Ireland’s parental leave laws have been altered and the new changes will come into action on 1st September 2019. While these changes have been welcomed as parents are entitled to an extra four weeks of unpaid parental leave, it has left Irish working parents confused and unaware of the changes, according to the CIPD.

With this in mind, let’s explore how your business can best support working parents this year.
 
Why Support Working Parents
As a business, it is crucial that you support all of your workers to the best of your ability. But working parents have a daily juggle that can be hard to tackle at times. As the phrase goes, “every little helps”, and the same goes for your support of working parents.

As Ireland continues to enjoy low unemployment, businesses continue to struggle to find the best talent to drive their performance. Irish companies need staff – working parents are a large part of this workforce. Treating them well will ensure you can keep this talent on board and help take your business to new successful heights.

From back-to-work mothers and fathers, to parents who are returning to work after lengthy career breaks to bring up their children, working parents face a host of challenges. Supporting them will help your business to meet its goals and to provide great working opportunities for your staff at the same time.
 
How Best You Can Support Them

•  Entitlements
  

Alongside the recent changes to parental leave, it is crucial that you use your HR department to ensure all colleagues are aware of their parental entitlements, when they can access them and what this might mean for their working lives.

On the other hand, it is also important that you are aware of these entitlements as a business and what they
mean for staffing and project delivery for your organisation.

Transparency with working parents will build trust between your company and your workforce and ensure that everyone receives what they are entitled to.
 

• Provide Better Benefits

Working parents might have entitlements, but this doesn’t mean the buck stops there. As a business, you should lead your industry by example, providing better workplace benefits for working parents.

From added flexible working arrangements, different categories of leave for parents, through to workplace childcare provision, better benefits will mean a happier workforce; better benefits will motivate staff to get the job done.

In 2019, people expect more than ever from your business, ethically and morally often more so than financially; a pay increase can only go so far. By providing these extra benefits, you can actively showcase your committed support for working parents to help them in the juggle of daily parental life.
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•  Better Staff Networking
  

​Often working parents may feel unwelcome as they return to work. Whether it’s a boss that has begrudged their time off and in turn, the added workload from this worker, or the younger colleague who feels they may not achieve promotion because of their return, working parents have to negotiate office politics in the same way they have to negotiate parental duties at home.

As a business, you can lead the way by tasking your HR team to instil better staff networking; coffee mornings or team development activities can help colleagues get to know one another better, learn about colleagues personal and professional commitments, and build a better network of community and trust within the workplace.

Staff networking will give colleagues the chance to understand better the challenges that working parents might face and help staff to help one another through these challenges.

A better office atmosphere will mean a happier workplace and better performance for your business.
 
Act Now
Your business can and should better support your working parents. With talent acquisition now at sky-high competitive levels in Ireland, your company cannot afford to lose out on valuable skills from the working parent section of the Irish workplace.

​By providing the best benefits of your industry, instilling an enhanced community network amongst colleagues and ensuring working parents are aware and maximise their parental entitlements, you can build trust and performance within your organisation – a win-win for everyone!

Last week, both Ryanair’s British-based and Irish-based pilots announced planned strikes as action against pay disputes. Not a great week for Ryanair’s headlines, who suffered major losses from a host of strikes in 2018 and found their arguably poor reputation further damaged amongst its customers.

While Ireland only lost 4,050 working days to strikes in 2018, over 50,000 were lost in 2017 – Ireland has had its fair share of labour disputes and examples of companies who have suffered at the consequence of their refusal to
tackle disputes head-on.

By and large, employees disputes should never come down to a strike. But it is the responsibility of the business to negotiate with its staff and unions to avoid this last resort. Here’s how you can avoid strike gate.
 
Don’t Bury Your Head Under the Sand
When the going gets tough, it can be easy to head for the ‘safe’ option; to hide inside your office and avoid mingling with unhappy, frustrated and unheard staff.

But this isn’t a ‘safe’ option – it’s a dangerous one. Whether it is a pay dispute, arguments over break times or challenges from a certain sector of employees, any issues when not dealt with quickly and effectively can quickly tumbleweed and leave your business in a state of drought when staff decide to strike.

Not only will burying your head under the sand showcase your refusal to address business problems, but it will indicate a lack of value for your staff and a lack of leadership to deal with any issues.
 
Communicate Effectively
Not only should you avoid burying your head under the sand, but it is crucial that you maintain constant, effective communication between your business and all of your employees when experiencing any labour disputes.

From the earliest of stages, ensure that you provide leadership for the next steps, listen to issues from employees themselves, as well as negotiate effectively with the relevant unions. Union representation is often a key element in the event of a strike; getting unions on board to negotiate will often be the first step to getting your employees to listen to you again.

Even when you may be forced to make decisions that may make employees unhappy, communicate these decisions as early as possible and explain your reasoning behind this – while not all will understand, you have set out your agenda and made staff aware of what you are aiming for throughout a dispute.
 
Go Beyond Industry Standards
Your business can avoid labour disputes by ensuring that staff have no cause for a dispute in the first place.

Often strikes are the result of a refusal from companies to provide employees with adequate living wage pay, leave arrangements or perhaps poor working conditions.

Not only should you meet your industry standards but go beyond them. Offer added benefits, add extra breaks, support your working parents. Ireland’s talent market is running dry – of you refuse to actively improve your workplace for staff, they will simply look elsewhere.

Don’t lose out to your competitors – prove that you are an industry leader by focusing on your people first and foremost and avoid any dreaded labour disputes.
 
Take a Head-On Approach
Labour disputes are not good and should be avoided at all costs. But often the damage has already been done from a business’ refusal to tackle any issues its staff may have raised.

Ensuring that your company uses its HR department to lead with a head-on approach will demonstrate your willingness to communicate with staff and unions, to lead the way in finding solutions to issues, and to value your workforce’s opinion.

​Take a head-on approach – avoid strike gate this year. 

We all know the beginning few lines of that pop-country anthem, the punching piano-filled chords, the rousing almost marching beat, and the first Appalachian harmonies from musical icon, Dolly Parton.

The theme tune for a movie about women in the workplace, ‘9-5’ epitomises that daily routine shared by millions across the globe. But is it still the reality for many in Ireland today? Or should Irish businesses have a major rethink about these working hours?  
 
Why Not 9-5?
While the eight-hour-day was intensely sought after by workers in Ireland at the beginning of the twentieth century, today it isn’t so lauded.

In 2018, just 5% of Irish people reported actually working 9am to 5pm; their contracts may have sad they should work these traditional hours, but in reality those hours fluctuated. In fact, 45% of respondents in this same study reported that they worked hours that suited them, with 31% in want of an 8-4 working pattern and 32% arguing for a longer day but shorter work week.

Clearly, Ireland is fighting against the rigidity of the traditional 9-5 in favour of increased flexibility.
 
But Why?

• Increasing Women in the Workplace

While both men and women in Ireland want more flexibility in the working hours, the increasing amounts of women who are now in the labour force has increased calls for flexitime, as both male and female parents juggle the pressures of kids, home and working life.

In fact, over 50% of Irish women over the age of 15 are now in the labour force; flexibility is needed if your business is to keep this talent within its grips.

• Technological Advancement

Twenty years ago, it was simply impossible for most Irish employees to have the ability to work from home. With a lack of laptops, WiFi and cloud-based information sharing systems, employees had to be present at their desks to access work emails and to do their jobs.

But that ship has sailed. With most firms now accessing the adaptability of a cloud-based server, workers can access all the information that they need to do their jobs simply from the click of a button, allowing employees to work practically anywhere that has an internet connection.

Technological advancement has derailed the traditional 9-5 in preference to a more flexible schedule that allows employees to work wherever and, by and large, whenever they want.

• Productivity

Afternoon slumps are not made up; time and time again workers have reported lacking in productivity for significant chunks of their 9-5 day. Another recent study reveals that 62% of employees reported they would be more productive if they knew they could finish earlier.

The phenomenon of ‘presenteeism’ has killed productivity, as workers force themselves to stay after their contracted hours in an effort to make themselves appear to be working harder.

In reality, your employees have spent 8+ hours doing a job that could have taken them 4 or 5. Responding to this, some companies such as Ireland’s very own ICE Group have went the extra mile, introducing a four day working week in an effort to bring more flexibility into the workplace, drive up employee retention and increase productivity.

Offering more flexibility to eradicate this issue, giving employees back the power to choose their hours and become more productive in the long run.
 
How Can HR Help?
Communication – it can’t be stressed enough. Get your HR team to talk with employees, listen to their views on their working hours and how best your business could support them to remain productive and at optimum performance.

As a company, it is crucial that you are willing to listen to the feedback and alter your working environment to suit modern conditions. With low unemployment and a dearth of high-skilled talent, a refusal to listen to employees in this way could be detrimental for your talent retention.

Take a leaf out of Dolly’s songbook and take time to rethink your working hours for the sake of your workplace wellbeing. 

So, you’ve slaved your way through CVs, cover notes and applications. You’ve shook countless shaky hands. You’ve sat and listened to great and some not so great interviews. You’ve finally found the dream candidate and hired them.

But is that the work done? Absolutely not; the work is just getting started.
 
Challenge of Retention
Irish unemployment is at the lowest it has been in an awfully long time. While that’s great news for the country, it makes employers’ jobs that bit harder, faced with the challenge of attracting the best talent from their competitors, and once obtained, retaining them through a combination of work life balance, job satisfaction and loyalty.

With Millennials now a stalwart in the workplace, and Gen Z flooding into the Irish working population, more and more candidates feel less committed to companies, opting to jump ships several times, especially early in their careers.

This leaves Irish companies fighting amongst each other to coax the best talent to come to them, placing increasing budget spend on the candidate recruitment process and on workspace elements which will attract and retain.

Both costly and time-consuming, recruitment can quickly become a major headache for any business in the tight market that exists in Ireland currently.

How Can Your HR Team Help?

• Introductions are Key

As the saying goes, first impressions can make or break any relationship, whether that be a candidate and an employer, a potential date or even thoughts towards a clothing brand.

Getting the initial months right for a new recruit is key. They need to feel welcomed, invited and nurtured by all of your team. Depending on your business scale, that could mean their own narrow department, or it could mean the wider organisation. Regardless, ensuring that new recruits are transitioned smoothly into the workplace, grasp their basic tasks quick and that they feel welcomed by the company will make or break their loyalty and experience at your company.

• Regular Communication

It might seem common sensical but initiating regular communication with new talent is also crucial.

From putting in place former mentorship programmes, 1-to-1’s with line management or providing internal and informal networking opportunities amongst staff will keep regular communication high on the agenda, and foster communication as a given for any staff member, not just a new recruit.

This will help staff feel valued, as well as feel they have the opportunity to learn and grow within their new roles.

• Opting In or Out of a Social Culture

We’ve all been there; felt compelled to attend after-work drinks or that charity coffee morning during what is meant to be your tea break. Not everyone likes to be ‘work’ social.

While socialisation at work is important, fostering an opt in or opt out culture from the beginning of a new recruit’s journey will make employees feel comfortable to make their own decisions about what they will or will not get involved in.

Avoiding notions of judgement or peer pressure, new recruits will have the option to be as social as they want within the working environment.

• Foster Loyalty

Out of any of these challenges in retaining new talent, fostering a sense of loyalty to your company can be a difficult one to overcome, even for your HR team.

Arguably, it begins during the recruitment process. A new recruit may have accepted the job, but were they satisfied with your company during the interview process? Or are they leveraging this opportunity to help them move up the ladder to the next?

Ensuring that new candidates agree with your brand values and feel comfortable and happy to work for your company will help with loyalty.

But, ultimately, fostering loyalty comes down to one thing: ensuring all employees have a reason to stay. Workers who feel appreciated, satisfied with their career development and enjoy a healthy work-life balance will have a reason to stay loyal to your company and to take their eyes off your competitors. After all, flashing the cash may distract for a while, but nothing can beat old fashioned appreciation and respect for hard work.

Foster loyalty in this way through your HR team and you won’t have to worry about retaining talent – the talent will come to you.