Su-Ann Tan Burke is a Senior Advisor at Proximity, joining in 2017 to launch our Melbourne operations. She was previously a Corporate Counsel at Toyota Australia/Lexus Australia. Su-Ann loves being more than a lawyer. It’s one of the main reasons she joined Proximity.
It’s an interesting and exciting time to be a worker. Traditional concepts such as ‘the daily grind’, ‘9 to 5’ and ‘a job for life’ are fading. In fact, the thought of having only one job for a lifetime scares most younger workers and naturally curious people. I would count myself as one of these people with broad but complementary interests that continually morph as I develop my career.
I believe that perceptions have changed about how long you should stay in a job or how many roles on a CV is considered too many. Thankfully, it’s no longer about how long you have endured in a role but what value you have contributed.
The ‘gig’ or freelancing economy is helping to change mindsets about longevity. It gives individuals the opportunity to focus and deliver on a task or project in a set timeframe. An engagement could be days to months depending on the client’s needs and the worker’s availability.
Stints of these short engagements can help individuals stay fresh and achieve mastery of their specialisation – concurrent outcomes that the traditional ‘job for life’ model struggles to offer.
Proximity has been part of the conversation on future-oriented workstyles at events including the LawyersWeekly’s Future Forum, the Australian Women Lawyers Conference and The Legal Forecast’s ‘Law and the Gig Economy’ panel discussion. While we aren’t gig workers, we embrace new working models to offer our staff variety and flexibility. For me, this modern mindset and the variety of work are what drew me to Proximity. I have one employer but many opportunities. If I’m not supporting a client onsite at their office, I could be delivering client advisory services in a Proximity team, or I could be working on internal projects, developing new ideas, or Proximity products. The list could go on.
Proximity recognises that human talent comes in diverse forms. In a world where cross-functional skills and complex problem-solving skills are in high demand, Proximity sees flexible working arrangements as a benefit for our people and our clients.
If we limited our workstyle to the single, traditional model centred on being present in the office, we would miss out on attracting a diverse range of highly skilled people. We would also miss the opportunity to assist clients in new ways that align with their needs – for example, onsite at client locations or on a project basis, with fixed fees and customisable subscriptions. Rather than resist change, we’re using it as an opportunity to innovate.
Our highly capable workforce includes those who actively juggle roles as parents, carers, volunteers, students, consultants and board members. I enjoy working with a full range of people at Proximity, from university students with energising aspirations to highly senior professionals with a wealth of life experience I can learn from.
Our flexible working arrangements allow individuals to opt for meaningful part-time work, remote work and work outside the traditional ‘9 to 5’ hours. This allows our staff, irrespective of gender, age or background, to fulfil other life commitments. It’s our way of genuinely recognising that balance is essential for a sustainable, healthy career.
