Working Parents

Is working from home the new normal? Here we talk to various professionals about parents working from home, redundancy, finding a job and how we as parents can return to the workplace.

What a year 2020 has been so far! Covid 19 has certainly turned the working world upside down in the past five months. At the beginning of the crisis prior to lockdown a lot of businesses were already getting set for their workforce where possible to work from home. Weeks prior to lockdown they were setting policies in place, checking health and safety and providing their staff with the necessary equipment to perform their duties from home. Their processes were already tried and tested by the time Boris made his announcement on 23rd March 2020. So where did that action take various industries and where has it left our economy? Karen Pumfrey, a local Recruitment Consultant shares the impact it has had for some of her clients. "Manufacturing remained strong for the companies that were producing products for the medical industry. We saw a lot of local companies change their production processes to manufacture equipment to help aid covid treatment. New processes were turned around within short timescales and it was truly amazing how these businesses did all they could to support the pandemic and continued to fully employ their staff. On the clerical side, a lot of businesses fully embraced the working from home set up, which allowed many parents to stay at home with their families and are now looking to continue into 2021 as this may well be a permanent fixture. Our clients has proved the benefits to working from home and in some companies has seen productivity improve, not to mention the reduction

in overheads. Businesses who were sceptical of the inititaive have been overwhelmed by its success and opens up an exciting new world especially for working parents who have the added juggle of childcare. It has however taken its toll on many parents and with the schools being closed, the additional home schooling has for some been very stressful. Alot of companies are supportive but for some employers it has not been an option so returning to the office to carry out their duties has been essential. Returning to work needs to be a well thought out process and every opportunity to accommoodate working from the office in the mornings and from home in the afternoons, for example, can all be negotiated. We have also seen in some industries utilising holiday allowance to be broken down into hours rather than training centre, DA Training and Consultancy, says however "Redundancy numbers are rising and their speed will accelerate once the furlough scheme ends. Measures need to be put in place now to support those people so they don’t have to wait an agonisingly long time to receive benefits. I expect the number of people in self-employment to rise sharply, as the jobs just won’t be there for them. So over 25 years’ experience in health, social care, and education and reports "As the government’s furlough scheme comes to an end, many businesses are looking at their staff returning to work in the forthcoming months. It is vital that employers support the emotional wellbeing of their staff and working parents postpandemic and employees and employers alike must be aware that this is for the long run and long-term strategies are needed. There are many questions for HR managers to answer during this time in regard to working conditions, phased return and reasonable adaptations for staff returning who may have been ill, those who have suffered a bereavement of a loved one to the pandemic or are experiencing mental health issues as a result of the crisis. Many workers will be extremely anxious about being in the workplace or travelling there. Organisations must continue their support for physical and mental health and its current thinking about remote and flexible working. half or full days so achieving flexibility around their children. Now the schools are re-opening parents being able to work from could offer families a new flexibility to do the school runs without interfering with your working hours and giving you a greater work life balance. Some say this has produced a more productive workforce, Zoom and Teams meetings are now the way forward and can be used widely from recruiting to business meetings. As the industrial, property and IT/cyber sectors grow and can not operate working from home, it is still too early to say for sure if working from home will be the new normal."

Noel McDermott is a Psychotherapist with or a member of her team at datc.co.uk A families economic insecurity is rife at the moment with many people not knowing if they have a job to return to and this anxiety is heightened by news reports of world economic collapse. The government has signalled how seriously it takes all of this with work stimulus packages but fear of loss of work has significant negative mental health impacts, as well as actual unemployment. Our ability to manage the anxiety produced by these multiple uncertainties is compounded by the experience of having been through the lockdown of the pandemic. We are usually able to deal with a specific crisis that is time limited when we have a period of time to recuperate emotionally and psychologically, but this is not what we are faced with. We are faced with a situation in which there is no time to reflect and recover but we are straight into the next level of the crisis with a potential for this to go on for some time. Each new phase of the pandemic crisis wears us down psychologically, challenging our resilience and the ability to bounce back.” 29

Here Psychotherapist Noel McDermott provides tips for workers and businesses on how to cope with some of the challenges of returning to work.

• Accept these are challenging times and change your lifestyle accordingly. • Adopt mentally wealthy approaches to life by ensuring core health strategies in place - good sleep hygiene, eating healthily, exercise, strong support networks, giving up or reducing almost to zero alcohol. • Understanding signs of emotional struggle and when to ask for help: bad sleep patterns, appetite changes, losing interest in activities and friends, losing temper a lot, not being able to stop worrying, developing a sense of dread about life or the future, excessive tiredness, increased drinking, relationship struggles. • Be aware this is for the long run, this isn’t over quickly, long term strategies are needed.

Advice on how to cope with your feelings of increased anxiety

• Take a deep breath and practice having faith in the future, tell yourself it will all be ok in the end and if it’s not ok at the moment it’s not the end. • Telling yourself positive internal stories reduces stress significantly. • Helping others helps ourselves. Make time in your day whether on the way to or from work or in the workplace to do something kind/helpful for someone else. • Take a challenging situation and find deeper meaning from it; moving into the bigger picture to explain our challenges to ourselves as purposeful reduces fear and depression. • Make attachments to beliefs and ideas that express something more transpersonal, whether that is traditional spiritual or religious beliefs or believing in the power of love or nature is not important but having a sense that something bigger is at play is helpful in developing a growth mindset. • Put the oxygen mask on yourself (not just the face mask) as if you are not meeting your own needs you will not meet any other needs. These basic needs are self-care, regular exercise, sleep/rest, hydration, social and emotional support.

How Businesses Can Support Employee Wellbeing

• Develop a pandemic mental health return to work curriculum. • Use this opportunity to re-evaluate in house mental health services. • Create a culture of openness around mental health problems. • Develop asset based mental health approaches to retain staff.

Noel McDermott is the founder and CEO of three organisations, Psychotherapy and Consultancy Ltd, Sober Help Ltd and Mental Health Works Ltd. Noel’s company offer at-home mental health care and will source, identify and co-ordinate personalised care teams for the individual. They have recently launched a range of online therapy resources in order to help clients access help without leaving home, find them here: noelmcdermott.net/group-therapy/

1. Show you can adapt as the situation does

The pandemic has proven that anything can happen. Emphasise any skills that prove you can adapt and work under constrained situations and you’ll stand a much better chance at landing a job. Using relevant work experience to draw links with the current climate will also raise this chance further.

2. A clear and concise CV is vital

Hiring managers will likely be sifting through CVs even faster than usual, so initial appearances mean everything - how a CV appears is just as important as the information it provides. Keep your CV concise with a mix of formats and the important information obvious - this visual balance will mean the reader focuses on what matters the most: your credentials.

3. Be visible and shout about your achievements

Make it easy for potential employers to find out more about you by creating a professional online profile; one easy way to do this is by via LinkedIn. Regularly update it by showcasing the latest research as well as personal achievements – shouting about your success is a sure-fire way to grab someone’s attention, especially if it’s in refreshing ways like promo videos, collaborations and more.

4. Highlight relevant work experience

The pub landlord recalled that he received applications from former stewards, restaurant managers and more. To snatch a job from experienced applicants, first and foremost highlight the skills you have that will transfer directly to the job at hand. This way, you could trump impressive candidates that don’t fit the role as well as you do.

5. Avoid bloating buzzwords

Contrary to popular belief, cutting down on bloat words doesn’t make your CV less interesting. CVs should be tailored to each job, using only the relevant skills for the application. Research each vacancy beforehand to handpick the best skills to target and jumpstart you higher up in the list.

6. Include a professional summary

To grab attention from the get-go, start with a professional summary: a concise overview of you and your talents. Doing this means the hirer has everything they need in a clearly worded package, which they can request to expand on if necessary.

7. Network network network!

Most job applications are now online, but that doesn’t mean you have to rely on this. Also known as the Hidden Job Market, some research suggests as many as 70% of jobs aren’t posted online. So if you excel in word-of-mouth to secure a job, keep practicing this alongside online applications.

For more CV and job hunting advice check out resume.io