Businesses must embrace flexible working for men and women in order to thrive, says Guardian’s Harriet Minter at The Drum Live

She cited research recently published showing that over half of people who work full time resent their flexible working colleagues, the majority of which are usually parents – particularly mothers.

“I don’t have kids or caring responsibilities – I don’t even have a rabbit – but I do work flexibly. That’s because I’m terrible at being in the office for the time I’m told to be there. So rather than irritating my boss and co-workers we work on a system where I am judged on what I put in and what comes out – on my results – not how much time I spend in the office,” she said.

Minter stressed that this is just as important for men as it is for women, adding that it is “critical” that attitude is adopted across gender and industries, adding “If we can free people up to be judged on their results and work, not for time in the office – we could change society.”

“I also want to address why the majority of people taking flexible working hours are women. If you’re a guy, and are young and ambitious, you will see that everyone gets relegated who takes flexible working hours – or people book meetings on the day you’re not in – So that puts them off. Same happens with maternity and with paternity leave - they come back to lower pay, and a reduced position.

“I want to see some kind of target or thought process that shows not only when we put together teams we should be not only looking for different skills, but for how they like to work – to get a blend of talents.”

Meanwhile SheSays’ Sexton outlined her vision for a “hetero” working environment, in which male and female qualities and assets should be embraced and used in tandem, to achieve the best results.

She criticised the current structure of the working environment, which remains very male-dominant.

“We must gender out. Work was created by men, for men…success if judged on how much money you make – it’s how we are all conditioned to work. But is this is the only way to operate? As work is evolving, we don’t need lots of people clocking in like in a factory – we want creativity, and want to evolve to less of a command and control environment. Work is basically school for grown ups. More collaboration , community and connections.

Zone’s McKenna agreed, adding that the “ideal” digital business of the future will centre around ensuring there is more diversity at the top table.

She advised The Drum Live audience members to tackle moments of “fear” they may come across in their career, in a society where most people would admit there are times that they have to pretend they know the answer to something.

“To prepare for today, I’ve had to take stock of where I am. And I can tick all the boxes – I’ve worked hard, I’ve had some luck and I’ve been ambitious. But at the critical moments in my career – the moments when I’ve felt out of my depth, when I didn’t know the answers, the moments when I’ve had the fear – I’ve made it my business to find myself a mentor. To find myself the right mentor for the problem I’ve been trying to solve.”