A SlideShare outlining the benefits of remote and flexible working for new parents. You’ve seen it dozens of times. You hire a great employee, they give you years of fantastic work. Everything’s dreamy. And then... life happens. When babies screech and bawl their way into your workers’ lives, the result is often negative. For both the red-eyed new parents and their talent-starved employers. Up to 54,000 women a year actually lose their jobs. The new parents’ careers are disrupted by nocturnal meltdowns and the endless sobbing and screaming - and that’s just from their employers. While for those employers, the costs of covering downtime average over £5,000… even in the best cases, where little Hugo or Skyler sleeps through the night from Day 1 and can be packed off to nursery within weeks. Fully one-third of new mothers never return to work. But with today’s remote and flexible working options, there’s hope - both for frazzled parents who never imagined they’d learn Peppa Pig scripts by heart, and for employers looking to do the right thing. This SlideShare outlines why HR need not dread “maternity leave” robbing you of a valuable employee - and how, in some circumstances, the challenges created by those mucky creatures who like purple dinosaurs can even be worthwhile.

1. Maternity matters:
How remote working can
keep recent parents on board

2. It’s a loaded
term -

3. MATERNITY
LEAVE.

4. Nearly half of
new mothers cut
short their leave
entitlement out
of fear.

5. And today, it’s only
half the story.

6. BOTH parents
(regardless of gender)
are entitled to Shared
Parental Leave.
The law now recognises the
importance of BOTH parents to
the first months of life.

7. But what if you looked
at these life events
not as a COST…

8. ...but as an
OPPORTUNITY?

9. of women in professional jobs -
that’s KNOWLEDGE WORK.
Especially with
38%

10. WORK IS NOT
EITHER/OR.

11. Becoming a parent
doesn’t mean 100%
out,
Just as non-
parenthood doesn’t
mean 100% in.

12. All employers must, by
law, consider REMOTE
and FLEXIBLE working
options.
They can provide a smoother route
back to work for some people,
while retaining the skills of those
who’d otherwise move on.

13. What is remote?
What is flexible?

14. REMOTE working is
about PLACE.
It recognises today’s workplace
can be a dining table, kitchen
worktop, or hotel room.
Today’s work doesn’t need
presence in the office all the time.
(Or even most of it.)

15. of employees want the option...
including nearly all those pesky
Millennials.
66%

16. While FLEXIBLE
working is about TIME.
Starting two hours later?
Staying on for an evening shift?
Packing a week’s work into four
days to take Friday off?

17. people are entitled to ask for
it. Approach it with trust and
understanding.
20m

18. KEY THOUGHT:
DON’T groan at
Statutory pay and
Shared Parental Leave…

19. Thrill to the
OPPORTUNITIES
remote and flexible
working can create.
For both MOTHER and FATHER.
(14m people want it - only 6% of
job ads offer it.)

20. BENEFITS FOR A
NEW MOTHER:

21. 1. Remote working
helps her STAY IN THE
GROOVE.
Many returning mothers can feel
disconnected after a timeout.
Remote technologies like
videoconferencing and virtual
meetings keep them in the office
groove - even with a mewling
infant on their lap.

22. Mums are terrific
multitaskers. But you
knew that already.

23. 2. Flexible
arrangements let
mums do the TIME-
SHIFT SHUFFLE.
Late nights and unexpected crises
are part and parcel of parenthood.
But smart people can work around
them - if given a little latitude.
If her work’s great, why does
it matter if she does it in the
sleepless hours of 2am-5am?

24. Today’s software already
helps millions do it.

25. 3. Collaboration
software helps her
COME BACK… without
COMEBACK.
A child is a lifelong commitment.
So some mums do it full-time (so
do some dads). But that doesn’t
mean they are lost to you. That
vital task only she can do?
Perhaps she can do it in three
hours a day…from her kitchen
worktop. Keeping her earning, and
you competitive.

26. Even a year with
Additional Maternity
doesn’t mean unplugging.

27. BENEFITS FOR
THE PARTNER:

28. EXACTLY
THE SAME!
(Equality rules,
remember?)

29. One word sums it up:
APPRECIATION

30. Parents APPRECIATE the chance
to stay in contact while on leave.
Households APPRECIATE earning
income on a flexible basis.
Companies APPRECIATE retaining
valuable employees throughout.

31. And CHILDREN
appreciate the
attention of their
parents…
...WITHOUT IT AFFECTING THEIR
UNIVERSITY FUND!!!
(They’ll thank you when they
reach 18.)

32. DON’T WAIT 18 YEARS
FOR THE BENEFITS
OF FLEXIBLE AND
REMOTE WORKING.

33. Download your eGuide now
Make sure your policy matches your people’s
needs, download
The connected business: The rise
of remote working and your HR
policy, what you need to know...
and engage and empower your workforce long
before maternity leave.
Strategic
Effective
Flexible
The rise of remote working
and your HR policy, what
you need to know...
The connected business: