Work-life balance is tough

Rose Kwena, Chief Manager- Corporate Communications at Retirement Benefits Authority.

Balancing work and family is a challenge I have encountered throughout my career. When I was building my career, I was globe-trotting and I missed many milestones of my son’s life. One day, I was in town and he invited me to his parent/teacher conference which I promised to attend. But work came calling and I forgot about it until the next day when he looked at me sadly and reminded me that I missed the appointment! I was so guilty and I promised it would never happen again. But in his little voice, he told me not to worry because I was not like other mums. I asked him how other mums were, and he replied: “They are always there.” That day, I made the decision to leave that job and move to one that did not require extensive travel. Whereas it is important to invest in quality househelp, a parent’s role cannot be delegated because children will always notice when a parent is absent. The “lap of honour” at parenthood has given me a second chance to make up for some of the mistakes I made.

I normally wake up at 6 am during the week. I get ready then help my daughter get ready for school. I pack a morning snack and lunch then leave for work at 7am. I am in the office by 8am. I have my morning tea and the packed snack in the office.

At the office, I first check my email and scan the newspapers, then embark on implementing the activities on the day’s to-go list. This includes attending meetings, directing my team, speech writing and editing other collateral material, outreach, and so on. Occasionally, I visit counties for outreach to employers and informal sector workers. This is done in collaboration with the county governments and pension product issuing entities.

My job entails managing the strategic communication and outreach functions at Retirement Benefits Authority (RBA). Managing the communication function can and does look to many people like being in charge of “entertainment”: staging PR stunts and employee pep rallies, or being a social media butterfly, but it is not. In my role, I am counsel to the CEO, manager of the Authority’s reputation and Image, source of public information about the Authority and the pensions sector in general, driver of the Authority’s publicity to increase awareness on the importance of saving for retirement and the available channels. I am also the brand perception steward and corporate citizenship champion. I also represent the Authority on the OECD/International Network on Financial Education (INFE) Technical Committee and double up as the country coordinator.

Sensitising young Kenyans on the importance of saving for retirement is the favourite part of my day. This is because for long, retirement and old age were taboo subjects that were never talked about. This is despite the fact that unlike death, retirement is a phase of life where we are the active participants. Therefore, failure to adequately prepare for retirement is preparing for old age poverty. During outreach sessions, I am very happy when I witness people signing up for the pension product because I know that their old age is secured.

If I am not having an official meeting, I carry packed lunch. When I joined RBA 10 years ago and was managing retirement planning seminars, I learnt that there are simple things one can do to save money for investment, and one of them is to carry left-overs to the office for lunch. This way, you not only save, but eat healthy food that has been cooked in a clean environment. One spends between Sh200 to several thousand shillings on lunch alone. If this money were saved over a period of time and invested in a pension fund, it would make a huge difference in old age. I have since made it my business to advise my friends and colleagues who care to listen to carry food to the office.

I try to be home by 6pm every evening so that I can have dinner with my little girl. I don’t do many dinners away from home if I can help it – unless they are family dinners. When I get home, I play with my daughter before nightfall. We have dinner at 6.30pm, then I prepare her for bed and read her a story. She then leads us in prayer before going to bed. I watch prime time news then retire for the day.

Outside work, I enjoy spending time with my family. I am totally engrossed in the life of our “retirement baby” (she turned four on Valentine’s Day) who takes up most of my time. I drop and pick her from school when I can and try to make time for most of her activities. She re-energises me even when I am exhausted. She doesn’t have siblings in the house now, and so naturally, her dad and I are her playmates. We sing, dance and play a lot. We try to align our out-of-town assignments to her needs so that one of us is at home every day. I also keep up with my older son. We talk every Sunday and try to meet as often as possible. I enjoy cooking, dancing and traveling.