If, ten years ago, you’d asked business owners and managers tasked with hiring which section of the population they would least like to employ, the chances are they would have replied “new mothers”. The stereotypical, and often unfair, assumption that this band of women were more trouble than any other member of the workforce: needing time off if their child was ill, a lack of concentration due to night feeds and little sleep, flexibility in their working hours around partners’ shifts, etc.
New research shows that this attitude is changing, and that working mothers are desirable to hirers. As flexible working is far more common than a decade ago, working mothers’ needs for leeway in their hours is not likely to be seen as unusual, as it’s a benefit commonly enjoyed by older working parents and those without children too.
That they’re coping with the challenges of being a new mother is increasingly seen as a positive, rather than a negative. Time management skills, inherent in returning-to-work-mothers, as they juggle feeding schedules and meticulously plan the comings and goings of their household; according to Regus, who carried out the survey, a significant portion of the 4,000 senior business people interviewed saw new mums’ organisational talents as valuable transferable skills.
The fact that returning mothers were less likely to swap jobs was also recognised. Once an employer helps to support a routine that works for the ‘new mum’ employee and her colleagues, it’s rare that she’d rock the boat. Survey respondents welcomed this commitment and reliability.
Perhaps because of the assumptions and stereotyping of days gone by, returning mums were also seen as more hardworking than other sections of the workforce - possibly in a bid to prove they were as up to the job as their colleagues, and also to find some value and worth outside the home. Softer skills, attributes commonly sought after by hirers in today’s competitive job market, were also deemed by the respondents to be abundant in new mothers.
These findings were echoed by Celia Donne, Regus’ Global Operations Director. She said, “The benefits to businesses are clear; not least, lower staff turnover and associated hiring and training costs.”
But if a firm doesn’t promote flexible working, would returning mothers, and all their beneficial attributes, join that firm? And even if flexible hours were on offer, does this automatically solve working mothers’ problems?
A separate survey, carried out by workingmums.co.uk, claimed that 57% of mums have trouble with childcare provision before and after school. However, new mums fared even worse: 61% claimed that their intention to return to work was in jeopardy, due to the cost of full-time childcare and its potential to outweigh their earnings.
Employer-run crèches could prove one solution, but are often impractical and costly for the business, even if they do attract working mums and all the benefits they bring. Government subsidies towards childcare are also welcome, even if many working mums claim they’re not enough.
It’s good to see attitudes changing towards mothers returning to work; though they may not endure jealousy or bad feeling in the office as they may once have experienced, they still have hurdles to overcome if they want to rejoin the workforce. Businesses can help by being as flexible as they can, so that the new mum employee can take advantage of free nursery places (which means being a slave to the nursery’s opening hours), as well as considering if some of their workload can be carried out at home.
Though the latter sounds the perfect solution (working from home, no childcare costs!), try concentrating on emails or making phone calls with a crying baby in the background – it may alter your view.
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