How to support mothers returning to work (part3) 

mother working at home with baby

How to Support Mothers Returning to Work

Part 3:
6 Things you can do as an employer.

Rose McCarter-Field

By Rose McCarter-Field

Want to know how companies such as Google have reduced the number of new mothers leaving by half?  

Women represent half of the workforce. How can you as an employer best support women through maternity and beyond?  

Here are our 6 top tips for employers supporting returning mums. 

1

Reintegration

Focus on their return to work. Planning their return should start from before they go on maternity leave. Before they leave, establish a plan of gradual reintegration. This plan can be flexible and change on their return. This way, they know that there are plans in place to assist them in successful reintegration. This provides them with confidence that their needs will be supported on their return. 

The transition back into work can bring on physical and emotional rollercoasters for mothers (and fathers). To know that an employer is understanding can reduce concerns and allow for open communications about the needs of your employees. 

One rarely discussed subject is miscarriage and still births. 10-20% of pregnancies end in miscarriage and 1 in 160 end in failed births. A member of staff returning from maternity in the case of a miscarriage or failed birth, will still have gone through significant physical and psychological changes. A supportive and structured reintegration is just as important as it is to new mothers.  

In the following weeks and months after their return, arrange scheduled discussions about what their needs are, how progress is going, and how the company can support them in being the best in their role. These discussions should be part of a planned reorientation programme. 

2

Flexibility

What flexibility do they need at work? Do they need a condensed work week? Part-time hours? Or flexible hours? Where possible, ensure the return to work process supports the new needs in their life. They will still be accountable for delivering on their job responsibilities. Flexibility in certain areas may help them to achieve this. 

Flexible work has been linked to reduced stress levels as well as attracting and retaining talented staff. Parents have circumstances that arise that they didn’t anticipate. Such as a sick child, a spouse’s work needs, and the emotional or physical pain after maternity. 

Workplaces can be supportive of the needs of new parents, after maternity or adoption. And flexibility can be built into post maternity reintegration. 

3

Expressing

Breastfeeding for the first 6 – 12 months has a multitude of health benefits for the mother and the baby. 

Nursing mothers need a private place in which to express breastmilk. And ideally access to a fridge where this milk can be stored.  

Having a breastfeeding policy in the office (physical or virtual) supports mothers in balancing their home and work life. These policies go a long way to show your female employees that their needs are understood and welcomed. 

4

Childcare Access 

Affordable childcare is a pain point for many parents.  

Are you able to provide on-site access to day-care? This can go a long way to supporting work life balance. It reduces additional stops on the route to and from work. Having their baby cared for near the office removes the guilt of being away from their child which also allows them to remain engaged as they transition back to work. 

Or can you subsidise childcare costs to make childcare more accessible to parents? And make the financial decisions around work vs childcare costs easier? It also shows that you as an employer are supportive of employees that are parents. 

5

Stay in Communication 

Returning mothers have most likely been away from work for 10 to 12 months or more. They may feel out of touch from the workplace. They may benefit from being kept up to date with important milestones and changes, to keep them in the loop. Make good use of your Keeping in Touch (KIT) days, they are important. 

Or if they prefer not to have this communication while they are on maternity leave, you can record milestones for them to see on their return. Make a list of events and activities that you feel are important and relevant to them. You can provide this list on their return. This will reduce the amount of catching up they have to do and ensure they are in touch with current agendas. 

Who are the new employees in the team? What changes have there been in processes, communications, or software? Have they missed any training that they would benefit from, and is there a chance for them to do this training now they have returned? This list could go as far as to include notable happenings, lessons learned, challenges met, and team wins. 

6

Extended Maternity Leave

Companies including Netflix, Microsoft, and Google now offer extended maternity leave. The reasons for this are primarily to retain and attract top talent. When Google increased its maternity leave from 12 to 18 weeks, they saw a 50% reduction in new mothers leaving work. 

It may be tempting to get your talented staff back fast, but it might harm the company in the long run. 

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Real Life Examples of Flexible Working

Real Life Examples of Flexible Working

A New Way of Life?

Rose McCarter-Field

By Rose McCarter-Field

How can a new model of working impact the lives of your staff? How are companies implementing new working practices? What’s working for them? And their staff?

Here are 5 case studies from companies at the forefront of implementing a new way of working. These companies share how their new policies are having a positive impact on their staff, and their company.

 

American Express

American Express is one of the largest credit card companies in the world, with over 50,000 employees globally including IT staff; programmers; data analysts; software engineers; and a range of technical roles. They offer contract, part-time, full-time, and remote working.

The financial firm have adapted to a more flexible scheduling model. This model includes the ability to work from home. This flexibility has opened up opportunities for parents as well as those living a long distance from their offices.

They allow for short notice changes to accommodate of unforeseen life events. Allowing for people to continue their roles and work flexibly around unexpected life events.

 

Dell

Dell is one of the largest technology and computer firms in the world. They have implemented a connected workplace programme to enable effective flexible working. They utilise virtual communication tool such as Slack and Microsoft Team to support effective remote working.

Presently 60% of their global IT and tech workforce is on a flexible working arrangement. Workers chose their hours and their location. Some work remotely full-time and others have a balance between home and office working arrangements. Dell encourage workers to get the work done, in whatever way suits the employee.

As a result the company have also saved $12 million a year in overheads, primarily from reduced office space.

 

DuckDuckGo

DuckDuckGo is an innovator in online technologies. This young search engine and privacy company has seen rapid growth over the past few years. Attracting some of the best and brightest of the new generation coming into the job market.

Their international workforce is encouraged to “work wherever, whenever” to get the job done.

As a result, their staff live flexible lives. Work is carried out around family schedules, caring responsibilities, and hobbies. They use digital tools to ensure effective communication and connectivity between their teams. To ensure everyone stays in the loop and works collaboratively.

 

Agilent Technologies

Agilent Technologies supports analytical scientists and clinical researchers to fulfil complex laboratory demands. Of their 12,000 employees, 15% don’t work a typical Monday to Friday.

The tech company offer flexible working arrangements to enable carers and parents to fit their work around their home lives. Including flexible working hours across the week, part time working, and job share. They allow for flexible time off and flexible working arrangements such as remote working.

They provide additional flexibility for specific life events, and provide access to support for events such as parental leave and adoption assistance.

 

Deutsche Bank

Deutsche Bank is a global financial services provider that drastically changed its working practices as a response to the pandemic.

They utilised virtual tools to enable effective global communications between staff. They found that staff working remotely were more available for meetings, as location was no longer a limiting factor.

They have put in place virtual induction and mentoring programmes. With an understanding that the nature of mentoring and sharing information had to evolve fast, they placed an emphasis on virtual support for staff. Staff can access one-to-one virtual mentoring and training to support them in carrying out their roles remotely.

 

Want to be an employer of choice? Want help attracting the best and brightest from the global talent pool? Get in touch with Project Recruit for boutique recruitment and payroll management services. 

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The Flexible Working Employment Bill.
How will it affect your company?

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The Flexible Working Employment Bill

How will it affect your company?

Rose McCarter-Field

By Rose McCarter-Field

How would the proposed new flexible working legislation affect your company? Do you welcome the change? Does your workplace suit flexible working? Have you already made this change? Or are you concerned about business impact?

Despite delays in passing the updated Employment Bill, flexible working is set to be made an everyday right for employees. It enables employees to request flexible working from the first day of their employment. 

Flexible Working Example: Deutsche Bank

At Deutsche Bank many employees have requested 1-2 days working remotely. To better suit their lives.

The firm have found that staff have more time to work instead of travel. Staff became more purposeful in their communication.

Staff became more available for virtual meetings as location was less inhibitive. Communication in teams and across hierarchies was no longer constrained by their geographically separated offices.

Presently employees have the right to request flexible working after 26 weeks of employment, but employers are allowed to refuse these requests without providing a reason.

Once the bill is passed, employees will be able to take legal cases against their employers if their requests are refused. The new legislation is designed to support a new work-life balance. It is intended to enable staff to work where possible, in a manner that enables a reasonable quality of life. The Financial Times describes it as a ‘new work-life balance law’.

The new bill would support parents, carers, and pregnant women in the workplace, among others. For example, any employee with a child under the age of 12, or an employee caring for a relative will have the right to request reduced or flexible working hours.

Balancing Parenting and Work Example: Zurich

Companies including Zurich have reported instances of new fathers and mothers balancing their working arrangements with their family needs.

Examples include flexible hours to allow for childcare and helping children with their homework. This can include compressed hours, where parents go home early on certain days whilst working late on other days.

Since its announcement 3 years ago in the Queens Speech, global approaches to flexible working practices have changed following the pandemic. The bill was originally proposed in the UK due to concerns over working conditions in factories and warehouses. The context of the bill has evolved following changing views on working practices. The proposed changes would most notably open up more work opportunities for parents, carers, and people with disabilities. The government estimates that 2.2 million people will gain access to different working arrangements as a result of this bill.

Ann Francke, head of the Chartered Management Institute, an industry body, said that “Many parts of the bill have risen to even greater prominence in the pandemic, making the rights to a modern workplace more important for marginalised groups such as women, and those from poorer backgrounds and ethnic minorities,” she said. “This is exactly the sort of legislation we need to build back better and level up the UK.”

1) Financial Times, 2022 https://www.ft.com/content/5d7d164b-71c0-47e9-ba3c-350d07317e89
2) Independent, 2022 https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/workers-will-be-able-to-take-case-against-employers-who-refuse-reduced-or-flexible-hours-requests-under-new-legislation-41572285.html

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Become the employer of choice for working parents

working parents

Become the employer of choice for working parents

Rose McCarter-Field

By Rose McCarter-Field

Want to become the employer of choice for motivated working parents? How in 2022 can you adapt your working practices to attract more skilled parents into your company?

And how as an employer, can you effectively support parents returning to work?

Losing top talent is a massive expense in money and time for any team. When we have staff members and contractors that we can trust to carry out their work to a high standard without detailed monitoring, it makes our lives as managers significantly easier. And it makes our company run more smoothly. So keeping top talent for me, is a priority.

In the current work climate, enabling staff to live their best life, is a big win for staff retention. Parents are at the forefront of this movement. With multiple high priority tasks at home and at work, parents are increasingly seeking a job that improves their work-life balance. But how as an employer can you provide this?

 

Understand Their Needs

Develop an understanding of their lives. How much support do they have? How do they share their responsibilities at home? What events or day-to-day activities would they like to attend? Get to know what they care about and what their work prevents them from doing. Take time to understand how their work commitments increase their home stresses.

Find out which aspects of home life they have CHOSEN to sacrifice, to work with you.

 

Know What You Need

How often do you need people in the office? And at what times? How much flexibility can you give, whilst ensuring your team(s) are carrying out their jobs successfully and communicating effectively?

It is important to be clear about what you need from your staff, and for these expectations to be reflected in your reporting and appraisal processes. This will provide a clear line between flexibility and work expectations.

 

Be Flexible

Be open to changes in working practices that will improve the lives of your team members. You CAN positively impact their lives and the lives of their whole family, simply by being flexible.

Some staff may benefit from flexible working hours, others from going part time or a job share. Others may benefit from changing their working hours, or having the ability to work from home.

 

Prevent Negative Impact

It’s important to consider the impact of your flexibility. For example, a member of staff in my team reduced their hours to 3 days. They now work from Tuesday to Thursday. However, this would mean that if I or a client wanted to get in touch with them on Friday, they would not get the message until Tuesday. So, we built in buffers of time to enable timely communication. We created a 0.1 hour buffer, so that messages are checked and responded to on Monday and Friday, enabling us to maintain our reputation of seamless and timely communication.

Or as an alternative, 5 half days may be a better option, from the perspective of you as a manager. This enables you to contact them every day, and enables them to collect the children from school every day.

 

Understand what they need, be clear about what you need, and create a flexible culture that benefits everyone.

The New Flexi-force

flexible working contracts policy

The New Flexi-force

Are you excited to enable a better future for you and your staff?
Or scared of your team becoming distant?

Rose McCarter-Field

By Rose McCarter-Field

Flexible working can provide an improved work-life balance and has been shown to result in increased productivity (1). However, this flexibility must be implemented in the right way to sustain long-term benefits.

Every individual has a very different homelife. The nature of each person’s flexible working should ideally ensure work productivity as well as provide personal satisfaction in their work-life balance. Happy staff are easier to retain and easier to motivate. After all, if they are happy, they have less reason to leave and more reason to put effort into staying.

It’s useful to find out about each individual’s home situation. Some people may have a house full of children and would benefit from arranging their hours at times when they can get peace and quiet. Work that enables a member of staff to adjust their hours and location to suit their surroundings, will help this staff member to focus more effectively on their work.

Others may have personal, social, or family commitments at certain times of day. Or even hobbies that they care greatly about. Work that allows people to live their life to the full, is work that will get the most out of their employees.

Of course this flexibility must work for the company as well. And for the team. Some staff members crave daily face-to-face contact or the 9-5 timetable. And some jobs require staff members to be at the computer at certain times. All these factors are essential elements to creating a flexible workforce that has a positive impact on your company and your team.

There are also understandable hesitations to the flexible workforce concept. Perhaps you as a manager suffer from fear of your workforce becoming distant? Perhaps you have concerns that staff are out jogging and on social media, rather than working? If this is the case, I recommend taking a look at what you need your team to achieve. Base your trust on the work they do, the results they produce. Does it matter if a team member pops out to the shop for 20 minutes? If it has no impact on their work that day? What you give in trust, from many you will gain in loyalty and commitment. After all, performance isn’t so much about the number of hours sat at a desk, but the outcomes achieved for your company.

But what about being there to answer the phone, take a video call, and respond to emails? Whether your flexible working includes flexible hours, or flexible location, the communication you require from your staff needs to be considered. Once again, being contactable doesn’t have to mean sitting in an office.

Don’t know where to start in planning your flexible working policies? Here are some important considerations to get you started:

    • What type of flexibility would help to improve the work-life balance of your staff?
    • Do you need your staff to be in the office, or on the end of the phone during specific hours? 
    • How much do your staff need to collaborate? And is this collaboration spontaneous? or pre-planned meetings?
    • How public should the availability of staff members be within the team?
    • What outcomes do you need to see from each of your role types?
    • How do you monitor the quality of the work being carried out?

Working from home during the pandemic for many resulted in completing more tasks due to a reduction in office distractions. Additionally many have become more accustomed to virtual communication. Flexible working, if managed in the right way, should have a positive outcome for your company and your team.

Imagine the life you can provide for your staff. Parents can pick their kids up from school, then work later in the evening, providing their children with more quality time. Young professionals can go for a morning run instead of spending 2 hours on a train before work, get home, stick the washing on, then start work. Someone stuck on a tricky work task can take their laptop to a cafe for an hour, work on their challenge from a fresh perspective, then return to the office.

The future of flexible working can provide an improved quality of life for all staff as well as improve company productivity. We just need to implement it in the right way.

    1. McKinsey, 2020 https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/future-of-work/whats-next-for-remote-work-an-analysis-of-2000-tasks-800-jobs-and-nine-countries