As a psychologist I know that making a public commitment to taking a particular action increases the likelihood that we’ll do it. We feel uncomfortable with incongruity and not following through undermines our credibility. So too with organisations and that’s why employers signing workplace charters is an important step towards culture change. The Mindful Business Charter, developed by Barclays, Pinsent Masons and Addleshaw Goddard, celebrated it’s first birthday last week and has four principles: openness and respect smart meetings and mailings respecting rest periods mindful delegation. I applaud all who sign such charters because the decision has often come at the end of much internal debate, many challenging conversations and the creation of new processes and policies. One can’t hang a sign outside saying “we believe in this” if everything inside the organisation says the opposite. No no no, employees will be quick to tell the world – in one way or another – that their organisation is hoodwinking us. It’s significant that this charter began as a project straddling two different professions where both can be each other’s biggest client. What often gets in the way of sensible working practices is the belief that “the client” needs something immediately/yesterday and we must deliver now, to the highest standard, irrespective of the toll it takes on the individuals managing the relationship. At the time of writing over 20 organisations have signed the MBC. All but one (Network Rail) it appears, are law firms or financial services companies. There isn’t, as… Read More »
“They’re just hasn’t been the take-up we thought there would be,” is what I hear most often when I ask clients and HR practitioners about Shared Parental Leave. What if employers invited expectant fathers to tell them they are expecting a baby? How might this affect the take-up of Shared Parental Leave? “A voluntary ‘DADB1’ form alongside the ‘MATB1’ form women are given by the NHS to pass to their employers?” I quipped in a LinkedIn article If employers REALLY want more men to take SPL, here’s how in March 2017. 18 months later and we’re calling upon the Government to introduce a “DADB1” form alongside the “MATB1” form pregnant women are issued by their midwife to verify their pregnancy. The DADB1 form is for expectant fathers to hand to their employer to kickstart discussions about, and preparation for, Shared Parental Leave. The DADB1 form is a simple, pragmatic step towards growing the number of men taking SPL by kickstarting early conversations between expectant fathers and their employers. Read and sign the petition – your support counts. We need 10,000 supporters. Why? Watch this short film. Researchers have indicated that increasing the numbers of men taking SPL is likely to be a lever in closing the UK’s gender pay gap. Shared Parental Leave was introduced in the UK April 2015. Around 285,000 qualify for SPL every year yet the take-up could be as low as 2% (source: gov.uk). The Government launched a “Share the joy” campaign in February 2018 to promote… Read More »
We’re thrilled to see the Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Jo Swinson leading a cross-party push to bring a Private Member’s Bill[1] that would require businesses with 250+ staff to be transparent and publish information on their parental leave and maternity/paternity/adoption and shared parental leave pay policies, in a bid to combat maternity discrimination. A successful return to work after extended leave, be it maternity, paternity, sickness or sabbatical needs careful thought and management from both the employer and employee, and finding the healthy, sustainable balance between work and other commitments can still feel a challenge from both sides. We feel positive that the introduction of this Bill and the publicity it generates will encourage more open and honest relations between organisations and employees, in the quest to ensure that talent is not overlooked, discouraged, nor penalised. This public Bill, introduced by Swinson in the House of Commons on June 6th 2018, is sponsored by Nicky Morgan, the former Tory cabinet minister, Harriet Harman, David Lammy and Gareth Thomas from the Labour Party, Caroline Lucas, the Green Party’s co-leader, and Alison Thewliss of the SNP. Whilst not part of planned Government legislation, the Bill would be a simple regulatory change that could lead to significant benefits for working parents. Jill Miller, diversity and inclusion adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, described Swinson’s proposal as an “encouraging move”, adding that “increased transparency about parental leave policies shines a spotlight on an organisation’s offering and could help break the taboo… Read More »
Founder of the 30% Club, ex-CEO of Newton Asset Management and mother of nine, Helena Morrissey is full of sage advice for business leaders and women who want to see gender balance in the workplace in her book “A Good Time to Be a Girl”. One of our favourite extracts is the re-counting of Andy Haldane’s advice on how to increase diversity in teams. I had the opportunity to share this with the London team of recruitment consultants at Huxley/SThree last month and think it’s an idea we need to spread far and wide. From the chapter How CEOs can break the diversity barrier: Andy Haldane, Chief Economist at the Bank of England, gave an insightful speech on diversity in 2016, entitled ‘The Sneetches’, after Dr Seuss’ children’s story of the same name, a parody of status and discrimination first published in 1961. In his speech Haldane challenged CEOs to consider whether their recruitment process really did encourage diversity. The Recruitment Challenge There are two candidates for a position, A and B. They do a test based on attributes useful for the hiring organisation. These tests might be state of the art, including all the diverse attributes one would wish for in an organisation – cognitive, interpersonal and experientail skills. In this test out of 10, candidate A scores 8 and candidate B scores 4. Which one should be hired? The answer is easy. The evidence points strongly to A as the candidate best meeting requirements for the job. They have… Read More »
Taken a career break? Love to use your client care skills again? Come and join us… The Talent Keeper Specialists are on a mission to improve the experience of people preparing to transition in and out of extended leave (maternity, shared parental leave, adoption, sickness and sabbatical). We’re in growth mode and need another pair of hands to support our CEO in delighting existing clients as well as spotting new opportunities. We’re calling this an account director role but actually, we think it’s more bespoke and interesting than that (we’re up for you telling us what you’d like your title to be). The Talent Keeper Specialists launched in 2012 and to date we have worked with BlackRock, ITV, the CIPR, Twinings, Boots, Ebay, Enfield Borough Council, Anglia Ruskin University, Veolia and The Law Society of Scotland amongst others. Although we’ve come this far without external account management help, we know with additional talent we’ll go further, faster. What are we looking for and what can we give you? The Talent Keeper Specialists are looking for someone who can dedicate 20-25 hours/month to account management and helping us develop the business. The right candidate will help us determine the most impactful activities, scope of the role and how the hours are best distributed across the month. We offer flexibility, home-working, school hours, and home-made cake when you come and work at our place (in St Albans) and are looking for someone on a self-employed basis rather than as an FTE employee.… Read More »
Jonathan Clarke (pictured on the right) is the HR Director at the patent and trademarking law firm, Kilburn & Strode. We heard about K&S’s enlightened approach to fathers, flexibility and shared parental leave and asked Jonathan to tell us some more. In a nutshell, could you tell us who Kilburn & Strode’s clients are and what the practice does for them? We work with clients from just about every industry sector. This means that day-to-day our attorneys are dealing with a hugely diverse and constantly evolving range of intellectual property issues. In the most basic terms, we’re here to protect our clients’ interests and make their lives easier. Offering a complete intellectual property service is key to our ability to deliver on that promise. As the HRD at Kilburn & Strode what are you working on at the moment? And what do you want to say you’ve created/delivered/changed/improved 12 months from now? We entered the Times Top 100 employer survey last October. We have had a people survey for the last 3 years and we wanted a more in-depth survey and a better understanding of how we are actually doing. We were accredited as “One to Watch” – that really means we have quite a way to go to be a top 100 employer – but we are determined. That’s my focus for the next 12 months. You have a trusting, open culture and you embrace flexible working. Could you give us a flavour of what “flexible working” looks like… Read More »
