Friday HighlightMar 13 2020

Why more firms need to accommodate mothers

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Why more firms need to accommodate mothers

Yet only half of these 13 million hard-pressed, time-poor parents work flexible hours. The rest are stuck trying to juggle a myriad of responsibilities.

The problems don’t stop here. At a recent Women in Finance Event, female leaders highlighted how presenteeism culture penalises women who participate in flexible working.

They said it’s seen as a “female thing”, with part-time women being overlooked for promotion or not given sufficiently high profile opportunities that could open doors to promotion.

Almost half of City and Canary Wharf workers share this fear that flexible working could impact their career progression.

Moreover, opportunities for flexible working tend to be more available in senior roles where people can manage their own time and have access to remote technologies.

For those in clerical, admin and customer service roles, there just aren’t the options.

Challenges

A recent survey has revealed that a third of London City professionals feel like these policies are not open to all, and 38 percent disagreed that such policies were actively encouraged in their firm.

It’s clear that businesses don’t do enough to cater for parents, and mothers especially. With all these pressures, it’s no wonder that 37 percent of them have faked being sick to meet a family obligation.

Almost half of City and Canary Wharf workers share this fear that flexible working could impact their career progression.

Those parents who work full-time and find ways to provide the right childcare options, myself included, still face hundreds of other pressures.

When booking a doctor’s appointment we are asked; “what days don’t you work"? 

There’s an assumption that as a mum you must only be working part-time. 

The result? Guilt. When we’re at work, we feel like we’re being bad parents.

When we’re at home, we feel guilt about not doing the best job we can. Alternatively, guilt for not being role models to our children; not showing them that women can do it all. 

It manifests itself in many ways, but often causes loss of confidence and a desire to not step up – either because we worry there’ll not be time to do even more work or because we just can’t face the thought of even more pressure. 

At Companies House we’re working hard to give all women a voice within the organisation.

Our Womens’ Network provides a forum for women and mothers to talk about their challenges without fear of repercussion. It also provides an incredibly useful way for management to identify and solve the pinch points. 

I recently attended a session on this topic, which was – despite being a perennial issue – still as hot as ever.

A junior member of staff attended the network despite having to miss a school function.

She spoke eloquently about her plight. She has a full-time desk job – with a desk phone and a desktop computer.

Cultural change is at the centre of our organisation-wide transformation programme, which will introduce and embed smarter ways of working.

She has to be in the office to fulfil her role. She’s now on a trial flexible working programme which allows her to do the exact same job but fit it around her family commitments.

The net result will be a happier home life, a more focused employee and most likely better productivity. 

Change to culture

Cultural change is at the centre of our organisation-wide transformation programme, which will introduce and embed smarter ways of working.

We hope to transition to an environment where adaptable, bold and curious behaviours are the norm and empowerment is encouraged and utilised.

The ability to work when needed and to care when needed. Mums (and dads) can come in and leave at slightly different times and pick up work when it’s more suitable. 

The result will be a reduction in the guilt mothers feel about not being able to do everything.

Because with a little flexibility and trust from employers, they will.

Many parents already report that work negatively impacts on their family life.

If we don’t? Well, as life gets faster and faster, and with more and more parents choosing or needing to work, it will have a detrimental affect us all – businesses and individuals alike.

The statistics tell us this already. Many parents already report that work negatively impacts on their family life.

Nearly half say work affects their ability to spend time together as a whole family, while 46 per cent say work prevents them from seeing their children often or all the time. This cannot go on. 

While the challenge of supporting mothers and all working parents isn’t a new topic, it’s perhaps one of the biggest challenges facing business in the UK and it’s only going to get more pressing as more parents enter the workforce.

For the sake of business efficiency; for the sake of parents’ sanity; for the sake of reducing guilt among working mothers; for all these reasons and a thousand more we need to ensure the workplace is set up for mothers, fathers, grandparents and, of course, children.

Because one day, they’ll be walking through those office doors too. 

Alexandra Walters is head of policy at Companies House