Parenting as an Ecologist

Blog written by Flora Haynes MCIEEM, Senior Ecologist at South East Ecology.

There is a demand for senior and principal ecologists in the industry and coincidentally a lot of parents returning to work are at this level. However, there are also a lot of parents who struggle to make their job work alongside family commitments and ultimately leave the industry or opt to go freelance. I am a happy parent to a four-year-old daughter and happy senior ecologist at South East Ecology.

Like a lot of others, I don’t have the luxury of choosing to be a stay-at-home mum – my partner and I both need to work. And like everyone else (parent or not) I want to spend those working hours in a supportive work environment with colleagues who are sympathetic to the other aspects of my life. After maternity leave I chose to return to the ecological consultancy industry and was attracted to a company by their flexible working and discussion of parenting needs around work during the interview. One comment in particular struck a chord –

If your child has a sport’s day, you attend, that’s more important than working.

That simple acknowledgement that being a good employee doesn’t mean choosing work over everything else meant the world. I imagined I would have a lot to catch up on. However, my line manager laid out everything I needed to do and in reality, there wasn’t much (mostly BNG and it seems everyone else was still catching up on this too). A short spell of investing time and money in training me up meant I was project managing and fee earning very quickly.

I work four days a week and have set hours in term time and core hours during school holidays, with the rest worked flexibly. A few additions to this are that I am available throughout school holidays for evening bat surveys and I work outside my core hours when there is a business need (such as to attend courses). It’s not a one-size fits all and it’s taken some trial and error but through communicating and understanding my parenting needs and the business needs my employer and I have come up with a solution that works and is sustainable for all our needs.

Tips for employers

Below are some tips for employers that I hope will help inform you of what a parent returning to work is looking for and ultimately help you provide a welcoming workplace for parents.

• Flexible working is key. Consider if you could allow your employees to work more flexibly such as longer days for surveying and flexible days for desk-based tasks or accruing TOIL for extra leave in the school holidays. Committing to core hours and being flexible with remaining hours can make childcare and work commitments much easier to juggle. Parents are unlikely to be attracted to a company with strict hours.
• If the job role can’t be made flexible, then consider if job or project sharing could work in your company to allow for more flexibility.
• Communication about what a parent’s needs are right from the interview stage will ensure a working pattern that is sustainable. Employers who ignore that an employee has care commitments are not informed and risk losing that employee.
• Returning to work is these days usually not a choice for parents, rather a financial necessity for both parents to be earning. This means a parent is invested in the job role working out long-term. The idea that working parents are not likely to stick at a job is outdated (unless of course they don’t feel supported).
• Returning to work will likely involve catching up on legislative updates or new guidelines. With the right support, this is relatively quick and shouldn’t put you off, with the long-term gain being far greater than the short-term investment in training. Maximize the use of KIT days to catch the employee up on these changes.
• You will need to understand how your employees’ needs have changed and discuss solutions to make a sustainable work-life balance ready for when they return. Offering a mentor could be really useful at this stage. This could be another employee who is a parent or an employed specialist in supporting parents returning to work. It’s useful to speak to someone who has been through similar challenges of work-life balance and can help to brainstorm possible solutions. An initial mentor meeting could be offered as part of a KIT day. Don’t assume the employee will just slot back into their old working pattern. If not supported in this big change to their life, you may struggle to retain working parents in your workforce.
• Keep communicating to stay informed. Consider offering a discussion about any likely upcoming changes to an employee’s care role during their annual review or before a child is due to start school.
• Consider inviting children / partners / pets to staff team days. It helps to be seen as a person rather than just an employee and we have found it really good fun.
• Be prepared to have a little empathy for parents of young children if they are tired. It doesn’t mean they can’t do their job, it’s not intentional and it won’t last.