Fifty-five percent of mums, who have recently returned to work from maternity leave, feel their career have taken a backwards or sideways step, new research from My Home Move has revealed, jumping to 65 percent in London and 60 percent in the East of England. Input from Doug Crawford, CEO of My Home Move.
Alongside this, 63 percent of new mums wish they could work from home and 83 percent state more flexible working opportunities should be made available for mothers returning to the workplace. The research conducted by the UK’s leading provider of mover conveyancing services, comes as it announces plans to expand its National Network of Conveyancers (NNC), a ground-breaking employee model which allows experienced conveyancers (residential property lawyers) to work from home, set their own hours to fit around childcare commitments, while still experiencing the full benefits of being a full-time employee.
Commenting on these findings, Doug Crawford, CEO of My Home Move, said, “For too long businesses have put themselves first and the needs of their employees second. At My Home Move we have turned this on its head, to enable our working mums and dads to experience levels of flexibility within their role, which would be difficult for them to find anywhere else. We trust our people to deliver on their work commitments and in return we respect their need to balance their work with their family life.
“Our experienced NNC conveyancers can set their own hours and manage their own portfolio of clients; and as full employees, they receive exactly the same benefits as our office based people. We provide the training, technical equipment and daily support, so our conveyancers can manage cases as if they were situated in one of our offices.” With 70 experienced conveyancers already working as part of its NNC, located across the country, My Home Move plans to expand its network over the next 12 months; providing a range of conveyancing and managerial opportunities for the candidates.
Continuing, Doug Crawford said, “Our research also revealed that 74 percent of mums who recently returned to work have found it difficult to juggle work and child care commitments. As such, we offer all of our mums and dads childcare vouchers, as well as the opportunity to change their hours so they can make school drop-offs and nursery pick-ups. “To us it’s very simple; a happy employee is a productive employee and the success of our business is intrinsically linked to providing our staff with a great place to work.”
Over the last two years My Home Move has increased its transactional volumes by 25 percent, to cement its market leading position in mover conveyancing. Each year it helps over 50,000 people to move home, and since 2013 it has been presented with over 30 industry awards for its exceptional service. Earlier this year it acquired Leeds based firm Advantage Property Lawyers, meaning it is now on track to complete 100,000 mover transactions a year.
Earlier this year the Government announced an additional £5million would be made available for ‘returnships’ – to help those returning to work after long career breaks. When asked if people thought ‘returnships’ would help ordinary mums who had taken a career break to return to the workplace, 54 percent responded yes, with 16 percent saying they weren’t aware of the scheme.
