What does inclusion mean to working parents?

Hello hello!

 What a week! This week we've announced three massive new partnerships: WPP , Diageo and OSB Group . To say I've been busy would be an understatement. But the great news is that my youngest has finally started nursery meaning I can actually work four days a week which should mean less evening work. Should!

It's National Inclusion Week!

I spent many years working in insurance, a hugely male-dominated environment. I know what it's like not to feel included.

Feeling as though you are different to all of your colleagues can make every day work really hard. I experienced this both from an age and gender perspective, but each layer of difference makes work a harder place to be.

I found myself trying to maintain two personalities. When I became a mother, a third was too much. Ultimately that inability to be my 'whole self' led to me falling out of my role and losing the opportunity to become a FTSE100 leader. 

I'm not alone. Far from it! This knowledge is what led to the publication of Careers After Babies: The Uncomfortable Truth and ultimately the Careers After Babies accreditations. 

83% of women in the UK will become mothers by the age of 45. Which might make it seem as though they make up a big chunk of the working population. But when you factor in 19% leaving their job immediately and another 57% falling out within the next two years, they become a minority. 

So whilst motherhood is common in one regard, in the workplace it is less so. 

Diversity of people presents a huge challenge for line managers.  How do they get the best out of people who are nothing like them? Especially on top of everything else they have to do.

One of the Careers After Babies themes we spend a lot of time on is Empathetic and Inclusive leadership. We define it as "Everyone, especially line managers, is empathetic and inclusive, understanding of the changes and challenges that parenthood brings". The benefit is the retention of good (and diverse) people. And that brings with it improvements in both profitability and productivity. 

Consistency in line management is the most challenging thing for most organisations to achieve. It needs everyone to hold the same beliefs and treat employees in the same way, That requires extensive education and support of line managers, genuinely valuing parents and their contributions, listening and understanding individuals' context and understanding and prioritising the wellbeing of their employees. 

.People leave line managers, not jobs.  That's why inclusion is so critical to retention.

If you'd like to find out more about how to keep great people in your business, where they belong, then get in touch.

Things you should check out

 Watch Colin from Accounts - I'm obssessed!

 Follow Ian Dinwidy, he and I did a brilliant Mum and Dad talk for Sanctuary earlier this week. If you'd like us to do the same for you, let me know. 

Read (when it comes out) Belinda Batt's Challenge Your Guilt designed to stop guilty mothers feeling guilty, I'm a big fan of Belinda Jane Batt MSc and even contributed to some of the research!

Did you catch my LinkedIn live with Nicole Ratcliffe 💤 this week on the importance of sleep? It should make me go to bed earlier but I'm still working at 11pm at night. Why don't I listen?!

See you next week 

Jess

P.S. If you're in the Real Estate business, catch me speaking at the CREW conference this coming Thursday where I'll be talking about Inclusive Leadership