If you want to throw out any questions to this week's panel of experts (see at bottom of this article), then please write your questions or comments by clicking on the following link - which will lead you to our special maternity debate forum...

Recently two Changeboard bloggers, Karen Gill, co-founder of and director of Everywoman, and Amanda Alexander, founder of Corporate Mothers, both expressed their views on the comments chief executive of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, Nicola Brewer, recently when she asked:

"...whether the extension of maternity leave to 12 months for each child might be holding back women's careers. She cited Sir Alan Sugar's remark that many employers are now binning CVs from women of child-bearing age, and suggested that plans to extend the right of parents to request flexible working hours until their oldest child is 16 would exacerbate the problem..” 
(Source: The Independent: Joan Smith: We all need time off. Only the reasons differ)
 
Amanda Alexander writes:

“In the next few years, 80% of the growth in the UK workforce will be accounted for by women and by 2010, one in five UK workers will be mothers. The question of whether becoming a mother is bad for a woman’s career is not just a politically correct debate. It is an issue to address urgently by companies seeking to hook the best talent in an ever-shrinking pool. For the country’s economy, we can’t afford to let motherhood negatively impact women’s careers.”

While Karen Gill writes:

“There has to be more equality – many fathers would relish the opportunity to spend their children’s first few months together, yet with only two weeks paternity leave, they have to accept that this will not happen.  In order that employers will not feel disinclined to employ women of child-bearing age, there has to be a level playing field. Extending paternity leave will help to balance this.”

In light of the current debates surrounding the perceived harm that maternity leave can do to women’s careers, AXA ICAS is urging as many people to take part in its second benchmarking survey. AXA ICAS, in partnership with Managing Maternity Limited, has launched the online survey of HR and diversity professionals across the UK to review current workplace practice on maternity management and retention. This survey will provide a unique and comprehensive insight into how organisations are dealing with maternity, the recently introduced Keeping In Touch (KIT) days and flexible working and strategies in order to boost retention. Please take part in the: Managing Maternity Survey 2008 which is open for contributions until the end of August.

 Liz McCaw, who heads up the maternity management division at AXA ICAS, says:

"Alongside all the statistics you would expect to see (such as the need for flexible working and the lack of it making it difficult for many women to return), in last year's benchmarking survey, one fact stood out for me. A third of all organisations do not know how long they retain women for after returning from maternity leave. What is more, 43% of all large organisations didn’t even record return rates in the first place.

"Until companies use this kind of basic benchmarking, how can they possibly track whether they are improving their ability to retain this section of their workforce?

"Women make up around 46% of the workforce in the UK. In some companies now, they form the significant majority. It is now widely acknowledged that people are more likely to remain with a company when they feel consistently valued. It therefore makes business sense to ensure that women don’t find their careers stalled or slowed by one of the biggest changes in their lives – motherhood.

"So why is it that women are still finding their careers stalling once they become mothers?

Citi - maternity programme

"There is no easy answer, but there are some examples of best practice, not always in the sectors you'd expect. For example, we work with Citi, one of the world’s leading financial services companies. With women making up 52% of their global workforce, they have every incentive to make sure they retain highly valued employees. We have worked with them to introduce a managing maternity programme that supports their existing maternity provision in a move that makes them the breath of fresh air in a sector not traditionally known for its supportive approach to career women with children.

"I’ll come back on Friday with the full Citi case study, but today I want to kick open the debate by asking you as HR professionals – ‘are you benchmarking returns and retention within your own company?’ If not, why not? If you start by benchmarking, you can then start to work out the maths; the cost of failing to retain good staff vs the cost of maternity leave. Evidence alone won’t solve the issues, but it could be a significant start on the road to change.”

CHANGEBOARD MATERNITY DEBATE | ROLE OF WOMEN IN THE WORKPLACE

All this week, hear from successful female professionals who are managing to juggle both work and home life, as well as organisations who have introduced flexible working to accomodate part-time mothers. Plus, get the lowdown on all the employment law on maternity rights:

THURSDAY: Pat Leighton, expert in employment law and session leader for Personal Experts in Employment Law (PEEL) club : HR managers are sandwiched between their legal obligation to give maternity leave but also having to deal with the concerns of the woman wishing to take the leave and whether it’s fair to perhaps promote or give training to a woman who has effectively been out of the workplace for a year. As Pat sees it the maternity leave question must be viewed from the following viewpoints, the legal aspect, the HR managers view, the woman who’s taking the leave’s viewpoint, and finally the rest of the team who are being left while the woman is on maternity leave

Case study: Sharon Mullen, director of Strategi Search & Selection and who helped to co-found the business with managing director Jo Sellwood, works flexibly – she has triplets too! Strategi also embrace flexible working for all their people

FRIDAY: Case study: AXA ICAS & CITI - maternity programme implementation

SPECIAL FORUM: 

Changeboard has also set up a special forum, so if you want to throw out any questions to this week's panel of experts, please write your questions or comments by clicking on this link - which will lead you to our special maternity debate forum