Category: Productivity & Flexibility

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Child Care Parenting and Work Productivity & Flexibility Professional Mums

Working Mothers and the Quest for Flexibility 

The recent report from gender equality charity, the Fawcett Society and Totaljobs have found that fewer than one in three working mothers have access to effective flexible working arrangements. This is something that will come as no surprise to mums like me.

The Flexibility Stats Don’t Lie

The report found that 84% of mothers faced challenges coming back to work from maternity leave and 30% received no support at all. On top of that, 19% have considered leaving their job for one with better support while a further 11% actually left. Although none of this is a surprise, it’s still disappointing to read. True flexibility means trust from employers and that is something that many working mums don’t have.

As a working mother, I’ve worked for several companies since having my first child and have had issues in most of them. Seemingly simple requests like swapping a day off to accommodate childcare or taking 15 minutes out of my day for the school run have been commented on and sometimes flatly refused. It’s exhausting to have to constantly ask for flexibility and dread the answer.

Fighting for Flexibility as a Working Mum

In one company, I was in a position where I had to pick up my daughter from across town one day a week in the afternoon. It meant I would be away from my desk for about half an hour one day a week. But would work longer in the evening. My boss at the time made out they were fine with this arrangement as long as I asked permission. Fair enough, I thought.

Only, I soon realised that I couldn’t have a blanket pass for every Wednesday. I had to bring it up and request it every week. It soon became stressful when the requests were met with sighs and comments. Such as ‘not every boss would be as accommodating as me you know’. A simple request ended up becoming so stressful that I made arrangements for my husband to do the pick-up. Which was much less convenient for him, but I just hated the humiliation of asking all the time.

But in that situation, at least I was given the time off…grudgingly. In another job, I had a boss who was also a part-time working mother. I once had a childcare issue and needed to swap my day off. But instead of solidarity, my request got squashed. I was told that I couldn’t ‘pick and choose’ my working days. Despite being in a job that could easily accommodate this and it being my only time asking. Needless to say, I didn’t stay in the role much longer after that.

Time for Employers to Embrace the Flexible Future of Work

I am just one out of possibly thousands of women who have come across this issue. I’ve moved jobs a few times to try and find the balance I need to juggle family life with work. If employers would realise this, they would save themselves so much hassle in re-recruiting. Working mothers don’t take the mickey. They always make up their hours and work until the job is done. And it’s seemingly only noticed when they are unreachable for 15 minutes out of the day.

Although I’m now in a better place professionally, I can always spot the stressed-out working mums during the school pick-up. They’re the ones with their phones constantly in their hands so they can refresh Teams every 10 seconds.

If employers educate themselves about the challenges faced by working parents and embed flexible working patterns into their work culture. We’d all be a lot happier. Mums would stop having to pretend they don’t have children and finally ignore Teams for half an hour.

If you’re a working Mum in need of a role with an employer who supports flexibility, check our flexible job platform.

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Careers Advice Child Care Holiday Specials Lifestyle And Wellbeing Parental Coaching Parenting and Work Productivity & Flexibility

How working parents can survive the summer holidays

It’s the time of year that working parents dread – the summer holidays. While kids up and down the country are celebrating, the parents and caregivers usually let out a collective groan. As it means almost seven weeks of juggling childcare around work. 

We’d all love to spend the LOOOONG summer weeks enjoying lazy days on the beach. Picnics in the park and days out at zoos and theme parks but the reality for most is quite different. With over 60% of both parents working in the UK, flexibility is key to managing this extensive time of childcare.

Here are our top tips to survive the summer – with and without the coveted flex.

Talk to your boss early

It’s easy to say this in July, but explaining your situation to your manager early, may be key to negotiating time off. Working from home might help if your little ones need to be picked up or dropped off at awkward times. If working isn’t feasible, discussing with your employers early may allow you to carry over or pay for extra annual leave. Or come up with a temporary flexible solution where you can make up the hours in the evenings or weekends.

Partner up with friends

Everyone says it and it’s so true – mum friends are the best! Issues will pop up in the summer holidays for even the most organised of parents. You might find that the holiday club you woke up at 5am to get a coveted spot on actually runs 12 – 3. Or the two hour gymnastics class you were relying on is cancelled during summer. For those occasions, you need your pals. Try and book the same holiday club as friends so that you can take turns dropping off the kids. Coordinate days off so your weeks are covered and remember to treat yourselves to a glass of wine and a whine when it’s all over! 

Wake up early for maximum flex power

If you’re lucky enough to get flexible hours at work (we know we all should have this but it’s not always the case) make sure you use your time extra efficiently. This means early starts before the kids wake up and later nights. If you can get in a good stint in the morning from 6 – 9, you’ll have cleared your inbox and made a good start to the day before your little cherub has demanded her cornflakes. 

Buy ALL the crafts

If all else fails, and you need to work around your precious poppets at home, stock up on ALL the crafts and activities that will allow you to have some desk time while they’re occupied. Yes, there will be days when you’ll have to stick them in front of Disney Plus for the day and that’s ok but make yourself feel better by dumping some paints, glue and glitter on them and relax while they do something ‘educational’…at least for five minutes.

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Flexible Careers Lifestyle And Wellbeing Productivity & Flexibility

Changing Workplace Behaviours, Is It Just The Responsibility Of The Employer?

output

Here at The Find Your Flex group we talk a lot about flexible working, it is after all the bread and butter of what we do! But, recently we’ve also been talking a lot about output models of work too. Over the years our thoughts around flexible working have evolved. We really feel output based working is the key to TRUE flexible working. We’d love to see employers embrace judging an employee on their output over how, when and where they work.

We know organisations are at various stages of implementing change when it comes to the way we work. It’s no secret that the pandemic has forced many into implementing changes quicker than expected. It’s also clear that those who already worked flexibly adapted much quicker.

As with any major change in culture and behaviours, all stakeholders need to be committed if it is to be a success. Therefore employers and managers need to be able to adopt, drive, support and manage the change. But we feel employees also have a responsibility.

Who is really responsible for making this work?

There are endless reports, articles, blogs and opinion pieces about what the future holds – what do employees want? Back to the office? Home-working? A hybrid model? The focus is endlessly on what employers are doing to respond to ensure a better work model for their employees, with the core focus on location of work and it’s flexibility. We understand driving organisational cultural change is multifactorial and a hugely studied area. Of course strong and ethical leadership is key to driving positive change. But, We wanted to explore the responsibility of the employee too.

What responsibility do employees have in making any such future models a success? What can we do as employees to ensure the result is a success. Perhaps it’s the way we engage.

Engagement and wellbeing is a collective responsibility!

Employers have a responsibility to provide the tools, the tech and the trust, but we must be the adopters and change agents to ensure a culture that is a success. If we wish to be trusted, we must also trust – our employers and our colleagues. We must be transparent in what is and isn’t working for us and in sharing and communicating with others. If we are leaders ourselves, ensuring we engage our teams is critical.

The organisations who prioritise employee engagement and wellbeing – and who have the workforce that embed this into their culture – will be the winners, and so will their employees. Allowing people the time and tech to work remotely is a minute part of the journey we are on. For an output model to work we need to engage in ways that may be unfamiliar to regular working practices. It will be the way we engage new joiners. The way we empower teamwork. How we lead by example and foster a culture of inclusivity and engagement like never before.

Avoiding Burnout

For many employees, an output model may be the ideal to flex around our lives. But, there still exists the real danger of burnout and exhaustion. For example if home-working forms a part of this, boundaries are blurred. The work-day is often extended and mental well-being can be affected when the commute time, often used to transition from work to home mentally, is erased.

If output is the pure focus, could there be danger of over-working to achieve these outputs – not speaking out if the load is too high? Employers need to provide space for employees to use their voice, but employees need to then respond. Employees will have a period of time in which they need to adapt. To have conscious boundaries and strategies to look after their wellbeing. When we are not in the office it is harder for colleagues to notice changes in mood and overload. Again, we are collectively responsible for creating the culture of a team whilst not necessarily being in the same location at the same time.

Office dynamics – the invisible employees

Several people I have spoken to recently, who previously were all for at least a hybrid model, if not 100% remote, are already seeing a shift in dynamics. One mum shared recently when she went to the office for the first time in a year, the dynamic was entirely different. There were a much larger proportion of men present plus younger colleagues who do not have family commitments nor the space to work easily from home. 

On the one hand it was great to see those that needed to be in could be, but she shared fears mums disappearing and this turning round to bite us on the bum. If output is the focus, the output of those that choose to not be visibly present in the office must be recognised. Mums have been the most impacted group of the workforce due to the pandemic. There is clearly a need to ensure a divide is not upon us – mums at home, men and younger people in the office resulting in an “out of sight, out of mind” issue that in turn affects perceived output and involvement in decisions.

Engage and remain engaged

To me this all shows the key thing is choices and well-thought out decisions by both employers and employees. We need to find ways to engage but also take responsibility to remain engaged. To demonstrate our output positively. To not slip from a presenteeism culture for all pre-pandemic, to recognition for presenteeism, within groups that choose to be office based, post-pandemic.

A truly flexible, output model must be based on trust. Maybe the next steps in this new world should see employees measured on a whole host of success markers that did not exist in the working world pre-Covid. Imagine if we could be measured not only on results, but on engagement of ourselves in our hybrid world and engagement of others; on wellbeing metrics to ensure we are able to perform healthily which in turn makes for better output.

The positives are clear – we have many choices opening up to us. We may decide to live somewhere else as we don’t need to commute to the office everyday. We hopefully will have a degree of choice of how working hours fit into our lives – as long as we get the results needed. What is also clear is this cannot be to the detriment of our mental health where we all become islands of solo workers allowing loneliness and burnout to creep in. We all have a responsibility to make this work for ourselves and those around us.

The author

Rebecca Amin is a Career Coach helping parents feeling stuck in their careers, find their paths back to career happiness. Rebecca can be found via her website www.rebeccaamincoaching.co.uk; Facebook Page and Facebook Group, Career Happy Mums.

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Child Care Dads Flexible Careers Flexible Industries Lifestyle And Wellbeing Mental Health Mums Returning To Work Parenting and Work Productivity & Flexibility Work Journeys

Working in a Post-Covid World.

Woman standing while looking at he laptop

March 23rd 2020. The day we heard our Prime Minister say “From this evening I must give the British people a very simple instruction – you must stay at home”. The day working from home, indefinitely, began.

Fast-forward over 13 months. Many are still working full-time from home. Some are gradually finding their way back to the office. There are organisations that have managed things brilliantly and seen this as an opportunity to shape flexible working. Some have managed things terribly and are already making unnecessary demands to fully return to the office, with no clear business need. Some employees are desperate to get back, some are desperate to retain the flex they have had forced upon them.

As we emerge from these unprecedented times, the waters feel muddy. There is little consistency across employers or industries. What is clear is that many of us are feeling the burn out from living at work with little to no break and a year of no holidays.

So how are we planning for the post-Covid future?

Many organisations have hit the press for their positive moves towards supporting employees well-being and flexibility. For example, Dropbox have made working from home a permanent move. Microsoft is moving to a 50:50 homeworking to office working model. John Lewis head office is taking a hybrid or blended working approach. Having spoken to a wide range of parents, the general consensus seems to be a 50% office based role will become the norm.

These approaches make total sense given a study by The University Of Southampton found nine in ten employees feel they had got at least as much, if not more, work done at home as in the office. Employees also shared that they have benefited from the flexibility to organise their tasks and discretion to make decisions about when they do their work from home.

How this effects parents?

Whilst it is clear from this study and many others – such as the research conducted by the childcare provider, Bright Horizons – working parents are overwhelmingly in favour of a continuation of flexible hours and some form of hybrid working. Christelle who works for a large energy company shared:

“Having the flexibility to do the school run and eat together at the start and end of the day as a family, has had a huge positive impact on our family dynamic”.

Likewise John, who works for an IT company said:

“The time I have had to become more involved in my son’s life has been amazing. If allowed to continue, I believe this will have a life-long impact to our relationship, having been around so much in his formative years”.

It is also clear the general consensus is that the pandemic has allowed us to prove such a model could work. However, more than half of employees involved in the Bright Horizons research thought their employers were likely to be unresponsive to demands for greater flexibility once the pandemic dissipates. Denise Priest of Bright Horizons shared “There seems to be disagreement between some organisations and their workers about what normality should mean”. This is backed up by the research I conducted. A mum working for a large US Bio-sciences organisation is shared her worries that, “whilst all the right things are being done now, will these have the longevity that society needs?”

So what is the right answer?

The only very clear thing in all of this is one size does not fit all. We knew this anyway, but employees, pre-covid, bent over backwards in many case to mould themselves, their families and other commitments to fit the requirements of work. Whilst we have been missing social contact, there is a clear preference amongst the majority of parents to combine office with working from home in the future. Seven in ten (73%) employees wish to adopt a hybrid work arrangement – blending working from home with the communality of the office – and to retain the flexibility and control over their working pattern from which they have benefited under lockdown.

I am hearing of a huge amount of examples of organisations asking their employees what works for them? One FMCG company has even gone as far as introducing a whole new contractual way of working. Allowing some individuals to work on a retained project basis. They are then able to dictate their working hours – fitting work to their lives, rather than fitting life to their work.

All this said, there are some that working from home is not good for. I say “not good for” because I don’t just mean convenience. I mean their mental health is suffering because of the isolation this can bring. If you are younger, live alone or in a shared house environment. If you wish to reap the social rewards of the young, working generation. Many of these people NEED the office environment in order to protect their mental health. This sentiment was clearly shared by one person I spoke with from the Oil & Gas industry, who said:

“ I have genuine concerns for a single, female colleague who has clearly struggled mentally with the stay at home message”.

Flexible Working is the way forward.

It truly feels the power is shifting. People have proven a flexible model to suit individuals – IS achievable. There are organisations taking this on board and adapt to their staff. Allowing work to fit with life, rather than forcing employees into an unmanageable, unsustainable, unnecessary, unhealthy work pattern. These organisations will be the winners in the long run.

The 2021 Modern Families Index Spotlight points to potential discord ahead. 55% of respondents indicate their loyalty to their employer long term depends on employer’s reaction to the pandemic and beyond. As they continue to attempt to juggle work, child care and care of elderly relatives. Employers who recognise the priority of family life and provided practical support for staff will retain – and gain – talented employees. While those who have not will lose out. John, who I mentioned earlier, working in IT, very honestly shared this with me:

“I will seek alternative employment if pushed too far to revert to old ways of working. It is clear this is a preference, but with no clear justification, in my organisation. Which could result in me seeking alternative employment”.

What about well-being support?

It seems many organisations are focusing on what the working week should look like. However, what hasn’t been shared as broadly is what organisations are doing to support the mental well-being of employees.

The University of Southampton Study shared that maintaining working from home during the pandemic, whilst may have been in some ways more efficient, has taken its toll on mental health and well-being. In fact, responses on this area in their study found ranking very low. 47 out of 100 – measured against the World Health Organisation WHO-5 global standard. AXA back this up further. Finding that two-thirds (64%) of those working across the UK and Europe said their stress levels increased compared to pre-pandemic. Of these, eight out of ten (81%) describe themselves as having a “poor” or “low” state of mind.

Given for many the kitchen table has become the office with home / work boundaries becoming uncontrollably blurred. It stands to reason that burnout is a very real prospect.

What are the effects of this?

On the flip side, organisations are planning for future and maybe even dictate what this future will look like. Although it may be that some do not feel ready to commute or be in the office. A mum working for a small start up shared with me:

“I am not prepared to return until I am vaccinated. This has already happened for my boss so we are at slight odds around timing. Which is causing a bit of of stress and anxiety”.

Some have been shielding, may have vulnerable family members. Many have adapt childcare provisions and may not easily be able to reinstate wrap around care. Either because it is not available or because they are not inclined to revert back to the old ways. Such as running from breakfast club, to the train, to work, to after school clubs. And various other activities without having a minute for any family member to breathe.

As a backdrop the pandemic has triggered significant emotional, physical, and economic burdens:

  • Social isolation,
  • Working from home while caring for children and other family members
  • Exposure to the virus – personally, via loved ones, or from working on the front line
  • Experiences of long-covid

Mental health care advocates believe Covid can cause many to suffer from something close to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

In August 2020 the CDC published results of a large US web-based survey of more than 5000 adults. In which over 40% demonstrated experiencing at least one adverse mental or behavioural health problem related to the pandemic. Including symptoms of anxiety or depression (30.9%), substance use to cope (13.3%) and considering suicide (10.7%). This suggests a flexible work environment is something employers must consider when working in a post-covid world.

What needs to be done?

Many parents have shared a number of initiatives their organisations are doing to support well-being. These include

  • virtual coffee chat drop-ins
  • no-meeting days
  • access to counselling
  • well-being allowances
  • access to the office for those struggling working from home

but is this enough?

Workers have proved they are highly adaptable in these unusual times. One senior music industry employee shared, the pandemic has propelled flexible working forward by ten years, if done right. However, employers’ focus must now be on well-being. On supporting people through this next phase of transition. Above all else it is our well-being and mental health that has suffered most. I wonder how well organisations will take account of this as a factor of our return? This is a whole new phase. A positive shift hopefully, but one that needs managing with great care and support.

For other insights into this subject, why not have a read on The Real Gender Impact of Covid-19. And the struggles women have faced during and potentially post-covid.

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Diversity and Inclusion Productivity & Flexibility

Flexible Working, Diversity And Inclusion

photo of different coloured umbrellas, representing diversity and inclusion

Will 2021 Be It’s Year?

It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day, it’s a new life, for me, and I’m feeling….

Well, I’m not sure what I’m feeling if I’m honest. It may be 2021 but in many ways we have hit rock bottom. As I write this, we have the highest number of Covid cases the UK has seen, school closures, talk of hospitals being at breaking point, not to mention Brexit and what this truly means for the economy.

But what has this all got to do with Diversity & Inclusion and Flexible Working I hear you ask? 

Now we are living in a world we would never have imagined 12 months ago. Now is the time flex for all MUST be embraced.  It is the only way to ensure nobody (employees and organisations themselves) are not left behind.

D&I and Flexibility cannot be exclusive of one another

There are a plethora of reasons an employee may need to work flexibly – all of which boil down to Diversity & Inclusion. Parental responsibility of course is the most common. More often than not this has sat, in the majority of traditional families, in the mothers lap. But Covid has opened the doors – and eyes of fathers – that the option for flexibility should also be available to them. But it shouldn’t just be about the parents – what about those with other caring responsibilities; physical or mental health conditions; the desire to avoid unproductive and exhausting long commutes, or for a better work-life balance; those with outside interests … Until flex for all is embraced, there will continue to be a stigma attached to requests from mothers.

Breaking flex barriers

Before Covid, many organisations simply stated “It won’t work”, or other such “convincing” reasons for not embracing flexible working. To me, this really means “we haven’t ever done it, we’re scared everyone will want it (would that be such a terrible thing?) and we will lose control. We are not sure we fully trust our employees and we are assuming the world will fall apart”.

As a Coach, one thing I know – that has been proven multiple times over the last nine months – is often assumptions do not equate to reality. The “it just wouldn’t work” mantra was shattered as soon as, almost the entire world, were forced to work remotely. So surely now, shouldn’t we have arrived at a place where Flexibility (or what I like to think of as Smart Working) is the norm, not a special request?

This does not mean everyone working remotely 100% of the time. It means being agile – to be face-to-face (when needed and able again) and remote. Being available for core hours, but not a rigid working day. In fact, I would go as far as to say implementing enforced hybrid working to remove any possible imbalance or resulting two-tier (we are all sick of tiers let’s face it!) system or presenteeism culture. To get the work done to the expected level – to achieve organisational goals in a way that can accommodate life.

There May Be Trouble Ahead

I do have a concern however. Covid-related “flexibility” has been forced, was never intended for the long-term. Happening overnight it was unlikely part of organisational strategy. It has been accompanied by the extreme stress of the pandemic and home-schooling. It hasn’t provided flexibility to embrace Diversity & Inclusion.

Organisations now have a real opportunity to take what has been learnt. Rolling key takeaways into their long term D&I and flexibility strategy. If not, we are in danger of the negatives tipping the balance to apparently demonstrate “we were right – it doesn’t work”. People feel isolated. We have Zoom fatigue. Work and home-life boundaries have been blurred. Well-being is therefore being negatively impacted. It would be dangerous to correlate these negative outcomes with “flex working”. Flexible working it isn’t. It is a sticking plaster to keep businesses and employees afloat and hanging by a thread.

Take the best of a bad situation

So now is the time to understand what has worked.

  • What balance do we need?
  • Can organisations and employees both gain benefits from a real flex for all strategy?
  • What do we want it to look like when we are out of the other side (which we will be eventually)?

Too often D&I, Coaching investment and other such projects are shelved during tough times as they are not “priority”. But D&I and Flex should now be of key focus so the models that will truly work. The best of BC (Before Covid) and AC (you guessed it – after Covid!) can be embraced – for everyone.

Until it is modelled for everyone, parents – particularly mums – will still be the special case. It is sadly a fact that women, due to the flexible requirements so often falling to them, have been the biggest casualties of Covid. A study by IFS found 47% of mothers were more likely to have lost their jobs and felt the need to quit than fathers. Mums are so often viewed as “the part-timer”. The one feeling anxious about how and when to have that conversation. Worrying about any repercussions. When we are all treated equally none of that ever needs to happen. And for those that are not parents, who also need, or simply want, flexibility, they will no longer feel resentful. Retention and engagement would almost definitely increase along with productivity. As Boston Consulting Group found, a direct positive impact to the bottom line due to innovation from diverse leadership.

Let the leaders lead with flexible working, diversity and inclusion

Of course this cannot just be about writing a policy and hoping for the best. D&I must be engrained in Flexibility and bred into an organisations culture and leadership behaviour. 2021 truly feels like the right time for D&I to be the phoenix rising from the ashes. It most definitely is not the time for it to die as a result of the pandemic, along with so many other Covid casualties.

Rebecca Amin is a Career Coach helping parents feeling stuck in their careers, find their paths back to career happiness. Find her via her website www.rebeccaamincoaching.co.uk; Facebook Page and Facebook Group, Career Happy Mums. 

You may also want to read about ‘The Gender Imapct of Covid-19’

Or ‘Flexible Working, What Exactly Does It Mean?’

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Flexible Industries Mums Returning To Work Productivity & Flexibility

Women In Construction…

Woman working in construction, hi vis jacket

Building Your Future

Women in construction – It’s a thing. It’s fair to say however that construction has long been thought of as a typical job for the boys. From Auf Weidersehen Pet to Bob The Builder, most representations of the industry have been very male-dominated. But, as Bob Dylan noted, “the times they are a changing”.

So what can a career in construction offer parents – and what can you offer it?

On The Up

The sector is growing. This is great news for parents looking for job security as their children grow up (and more become expensive).

Secure site accommodation and storage container firm Mobile Mini saw record results last year, along with a number of other key players. This is a direct result of renewed confidence in the building industry.

Down With The Kids

Kids love trucks, so imagine how impressed yours would be if you got to work with them all day long. Dawne McClelland is manager of Mobile Mini’s Teesside branch and has a six-year-old son. It’s a match made in heaven. She explains: “He loves anything vehicular so he likes the fact that Mummy manages two loader cranes.

“He’s been to the branch and been given a full tour around the trucks by our brilliant drivers. I definitely earn ‘cool mum’ points when I can talk technical details about our fantastic vehicles!”

Feel Inspired By Women In Construction

There’s no danger of you being the only woman on site. Latest figures show that 37 per cent of new entrants into the industry are female.

At Mobile Mini, a third (33%) of staff are female across all departments – and it’s easy to see why.

Georgina Arrand, a mother-of-two and branch manager at Mobile Mini’s Humberside site, says: “There are so many women in senior roles here and it’s great to have so many peers. We help and support one another through the challenges that we face.”

“Misconceptions about gender specific roles are decreasing, with more and more women in construction, from admin and sales, to drivers, yard workers and management.”

Share Your Skills

Both Dawne and Georgina recognise that there is a great deal of crossover in managing a team of staff and managing small people.

Georgina explains: “At work, we’ve had training in the Parent-Adult-Child model, which taught us more about emotional intelligence and how we bring out different facets of our personality in our interactions with different people.

“Obviously, that was something I learned at work, but I now use it at home too.

“It works both ways though – as parents we are great at multitasking and building relationships, which is crucial in this industry.”

Dawne agrees: “I feel I have more of a sense of perspective since becoming a parent – I’ve learnt not to sweat the small stuff, to just keep focussed on what is important and how it affects the bigger picture – and that’s something I put into practice at work too.”

Stay Flexible

We know flexibility and support during maternity leave is important to parents – and our mums in construction know it too.

Dawne explains: “I had regular Keep In Touch days after I had my son. This was great to help me gradually get used to being back full-time.
“And now I’m back, work is really good at letting me make the time up if we need to leave for sports days and special assemblies. So I don’t feel I miss out on the important events in my son’s life.”

If you’re thinking about being one of the growing number of women in construction and looking for a career with a difference, why not visit us?

For other ideas of industries to consider see our other blogs here

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High Profile Returners Mums Returning To Work Productivity & Flexibility Professional Mums Work Journeys

An HR Journey with Pitney Bowes!

This Mum Can…

I have multiple jobs in my life, (1) mummy to two crazy, beautiful, boisterous boys (2) wife and general domestic goddess 😉 (3) career HR professional looking to change the world! Life is busy, my mind is busy. Lack of time frustrates me, yet I am determined to make it all work. Determined to make a difference.

The Juggling Act

This is all made possible with trust and empowerment, complete workplace autonomy from thought to working arrangements and amazing childcare. Me and the hubby manage nursery pick up and drop off, we don’t have family who can look after the kids, therefore having understanding childcare provision is so important to me.

Getting The Experience

Rewind back to 2003, studying for a degree in HR & Business. Not wanting to be one of those people who ‘just had a degree’, I set out to gain real life experience. Having worked in River Island and New Look in the evenings and at the weekend, I connected with retailers. I asked them to take me on for FREE in their HR team.

I was incredibly grateful to the HR Director, and the team at Faith Footwear Limited. They fully integrated me and gave me fabulous insights, projects and learning opportunities. You’ll be pleased to know that they did pay me too ;-).

From there I went to TUI for a short stint, until they closed their Greater London House office. Then I went to Sodexho. I worked under a superb manager who gave me huge learning opportunities to really find my feet.

The Move To Pitney Bowes

Starting to get more settled at home I made the move to Pitney Bowes. This was closer to home too. Fast forward 11 years and I’m still here. I work with a collaborative, exciting and dynamic leadership team. I’m proud to work with them. They embrace my crazy, quirky ideas and I’m part of their team. None of this exciting stuff would be possible without their engagement, and the support of others in the HR team. I partner closely with my Talent Acquisition partners who have joined me on this journey.

“At Pitney Bowes we recognise the importance of building a diverse and inclusive pipeline of talent. We’re a growing business, almost 100 years old, and we’re currently in the middle of an exciting transformation. Our people play a crucial part in this journey.”

What Do Pitney Bowes Offer?

I’m hugely excited and proud that in 2018 we launched a collection of Family Friendly roles. From a contingent workforce model, school hours, term time to job pairs. With every sales role that we have, we always consider each time – can we make this work differently? Every step of the way we are assessing the effectiveness of these roles, determining ways to engage the talent pool and tell them about our unique value proposition.

Along with our Family Friendly roles, we created our Charter, to help explain our commitment to this space:

“Family life is important. We get it. At Pitney Bowes we recognise the importance of balancing work and personal life. We offer fantastic career opportunities, flexibility, but most importantly, understanding.”

We welcome applications from those who want to be able to care of loved ones, older and younger, and those of the furry kind.  Not forgetting those who want to quit the 9-5 or those who just occasionally are able to connect with their work selves. So basically all those who want flexibility.

At the end of Q3 we will complete a formal review of these roles and the impact that they have had. We want to see the impact on our organisation, our teams and on the lives of those who we have been able to welcome in to the workplace. I’m passionate and I care. Therefore I cannot wait to see how this intervention transforms our employee experience.

Learn More About Pitney Bowes

If you’d like to learn more about who we are, our offering or simply network. Or maybe you want to understand how we can create the platform for more flexibility in the workplace get in touch! Drop me a line at: [email protected]

Categories
Flexible Industries High Profile Returners Mums Returning To Work Productivity & Flexibility

Hospitality: A world of opportunity

Hospitality is the third largest employer in the UK, employing 2.9 million people and contributing a phenomenal £130bn to the UK economy. Surprised? Sadly, many of us associate hospitality jobs as stop-gaps with unsocial hours and no career opportunities. Think again. It’s a thriving industry, with a skills shortage, that’s crying out for good people.

And, don’t just think restaurants or hotels, the industry covers everything from pubs, bars, events, fine dining, visitor attractions, schools, universities and corporate dining. There’s a huge range of roles available within the sector too; bar manager, barista, supervisor, front of house manager, chef, events manager right through to roles in business development, HR and accountancy.

Amy-Lou Osborn, recruitment manager at Gourmet Burger Kitchen, will happily admit that she fell into hospitality, whilst studying for a Stage Management degree at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. The flexibility of her role at HA!HA! Bar & Grill enabled her to work around her studies and take time out for filming contracts when she later graduated. Always returning to hospitality between film jobs, she later realised hospitality was where she wanted to be. She worked her way up the ladder, working for high street restaurant brands such as Browns, Frankie and Benny’s and Bill’s, where she also headed-up recruitment for new restaurant openings. Today, at GBK, she is responsible for recruiting and onboarding up to 1000 team members across 93 restaurants in the UK and Ireland.

She told us what it’s like working in the industry, what it has to offer and how you get a foot in the door.

What’s it like working in the hospitality?

It’s so diverse – every day is different. It might sound obvious, but it’s most definitely people-focused. I’m not just talking about the customers, but the team – I’ve actually made life-long friends through work. Everyone works together, pitches in and enjoys what they do, with a common goal of keeping the customer happy.
Unfortunately, the industry is often under-represented and most people aren’t aware of the vast range of opportunities and career progression that’s available. I think a lot of people assume they know what it’s like and discount it.

So, what are the opportunities?

The reality is, is that there’s a huge amount of opportunities and experiences available. And, for the right people, hospitality can enable fast career progression. At GBK, for example, you can go from a starting salary of £7.85 an hour to £30K a year as a restaurant manager, within two years. I don’t think there’s many other industries that can offer that? In most other sectors, you’d be in an entry level job for two years, before there was any hint of development opportunities.

What do you think the hospitality industry offers that other industries don’t?

I think our industry is much more creative in the way we recruit. We know there’s not enough talent out there, so the traditional head-hunting approach doesn’t work – we’d just be competing for and swapping the same people. Here at GBK, we create and invest in talent. For us, it’s about finding the right people with the right attitude and core values and giving them the training and opportunities to grow with us.

Is hospitality a good option for working parents?

By its very nature, working in hospitality is based around flexible working, so is ideally suited to people looking to work in a flexible way. Unlike a 9-5 office job, you can switch shifts to get to sports day or the school play and evening and weekend shifts enable parents who might have a partner with a 9-5 job, the opportunity to work without incurring huge childcare costs. Ten or 15 years ago, I think hospitality would have been a big no-no for parents, but it fits with today’s lifestyles where everyone is looking for flexibility.

What qualities and skills are employers looking for?

It really depends on the employer. Because the industry is so diverse, there really is no one size fits all. At GBK, we employ people who hospitality comes as second nature, people who genuinely want to make someone happy. I can’t speak for the industry at large; every employer is different. But, given the current shortage of skilled workers, now is a good time to enter the industry as more and more employers are training from within with some offering apprenticeships, so you don’t necessarily need to have lots, or any previous experience.

So, how do you get a foot in the door?

It’s worth doing some homework, if it’s a path you’re considering. There are so many roles available across many brands and companies and not every company is right for every person. You might not enjoy working in a fine dining restaurant, but you might be a fantastic Barista in a coffee shop. Contact the big brands to see what the opportunities are but keep an eye on your doorstep too. There may be somewhere local to you that is happy to offer some on the job training. Just get stuck in and if it’s right for you, you’ll fly.

To find out more about working in Hospitality, see a full list of our latest roles HERE

Categories
Gender Pay Gap Productivity & Flexibility Work Journeys

Would improving men’s rights help close the gender pay gap?

Written by Fiona Halkyard @ Chatter Communications

I don’t really think of myself as much of a feminist. I don’t get offended if a man holds a door open for me or calls me “love” (to be fair living in Yorkshire, it’s a pre-requisite and even men get called love, so score one for equality!). But I am a woman who’s pretty dedicated to her career. I’m a working mum. And, most importantly, I have three daughters who are (in my completely neutral opinion) amazing human beings who will go on to be brilliant adults. And for them, and their generation, I’d like to see true gender equality finally become a real thing.

And so there are certain “female” issues that really piss me off. And the current bee in my bonnet is the gender pay gap (which leaves British women earning an average of 17.4% less than men in similar full-time jobs and places us 15th out of 22 countries*). Or rather the gender bias that continues to dog our society and prevent women from achieving the same career success as their male counterparts.

My experiences

Through my twenties my career progressed quite successfully and initially, being female didn’t really factor. But once I moved into a management role I started to become aware of nuanced differences between the way I was treated compared to men of a similar age.

There was a “boys club” of up and coming ad execs who got invited to golf/beers/important client dinners with the MD and Chairman and suddenly progressed their careers far quicker than me and my female colleagues. The most memorable moment that made me stop and pay attention that perhaps I wasn’t being judged purely on my ability, was the conversation I had with the company Chairman when being considered for a promotion and he “joked” that he was only considering me because he “trusted” that I wasn’t just going to “run off and have babies anytime soon”. I was 27, engaged, and whilst not immediately planning a family, I knew it probably wasn’t too far off in my future. Yet I had to pretend that “no, no I’m a dedicated career woman, none of this baby nonsense for me” in order to pass his “test”.

I wonder if any man has ever felt that pressure? They certainly didn’t in that particular business where men could marry and become Dads without a single raised eyebrow from the powers that be. To be aware that even the potential of a marriage/baby that may not happen for a decade or more (or ever) could be a factor you have to answer to because you are “a woman of a certain age” is frustrating and archaic. And while most employers are far too savvy/legally compliant to ask the question that my old boss did, we all know that it is often consciously or unconsciously a factor when hiring or promoting a young woman.

And to some extent I get it. Women do often have babies in their late twenties, thirties, forties. And then want reduced/flexible hours. And that costs a business, especially a small one, a lot of money that perhaps doesn’t make up for the value of the employee in their child free years. But women do not choose to be born female. So why should they have to choose career or parenthood? Men don’t. Does that make men better at their jobs? Does it make them lesser parents? In my opinion the answer is no.

The here and now

The UK has made fabulous strides over the past 11 years, since I became a mum, to make it a little bit easier to juggle motherhood and working life. Maternity pay/leave have been extended and it’s become the norm to take a year or more off and still return to a well paid role. Flexible working policies have also become fairly common place, allowing women to balance the demands of work and parenting. Which is all brilliant. But still comes with restrictions. Breakfast meetings, after work networking, long days of travel, are all pretty hard to work around most childcare provisions. And whilst colleagues can be supportive, you can still feel that you’re more “difficult” to work with than a child-free colleague. And that affects confidence, your feelings of job security, it can put you off applying for a promotion or new role as you don’t want to upset the status quo.

And so women tread water while their kids are young and their male counterparts progress. And by the time you’re able to be “all in” at work, you’ve reached a glass ceiling and are reporting into men with 10 years less experience than you have. And so the gender pay gap persists.

So what’s the answer? What can we do? Even more benefits and support for women? Maybe. But to change the social stigma, how about we focus on men?

Again the UK has made some excellent progress in sharing the load of parental responsibility in the work place with paid paternity leave and shared parental leave and the opportunity for anyone to apply for flexible working. But it’s still not the norm. Paid paternity leave is still only funded by the government for 2 weeks. Our parenting leave is only the 11th most equal out of 21 countries* with shared parental leave a minefield to organise and flexible or part time working is still something that feels more aimed at women than men (men make up only 25.8% of the part-time workforce, leaving the UK 16th out of 21 countries measured *). Dads who take extended time off to be with their new baby tend to face social stigma, or at least a few raised eyebrows. And this means that on average, British men spend 24 minutes caring for children, for every hour done by women, according to the Fatherhood Institute’s Fairness In Families Index (FIFI).

People also presume that the woman will be the one to take a career break as the man is earning more (a comment even my own husband made, completely forgetting that when we started a family we were on equal salaries, as many couples are). And on the flip side, women whose partners take more time off than them are seen as “lesser” mums, putting their career before their kids. And because of all of this, men in their late twenties and early thirties are still not associated with the “pregnancy risk” that may entail a career break or reducing their hours at some point, even if married or with long term partners.

But if we could encourage more men to take up the opportunity to be at home with their kids, work flexibly and take on more of the parental juggle – without being judged for it. If we bring our kids up to see that both mum and dad can be their carer and have a career maybe things might finally be come more equal.

And if a parental career break (or indeed a mid-life career break for any purpose) becomes society’s standard for both men and women, then the glass ceiling might finally shatter. Maybe not for me and my peers (if we’re lucky we’ll be retired by then!). But if my daughters can dream, believe and achieve with no limits, then that would be a wonderful thing.

*stats taken from the Fatherhood Institute’s Fairness In Families Index 2016

Categories
Mums Returning To Work Productivity & Flexibility Professional Mums Work Journeys

I have 1.4 million candidates available but I am only sending them to Goldman Sachs!

7 Women Returners. Diversity

We are currently experiencing a huge skills shortage, my financial services clients and manufacturing clients seem to spend their lives hiring, they fill one position and another becomes available. How are we going to find the staff to keep up? Well the first option and obvious one is to up-skill internally (but I’ll save that for another rant) the second option is to tap into the UKs 1.4 million eligible candidates!

| Who are they, what do they do and where do I get my hands on them?! |

Well, do you remember Susan your former FD who got pregnant but couldn’t come back full-time because of childcare? Well bingo, we have 1.4 million Susan’s.

And because 95% of employers are yet to realise we need our Susan’s and still believe the world is full of 20-year-old geniuses with 16 years’ experience willing to work for £20,000, we are currently the crappiest Western country when it comes to getting parents back into work; 27% lower than any other country in fact!

Well done United Kingdom, we have actually managed to go backwards!

After the war when we had a skills shortage (admittedly slightly more severe than the one we have now) we created on-site nurseries, so women could come to work and know there was a safe, guaranteed place for their children to be! Genius.

Now whilst 95% of employers are damn average at supporting parents back into work, 5% have actually realised the value of Susan(s) and have taken the initiative to do something about their skills shortage, staff turn over and retention! (For the purpose of this argument, I am ignoring you fantastic supporters of flexible working, this is purely focussed on on-site support) Goldman Sachs is leading the way, they now have on-site nurseries in their London, Tokyo and New York offices. In locations where they can’t provide childcare facilities, they work with local nurseries to subsidise their facilities for employees. They also provide after school and holiday clubs for 5-12 year olds, which has proved to be exceptionally popular! Around 1400 Goldman Sachs employees use their childcare services! 1400! That’s ¼ of their employees.

I know I know, Goldman Sachs have so much money it’s not a fair comparison! They could give every new starter a gold-plated calculator and diamond stapler!

“My company is too small I can’t afford to fund internal childcare” – well yes that’s pretty bloody obvious! However, you also thought you couldn’t afford a fancy meeting suite, coffee machine and serviced lift but you found a small office to rent in a shared building with all those perks.

Welcome shared office child-care suites!

https://secondhome.io/ http://www.third-door.com/ https://www.officreche.com/#

“Article 50 is coming” and we still have little to no idea on how it is going to impact our current foreign workers. We have 2.2 million EU workers; let’s say 50% leave the UK, that leaves us with an additional 1.1 million vacancies on top of the current 770,000. If you think it’s hard to recruit now, imagine an additional 1 million vacant positions!

Let’s do the maths here, if above 50% leave the UK we will be left with 1,870,000 vacancies. There are only 1.4 million unemployed people in the UK, even if they all were miraculously suitable and skilled for current vacancies we still have a deficit of 470,000 jobs with no people to fill them.

Surely this is reason enough to really consider how you are making work accessible for parents, particularly single parents!

Take 6 minutes out of your day to hear Rohan Silva and Rachel Carrell discuss how you can overcome the challenges of childcare for parents!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05b4vzh

Written by Harriet Finch @ https://www.linkedin.com/in/harrietfinch/

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