An Xledger employee on why it’s so family-friendly

Vince Costanza, 36, is a consultant at Xledger UK. He lives in Ashcott, Somerset with his wife and two daughters, aged five and seven. Here, he tells us about how Xledger has looked out for him as a working dads.

How do you utilise Xledger’s family-friendly policies?

One of the policies that I utilise is the Core Hours and Flexible Working policy. The main aims of this policy are to help employees with childcare commitments, help to save costs on peak time commuting, allow employees to work at times where they would otherwise be commuting and generally make a difference to staff where work requires frequent or long travel.

I work from home occasionally where needed and Xledger’s policy regarding this is clear and easy to utilise. There is also flexibility whereby you only need to be available for core hours, and outside of these you can make up your time – this is helpful when trying to book health appointments or for childcare commitments.

I also have taken the opportunity to include my family on the company health plan, which gives me great peace of mind.

How easy did you find the discussion with your line manager about what you needed?

A very easy discussion. My line manager is open and always available to chat if required. Right from the start we’ve had an open dialogue on what works best for me. Both my line manager and the wider Xledger leadership team have been excellent in this respect.

How has it affected your work/life balance?

My work/life balance has been great since joining Xledger. The flexibility enables me to have family time during the week. Working over an hour away, it makes the journey to work much more manageable.  It also allows me to get back home and see my children before they go to bed and even take them to school on the odd occasion, which is nice.

Also, at peak times, the traffic can be bad coming into the office meaning you may arrive a little later, which isn’t a problem with the policies in place – so it really takes the pressure and stress off.

What are some of the challenges you see your dad friends in other jobs facing?

A lot of my ‘dad’ friends either have a weekend working pattern or are in jobs where the flexibility just isn’t there. Their employers seem to have an old-fashioned type of approach where if you are not there, you aren’t working, which can make it difficult when flexibility is needed for the family.

What do you think other companies could do to emulate Xledger and do you think it’s affected who you would work for moving forward?

I think other companies need to ensure that trust between company and employee is there. Having that respectful and trusting relationship with a line manager and support from the company as a whole is really great.

Xledger understands that employees have lives outside of work and their policies support this. Xledger has a great culture within the office and is a fantastic environment to work in (so that being in the office is a truly enjoyable experience). With a hybrid approach, you get the best of both scenarios which really works. If I was going to work for another company in the future, then I would definitely be looking for a similar balance, within a supportive, flexible and fun culture, just like the one Xledger provides.

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