Creating working environments where diversity in teams can thrive requires flexibility and there’s no one size fits all solution. 

We need to provide flexibility whether it is for someone celebrating Ramadan and needing to be home at sunset, someone going out on maternity leave, or someone dealing with a sick relative or even a pet. 

Everyone is unique, with unique needs and obligations. Inclusive Leaders create environments where people of all backgrounds feel respected, can contribute their talent and perspectives, and are given fair access to meaningful opportunities. 

What is the shift needed to enable diverse teams to leverage flexibility?

There is an important inclusive leadership competency required to make this shift - curiosity. It helps teams to think, reason and understand the complexity that comes with flexible working. 

“Curiosity is a desire to understand how others view and experience the world, and to practice a tolerance for...

This return to work case study is a great example of how crucial flexibility is for retaining new mothers in the workplace. Here we share the story of Louise, an advanced nurse practitioner in a hospital emergency department and mother to a baby boy.

When Louise became pregnant she knew that after having her baby, she would eventually want to return to work in the career she had worked hard over many years to build as an advanced nurse practitioner in a hospital emergency department.

Her story is neither an outright success nor failure on the part of her employer, but there are many parts to it that we can learn from. Ultimately, it shows how vital flexible working is for retaining new mothers in the workplace. Rather than share the interview in full, we have highlighted some of the key themes and outlined key learnings from the perspective of both the new mother and the employer:

The Paperwork

“When I told my employers I was pregnant, they were very helpful and seemed...

When a driven, ambitious lawyer announces that she is having a baby, her employer has some key decisions to make to ensure a smooth departure and return. In this case, one employer’s loss was another’s gain…  

Although happy to share her story, this lawyer wanted to remain anonymous so we’ll call her Julia. When Julia announced she was pregnant at her law firm, all was well. She was treated fairly, adjustments were made, and it was easy for her to attend all the necessary antenatal appointments during her working hours without any resentment or sideways glances.

The problems came during the handling of her workload. After years with the firm building up a client base on full time hours, Julia was surprised to learn that her employer intended for her line manager to take on all the extra work alone while she was away. This caused a great deal of stress for everyone involved and made the time leading up to her maternity leave very tense.

Shortly after...

How can you achieve your career goals and ambitions, whilst working reduced hours? This question is not only relevant to working parents but to anyone who wishes to pursue their professional aspirations and personal goals.

In part one of this three part series, we touched upon some of the things that may be holding you back from pursuing your career once you go part time and attempted to address these by highlighting key factors that commonly appear in success stories of the many clients we have worked with in the past.

However one of the biggest reasons that many individuals shy away from requesting part time or reduced hours is the lack of role models and real life examples that prove that it is possible to advance in your career.

In this article, we will focus on two specific individuals and tell their stories so that you can view their journeys from going part time to achieving great things.

Laura, Hilti

Laura started her career at Hilti ‘on the ground’ in a...

As the festive season is soon upon us, I am “walking the talk”. How, you may ask? Well, I am doing what we encourage others to do all the time - I am taking a moment to press “pause”.

When I think about the conversations over this festive, sociable period, family, friends and colleagues often ask how the year has been and they are curious to know what your New Year’s Resolutions are for 2019.

Some people reflect on their year with great energy and joy; others will shy away from answering or not want to give it much thought, as sometimes it reminds us of the low points. Some will talk about their 2019 goals with fervor and passion, whilst others say “I do not believe in making resolutions”.

So, where do you start, when thinking about these big questions? For me, I need to break it down and reflect over several days. My approach is to use ‘smaller questions’.

• What lessons did I learn in 2018?

• What am I proud of in 2018?

• What...

Paid parental leave is essential for children, important for families, and good for business. Parental support from the organisations they work for is something that prospective parents want, because they know intuitively that spending more time with each other and with their newborn is going to be the best thing for their family. For all concerned, flexible paid extended and shared parental leave is a no-brainer. Here’s why...

Benefits For The Company

From a business perspective, it’s logical that improving the happiness and mental health of your staff increases productivity and helps you to retain your best talent. In many organisations, family leave worth the investmnt as they see an increase in engagement, productivity and talent retention. hen Google extended its paid maternity leave from 12 to 18 weeks, it saw a 50% increase in employee retention among women who had babies.

In contrast, insensitivity and lack of “civil organisational behaviour” -...

June is a month which holds much focus for fathers. Several countries celebrate Father’s Day and it is also the month for International Men’s Health Week (June 11-17), celebrated annually to promote and honour the importance of the health and wellness of boys and men.

It seems an ideal month therefore, to take a step back to look at the evolving role of fathers and highlight again what is required to close the gap, to meet their needs in the workplace. So, what has driven the evolution of the role of a father?

There are many views. Some say that millennial men & generations following are different because they grew up with different expectations and role models, often where both parents worked. Others put it down to the reforms to support for working mothers which have accelerated from the 1970s onwards, as a result of many campaigns lobbying for change in the workplace. Others say fathers who now have daughters in the workplace witness their world and it’s...

We recently celebrated Mother’s Day here in Geneva, Switzerland. Grateful children and dads took mums out to lunch, bought them flowers, ran them baths, and made them cards to show her how special she is to them and what a great job she does in the home.

But what about the job she does at work? Does she ever receive recognition for her contributions and support for her needs? Does she spend her working hours feeling guilty - for having to leave early and pick up her kids or for leaving them in the first place - when she should be feeling like a supermum for all the things she is able to juggle on a daily basis?

Mothers are a valuable asset to any organisation (note: Fathers are too but we’re focusing on mothers here). After returning to work, most mums have evolved into super efficient multitasking champions. In the transition to motherhood, they have had to learn to be super organised, plan to make plans, make preparations the night before, and always have a backup....

If you are one of those lucky people who never needed shopping lists or deadline alerts before you had a baby, lucky you! The chances are that post-baby, however, things are very different.

I think the majority of adults struggle with juggling personal and work related tasks after becoming a parent - the mental and logistical load is much heavier than ever before and with the likelihood of sleep deprivation you’re memory doesn’t seem quite as sharp as it used to. You think to yourself "I'll easily remember that" and then your tiny little person flashes you a beautiful smile and you forget everything else.  

With that in mind, you can relax somewhat in the knowledge that there is an abundance of handy, practical tools to help you out. Some of these tools you can use for both personal and work tasks, allowing you to more easily manage those two parts of your life together at once. I am strong proponent for work-life integration because in order to thrive in both...

Whatever your reason for being a single parent, raising children alone comes with its challenges as well as its rewards. Add to that the responsibility of being a working parent, and things can get even more difficult.

Between work, meals, emails, bath time and bed, it’s easy to lose yourself as you move from one thing to the next. But it really is possible to meet your many responsibilities and achieve a life of enjoyment and fulfilment for you and your children as a single working parent.

Firstly, you’ll need to let go of any guilt you may be harbouring. As parents, we all worry about the start in life we are giving our children. There’s plenty of proof that single working parents can raise raise happy, well-balanced and confident children. When it comes to parents, it’s about quality over quantity!

Keep these tips in minds to  help you stay focused on your happiness, health, and the special life you and your child share...

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