doing anything other than embrace the moment. I chatted to a few people
about it in the office and in a small way did something to raise awareness
about people living with Parkinson’s.
After 24 hours the
number of likes reached about 1,300 and there were a few more comments, but
activity pretty much stopped after that. Such is the nature of our digital
world that a story more than a few minutes old is already yesterday’s news.
So, I was famous for five minutes, but hopefully in a good way.
