Mobile working: the key to autonomy for working mothers?

Around 12.2 million women are currently employed in the UK, forming nearly half of the countryís workforce. And yet, as a recent report from the Women & Work Commission revealed, women still face an unfair disadvantage in the workplace. As they struggle to juggle the demands of motherhood and a career, they are left feeling unable to do either ëjobí properly, and are often pushed into lower-paying, namely part-time, occupations that leave their skills under-used.

According to the Commission: ìWomen face substantial penalties, in terms of pay and progression, for taking time out of the labour market or reducing their working hoursÖwomen returning to the labour market after time spent looking after children often find it difficult to find a job that matches their skillsÖthe lack of flexibility at senior levels is particularly acute.î

The lack of options open to mothers who want to work is also detrimental to businesses. As the UK strives to maintain its competitiveness in the face of global competition, the skilled labour pool available is effectively being reduced because working mothers find it difficult to maintain their positions in the workplace.

And yet one in five UK workers will be mothers by 2010, according to the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP). So what can be done to aid the prospects that working mothers face?

Flexible working
Making the working day more flexible for working mums would be a significant step forward. T-Mobile research shows that almost half of the UKís working mothers find it difficult to maintain a good work-life balance, with 29 per cent citing an inability to manage workload as the biggest cause of stress.

Being able to work when they want, where they want could be the key to alleviating the work-life balance challenge that working mothers face. The right to request flexible working, which was introduced in April 2003, was a step in the right direction and take up from women has been high. However there is little evidence to suggest that flexible working is opening up in more senior roles ñ in fact, as demonstrated in the quote above, the Women & Work Commission report was largely focused on making senior jobs more accommodating for women. There still appears to be a ëglass ceilingí for women in many companies, largely blamed on the lack of options open when it comes to working patterns and child-care options.

Mobile technology
Mobile technology has a key role to play in addressing this issue, because it gives mothers the tools they need to truly embrace flexible working practices. Mobile working allows people to work anytime and anywhere, whether at home or on the move, and there are huge personal gains to be made from this, particularly for women in senior roles.

Through using mobile devices such as BlackBerrys, data cards and smart phones, they can be in touch with their business whenever best suits them, as they no longer have to be in the office to dial up and log on. Mobile working also allows working mothers to make best use of ëdead timeí, when they are commuting, for example. Instead of wasting time when out of the office they can transform dead time into genuinely productive working time. For working mothers in senior roles this is crucial ñ they can be more responsive and able to react to critical communications, wherever they may be. Their working practices can be streamlined, so they have access to time-sensitive and company data on the go.

Mobile devices also have advantages for mothers that want to work remotely. The BlackBerry, for example, is always on and small and convenient to use. By using a BlackBerry, mothers donít have to power up a laptop and log on to have access to their email, amidst the chaos of home, thus saving time and working space. They can also allow working mothers to work remotely more often ñ potentially giving them more time to spend with their children and saving on childcare costs.

The benefits of mobile working are clear. By allowing working mothers to work when they want, where they want, they can better manage their workloads, be more productive on the move, and feel less guilty about time spent away from the office. This can also go a long way to alleviating the stress that working mothersí feel when it comes to balancing their workloads.

Our survey found that many working mothers are already recognising the benefits that mobile working could bring - over two-thirds (68 per cent) surveyed wanted to see mobile working implemented to make their lives easier, and more than half (55 per cent) wanted access to email remotely, to be able to work on the move.

Business policies
However, businesses have been slow to recognise the benefits of mobile working and provide employees with mobile devices. It is time they woke up to the fact that restricting womenís working practices is having a huge affect on the UK economy - increasing womenís participation in the labour market could be worth between 15 billion and 23 billion ñ 1.3 to 2.0 per cent of GDP .

Business must consider implementing mobile working policies to ensure that working mothers are fulfilling their true potential. It is not acceptable that educated, talented women discover they are unable to return to their careers once they have had children because their employers cannot offer them flexibility.

According to the Women and Equality Unit, a third of mothers taking paid maternity leave do not return to their jobs, because they cannot work the hours they want. This incurs huge costs for employers as they have to recruit and train new employees. Flexible working could help employers to retain existing staff, and give them access to a wider pool of labour, ensuring that working mothersí skills and ambitions donít go to waste.

By enabling working mothers to operate autonomously, businesses will benefit from happier workers who are loyal to their company and ultimately more motivated and productive. Organisations need to recognise that itís a win-win situation for both employer and employee.

By Jim Morrison, HR Director, T-Mobile UK
www.t-mobile.co.uk