When Lisa and Saskia started The Biskery, they were new mothers who still wanted to work and have an identity outside of motherhood. They were however not willing for their careers to come at the expense of nurturing their children.
With this in mind, they created a business model that is family-friendly and based on one main value: kindness.
Their products give their customers the opportunity to share kind and meaningful gestures with their friends, family, employees and clients.
It also gave them the opportunity to be kind to themselves. Knowing that they couldn’t be everything to everyone at the same time and that choices needed to be made to keep sane in this fast-moving world. As they grew, they extended these principles to their workforce.
A sustainable parent-led biscuit bakery
Over the years the biscuit bakery thrived, even though they chose an organic and sustainable approach. Not just in their production, product and packaging solutions, but also in their ethos of how to run a business true to their values. They are committed to offering this opportunity to others. Demonstrating each step of the way that working with parents (specifically mothers) enriches a business, rather than puts it at risk.
Recruitment
When they started looking into recruitment, they saw the much referenced ‘pitfalls’ that other employers see when hiring women in their late twenties to mid-thirties. Will they stay with us? How many years of maternity leave do we have ahead of us? How many lost hours will we see on the books from childcare struggles?
Both co-founders have always been fiercely confident in their need to create a business that worked for them and others in the same situation. It didn’t matter how unconventional it was, there seemed to be no point in creating a business according to a blueprint that was broken from the perspective of working mothers.
School hours only
Lisa and Saskia know from personal experience that while motherhood is an important and fulfilling role. Many women however benefit from being able to seek purpose outside of the home – as women in their own right.
It is with this insight that they have designed an employment model which offers women the opportunity to rediscover their confidence and innate talents, hone new skills and make a valued and active contribution to a successful business.
They offer school hours only contracts in order to make work sustainable for working parents. Allowing everyone to drop their kids off at school and pick them up at the end of the day. Nobody is obligated to work these hours, but it is an option The Biskery offer in the conversation about flexible working.
No one size fits all
Every parent is unique, in their values, their needs, their struggles. Everybody’s personal situation is different. Some mothers have teenage children who are largely independent, allowing them more time to pour into their work. Other mums are just dipping their feet back into the idea of working, having been home nurturing their young children for a few years. They might want to take things slow on a contract of as little as 10hr per week. Others again are single mothers who are trying to make ends meet and need a full 40hr work week to bring in the money to support their kids financially.
All these mothers are brilliant mothers and at The Biskery we listen to their stories and needs. Within the tapestry of everyone’s family dynamics, we try to work out the best-case scenarios, and meet people where they are.
Powered by purpose
Co-founders Lisa and Saskia were adamant to set up The Biskery as a for-profit company, as both believe it is important for mothers to have full monetary compensation for their skill sets. To know and understand that their abilities are second to none. Their contribution to the economy is of value and should come with the remuneration it deserves.
Working mums work hard. Maybe harder than anyone else in the workforce. They understand in very real terms how precious their time is. Especially when spent away from their growing children. Them showing up in itself is a huge sacrifice.
Our business is ever-evolving, just like the journey of parenthood. We don’t force it. We let the process guide us, and we review it, and grow with it, each step of the way.
