Cat Moore joined Empowered in 2015 and both her role and family have evolved a lot since then. Cat spoke to us about life as a Project Coordinator at Empowered and how she is able to juggle work and family.

Can you share a little about your role and responsibilities?

As Project Coordinator, my main roles and responsibilities include being the first port of call for Project Coordinator inductions and training. This incorporates a detailed introduction to our processes, systems and the way that we work.  

 I also manage the monthly finance forecast for the Project Management Office, making sure that it is up to date and relevant. It is my role to chase the month-end invoicing figures from the Project Coordinators and Project Managers and to create the invoices which I then send onto the client. 

 I am also involved in looking into the profit and loss for our larger projects, maintaining data inputs and analysing and assessing these for budget improvements. 

When did you join Empowered? How has your role evolved since then? 

I started working for Empowered back in 2015 as a Project Coordinator and since then my role has evolved significantly.  As a Project Coordinator, there is a business requirement to provide day-to-day support to several departments, both inside and outside of the business to ensure that projects flow well and are run and completed successfully. It is a very busy, exciting and challenging role that demands full time focus within the company. When I returned from Maternity leave in 2017, following the birth of my first child, I knew that for a few different reasons that I needed to work part-time. Initially, I was unsure as to whether Empowered had the capacity to meet this preference, due to the demanding and full-time nature of the job role that I had been carrying out. 

Since returning part-time, I have been able to focus on areas that are of particular interest to me involving Finance and Training. They were also functions that the business had a gap to fulfil. This has enabled me to work flexibly and balance work and motherhood and to aim for success in both. 

What do you enjoy most about working in Empowered? 

The family culture that is inherent throughout the business right from when I first joined the company, has always been my favourite part of working for Empowered. There is a very strong teamwork ethic throughout, and you’re never left to struggle alone.  

There is also a strong sense of “listening” within the business and encouragement and lots of opportunity to provide feedback to help with employee well- being, growth and improvement. 

Office banter is never in short supply, which makes working from the office a more enjoyable experience and a welcome change of scene at times. 

How do you successfully manage motherhood and having three young boys and work? 

This is very much a “work in progress” which requires as much organisation as is physically possible, though this is by no means always a reality! I will be forever grateful for the kids’ class WhatsApp groups reminding me of the many different and random requirements that would cause devastation if forgotten! I think I have accepted the chaos that occurs at certain times of the day, but I have also learnt how to work efficiently and manage my time. It is certainly a challenge, but one that is not without rewards, both personally and professionally and I am proud and grateful to be able to juggle the two. I am lucky to have support from family and my husband, who is also able to work flexibly to some extent and to prioritise accordingly.  

Unfortunately, I do not feel that the wider system overly supports parents that wish to return to work after having children and that it is largely down to the individual to make it work, with support from the organisation that they work for. 

What did Empowered do successfully in this area? 

Empowered was able to work collaboratively with and was able to support my personal need to work part-time. 

Flexible working, built up via trust has also transformed my work/life balance and helps to lessen the “mum guilt”. Having a manager that truly understands and supports the team has been invaluable and I think that Empowered has recognised this and worked hard to create and maintain a very strong workforce. 

I very much believe that Empowered has returned their loyalty to me, by making flexible, part-time working an opportunity that has enabled me to carry on having a career, whilst balancing motherhood. This has been good for my mental health and in turn, also for my family too. It can be extremely frantic at times and there is nothing worse as a parent, than feeling like you’re letting your child down because you can’t attend absolutely everything that their social school calendar demands! However, Empowered has made this less of a traumatic experience and one that I am able to juggle thanks to collaboration and trust. 

What do you think makes a great organisation when it comes to flexible working and supporting different needs? 

I think it must be a two-way partnership of trust and loyalty on both sides.     Communication and agreement are also key. An organisation needs to be able to listen to the needs of their employees and accommodate where possible, whilst ensuring that the needs of the business are also met. I am personally very grateful for the support network that is in place at Empowered and for the opportunity to be able to make the choice to return to work as a mother, by reaching a mutual agreement that whilst still challenging, works alongside my family life. 

What are you looking forward to in the future with Empowered? 

I am very much looking forward to continuing to be part of a dynamic and growing team. I hope to be able to keep expanding upon my skillset within Project Finance and to help play a role in the overall business success. Over time and where opportunity allows, I hope to be able to increase my hours to help further my career and I look forward to working alongside more great people that the business continues to employ. We have won some new and exciting and challenging projects recently and it has been insightful being part of a team pulling together to make sure that they are successful. 

To find out more about our current vacancies, visit our Vacancies page. You can learn more about how we deliver projects here: https://www.empowereduk.com/deliver or contact our sales team for further information at [email protected].