Working mums call for greater employer flexibility
Jul 08 2008
The majority of working mothers are still frustrated by the lack of flexible working positions available, according to a survey.
Over 1,000 mothers were surveyed by WorkingMums.co.uk. The research found that employers may be allowing some of their top talent to slip through their fingers, with 75 per cent of respondents admitting that they are currently looking for a new job. Fifty-five per cent of mothers said they started a new job after taking time off for children.
Other key findings include:
• 73 per cent of mothers felt that the lack of appropriate and available flexible jobs is the biggest barrier upon returning to work;
• 86 per cent said that flexi-hours are the most desired working condition;
• 16 per cent said their request for flexible working was turned down, sometimes with no consideration being given to it at all. Only 31 per cent got the flexibility they requested, with 26 per cent achieving a compromise with managers.
The most important factors for those returning to work, after flexible working, were being able to ease back into the job by increasing hours worked over time; being given time to settle back into work; being set clear targets and goals; and being able to keep in touch with work during maternity leave, including having a series of meetings with managers prior to return.
However, although more than half of the mums surveyed said their employers made the right amount of effort to stay in contact during maternity leave, some 22 per cent had no contact at all and a third wanted more contact.
Back to work
There are several things an employer can do to ease mothers back into the workplace. Gillian, founder of WorkingMums.co.uk, suggests:
• Before a mother goes on maternity leave, work out the contact level and regularity you would both like
• Where possible, make use of “keeping in touch” days
• Work out what is best for the business and what solutions will fit the business
• Keep employees in the loop to make sure that their transition is smooth, e.g. refresher training, access to email, participation in team meetings (via the phone)
Comment by Karen Kennard
Thursday 10th July 2008I would be interested to know how many of the 1000 respondents surveyed were from Working Mums database of job seekers. This would obviously bias the findings. I appreciate there are many companies out there who need to think more flexibly about employing parents, but I believe that small businesses on the whole are less guilty of inflexibility than larger companies. Flexible Skills Bank (www.flexibleskillsbank.co.uk) works largely with small businesses sourcing flexible staff, and I find that it is an ideal way to achieve business growth without the commitment of taking on full time staff. Perhaps small businesses are benefiting from the larger companies losing their talented Mums.
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