Taking care of business

Returning to part-time work for a new mum has always represented a compromise. More than eighty per cent of women who sign up to work flexibly say they work well below their level of expertise.
The skills gap has spawned a new breed of recruitment companies which aim to match high-calibre female professionals with companies which need well-qualified part time workers.
According to Gillian Nissim, founder of workingmums.co.uk which specialises in advertising jobs for professional women, there is now a far greater understanding of the benefits this group can bring to business.
‘A small or medium sized company doesn't need an HR director or financial controller five days a week, but they might need their services for a few days,' she said. ‘Working mothers represent a vast untapped pool of talent with masses of experience and specialist knowledge.
‘Employers need to think more creatively and get beyond the mindset that a job requires someone to be in the office five days a week.'
According to a recent report by the Equal Opportunities Commission, more than 400,000 women could be tempted back into the workplace if they were offered more flexible working patterns. Economists estimate achieving this goal would boost the long-term growth of the economy by £20 billion a year and that coaxing more women into work will be critical to defusing the demographic time bomb facing much of Europe.
This disturbing picture of highly qualified women struggling to find flexible employment was reinforced by the Equalities Review report in March 2007. It found that discrimination against working mothers had reached ‘intolerable levels'.
‘Recruiters say again and again there is a shortage of experienced, well-qualified leadership talent and the cost associated with training new staff up to senior posts is prohibitive,' said Rebecca Clake, a research advisor at the Chartered Institute of personnel Development (CIPD). ‘It is not surprising that there are an increasing amount of companies out there that are taking this seriously.'
The National Schools Partnership, which links businesses with schools, has employed four mothers on a part time basis from jobs4mothers.co.uk, a London-based company which was started in 2006. The NSP recruits have a rich mixture of experience ranging from being a former account director at a leading direct marketing agency, to previously running the central office of a large London law firm.
‘For too long women felt that the only way they could get back into the workplace was to take on a gruelling full time role or take on something part time which is well below their level of experience' said NSP chief executive Mark Fawcett. ‘Yet, anyone with that level of experience, who is also used to juggling the roles of motherhood, family and professional work, can get done in three days what it would take most of us five days to do.  ‘You can throw all sorts of challenges at them and they always rise to them because they are experienced professionals.'