INTERIM MANAGERS CAPITALISE ON THE MATERNITY / PATERNITY LEAVE GAP
Over 95% of interim managers and freelances think that people taking maternity or paternity leave represents a commercial opportunity for them to provide cover and 55 per cent of those polled said that the had already undertaken an assignment as cover for someone taking maternity or paternity leave.
This is a key finding of a research study published today entitled ‘Solving the Maternity/Paternity Leave Gap’. The study was undertaken jointly by the VMA Group and The Counsel House, both firms specialise in providing interim management services. It looked into what interim managers and freelances working in marketing, corporate communications and PR think about maternity and paternity leave. It also canvassed the opinions of employers on the subject.
Other key findings of the study were:
· 81 per cent of freelances described the interim management option as a successful solution for their client looking for cover during this period and 85 per cent described it as an enjoyable and rewarding work experience.
· The most usual length of a maternity leave cover assignment was between six to nine months, which was the period of cover provided by 38 per cent of respondents. 21 per cent said the cover they provided lasted longer than a year, 18 per cent said three to six months, 15 per cent for nine months to a year and 8 per cent said less than three months.
· 74 per cent agreed with Nick Clegg’s recent proposal for reforms which will allow both parents to share leave to look after a new-born child, so-called ‘shared parental leave’, 49 per cent said they would consider taking shared parental leave if they were in employment, but 24 per cent said the proposals represented an unfair burden on business.
Of the employers interviewed in the study, nine out of ten said they would consider using an interim manager to solve the cover problem created by a maternity/paternity leave and two thirds said they had already used this option. Seven out of every ten employers who had used an interim manager or freelancer to provide cover for maternity/paternity leave said this was a successful solution.
The report also contains some high-profile case studies of interim management in action within major corporate clients including Homeserve Plc and Gazprom Marketing & Trading. It also provides practical advice for employers and interims alike on the ‘dos and don’ts’ of using an interim to provide cover for maternity / paternity leave. For example, it advises clients to be flexible and to be open to ideas like the interim working three or four days a week. The best interim managers and freelances will often have their own business and clients, so may not be able to give more time.
It advises interims and freelances to meet the person going on leave in plenty of time before the leave starts and get a full and detailed brief. The should ask them what their expectations are of the cover provided and try to meet the team they are going to manage with the incumbent before they go on leave.”
Commenting on the publication of the report, Lucinda Moores, managing consultant at the VMA Group, said: “It is clear from the report that clients look to interims to provide maternity/paternity leave cover, but that the key to success is the ability to find an interim who has the ability to bring the communications skills they have and apply them to a brand new sector.”
Robin Swinbank, managing Director of The Counsel House, who is himself an interim manager who has provided cover for maternity leave within a number of FTSE-listed companies said: “Interims who provide cover have to prove they have a sharp learning curve and that they can understand a new business and how it operates very quickly. If they can, providing cover can be a lucrative and enjoyable new business opportunity for them.”
For further information contact:
Lucinda Moores, VMA Group.
Tel: 020 7436 4243
Robin Swinbank
The Counsel House
Tel: 07831 364744
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