eve-olution newsletter October 2006
Contents
- Statistics of the month
- Book of the month
- What is the 360° Gender Diversity Feedback tool?
- Maternity returners and line managers' questions answered
Statistics of the month
9 out of 10 British women who do not work have taken up at least one vice from a list that includes having an affair, internet gambling and shoplifting, while 8% have taken illicit drugs during the day. - Buena Vista Home Entertainment / Daily Express
20% of British fathers spend so much time at work that they do not see their children at all during the week. In London, that figure rises to 31%. - B&CE Insurance / Daily Mail
Book of the month
Man's Search for Meaning - Viktor E. Frankl
Psychiatrist Viktor Frankl's memoir has riveted generations of readers with its descriptions of life in Nazi death camps and its lessons for spiritual survival.
Between 1942 and 1945 Frankl laboured in four different camps, including Auschwitz, while his parents, brother, and pregnant wife perished. Based on his own experience and the experiences of others he treated later in his practice, Frankl argues that we cannot avoid suffering but we can choose how to cope with it, find meaning in it, and move forward with renewed purpose. Frankl's theory-known as logotherapy, from the Greek word logos ("meaning") - holds that our primary drive in life is not pleasure, as Freud maintained, but the discovery and pursuit of what we personally find meaningful.
A 1991 reader survey for the Library of Congress asked readers to name a "book that made a difference in your life" found Man's Search for Meaning among the ten most influential books. This book is not for the faint hearted, however it is very insightful into our own lives and emotions.
What is the 360° Gender Diversity Feedback tool?
360° reviews are conducted to improve organisation-wide performance by raising awareness of the strengths and development needs of individual employees.
The use of a 360° gender diversity assessment tool will enable the client to measure the core skills of all employees against a common set of values embodied in their specific competency framework. A well-designed multi-rated feedback system of this type provides:
- A more reliable image of each individual's skill-patterns by removing the skew created by a subjective single-opinion review
- A clear view of the candidate's impact on specific diverse work groups that have contact with them regularly
- A continuous reinforcement of the organisational values and culture to all employees through the questions presented in the assessment
- Focus on key diversity strengths, leading to a view to how these could be leveraged to add value to the organisation
- Prioritise for development work for each individual based on the perceived importance of each task to the specific role, as well as the level of competence they demonstrate
- Benchmark data against which to measure future performance improvements
Maternal and Paternal Leave: How has the law changed?
by Kate Davidson, eve-olution Ltd
There has been a lot of interest in maternity leave and maternity returns in recent months. This is largely because there have been amendments made to the maternity and parental regulations.
How has the law changed?
- At present only those employees with at least 6 months' service at the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth qualify for additional maternity leave (AML), the government intends to remove this requirement, so that all pregnant employees who qualify for ordinary maternity leave (OML) will also qualify for AML
- The mother will be able to claim up to 12 months leave from the start of her employment and there will be an extension of the statutory maternity pay period from 26 weeks to 39 weeks. The first 6 weeks will be paid at 90% of earnings and the remaining 33 weeks at the standard rate (Which is due to increase in April 2007)
- The father remains entitled to 2 weeks paid leave but the amendment will allow him to take additional paternity leave. This allows the father to share childcare responsibility in the child's first year by 'splitting' the maternity leave available. Additional paternity leave (up to 26 weeks) will be available if the mother returns to work before the end of the maternity period. However, it cannot start until the mother has been off for at least 20 weeks.
- There will be an introduction of 'Keeping in touch' days which will allow an employee on maternity leave to agree to work for her employer for a limited number of days without bringing her maternity leave to an end
- At present, an employee must give 28 days notice if she wishes to return to work at an earlier date and does not have to give any notice of returning if she intends to return the day after her leave finishes. The draft will extend the notice period of returning early to 8 weeks
Don't let your best talent slip through your fingers!
Women who take career breaks are only out of the work force for 2.2 years, on average, according to the Centre for Work-Life Policy. But only 5 percent of mothers who return want to go back to their former employers. Instead, they seek flexibility at smaller firms or start their own business.
Our Maternity Returners Programme, run by a professional Occupational Psychologist, enables the wants and needs of both the organisation and individual to be met seamlessly. Projections show that in less than ten years time there will be two million more jobs in the economy - 80% of which will be filled by women (Business case for diversity and equality, 2003)